Japanese engineers and construction teams—over 2,500 men in all—began work on an airfield at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The project was observed by Coastwatchers—British personnel and Solomon Islanders working behind enemy lines on the islands—and reported, prompting the United States to make plans to land on Guadalcanal and capture the airfield (which they would name ‘Henderson Field’).
in wikipedia
Japanese troops landed near Gona, on the north coast of the island of New Guinea and part of the Australian Territory of Papua, the starting point of their attempt to capture Port Moresby by advancing south over the Owen Stanley Range using the Kokoda Trail. On 23 July they were met by Australian forces at Awala, south of Kokoda, with whom they fought a series of battles before eventually being forced to withdraw. The Australians retook Kokoda on 2 November, reaching the north end of the track by 16 November.
in wikipedia
At 09:10 on 7 August, 11,000 US Marines under the command of Major General Alexander Vandegrift came ashore on Guadalcanal, in the British Solomon Islands, between Koli and Lunga Points. They encountered little resistance, capturing their main objective—an airfield under construction by the Japanese—by 16:00 on 8 August. Meanwhile Japanese aircraft attacked the invasion fleet from Rabaul, damaging a transport and a destroyer.
in wikipedia
