Combat· World War II
Battle for Henderson Field
This was the third and largest Japanese attempt to retake the airfield on Guadalcanal.
The enemy moved most of a division through the jungle by a hacked-out trail, planning to strike the perimeter from the south while other troops hit the flanks. American commanders knew an attack was coming and shifted their lines to meet it. A single Marine battalion under Chesty Puller held the most threatened stretch of line, later joined by an Army battalion that fed into the fight in the dark and rain. For two nights the Japanese charged the wire again and again and were cut down by rifle, machine gun, mortar, and artillery fire. To the west, another Marine battalion broke up a separate enemy thrust with a sharp counterattack. By the second dawn the grand offensive was over and the airfield still stood.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 118