The Battle of Guadalcanal  The battle of the Solomon island
known as Guadalcanal, which started in August 1942, began the
first U.S. offensive of the war in the Pacific. It would prove
to be a vicious battle, with heavy losses on both sides.  The
invasion, code-named Operation Watchtower, began on August 7
with marines going ashore at Florida and Tulagi Islands, located
just north of Guadalcanal, and nearby Tanambogo and Gavuru
Islands. Japanese opposition on these secondary islands was much
stronger than what the marines landing on Guadalcanal itself
faced. It was later learned that the Japanese forces on
Guadalcanal had been taken by surprise because poor weather kept
their surveillance planes on the ground.  Figure 6-5 U.S. Marine
Raiders in front of a Japanese dugout on Cape Totkina on
Bougainville, Solomon Islands, which they helped to take in
January 1944.  Photo courtesy of the National Archives
(80-G-205686)  It would take an entire day for the Japanese
forces on Guadalcanal to realize they were being