Blown Slick Series #13 Part 15 (4/4)
“…the only place on Earth where you could stand up to your knees in mud and still get dust in your eyes.” Marion Carl
First Marine Ace by Roy Grinnell. Capt. Marion Carl over Henderson Field – the first Marine Ace of WWII, finishing with 18.5 kills. Awarded the Navy Cross.
Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Ernest King pushed hard in Washington for operations in the Pacific – Navy ops. The victory at Midway gave him the leverage he needed in the Europe first Washington D.C. comings and goings. King directed Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, Chester Nimitz to move out and thus began the push to move to the offensive by invading Guadalcanal. The number of ships would grow close to ninety, vastly more than say the Wake Island or Doolittle events. As noted previously it combined land, sea and air combat capability as never before. Watchtower was indeed a recognized gamble, and yet, the planning was seriously short of consideration of that complexity and what situations might evolve, not the least of this would be the lack of early land based air.
There is no Japanese defeat in the Solomons without the defense of Henderson Field and the combat flying of the Cactus Air Force.
Henderson Field and the Beginnings of the Cactus Air Force
The Situation
The 7 August landings on Tulagi and Guadalcanal at Lunga Point, included the capturing of a partially completed Japanese airfield. Indeed, the uncompleted Japanese airfield was the reason the Americans landed on Guadalcanal in the first place. Continue reading