On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins
Operation Watchtower, the first U.S. offensive of the war, by
landing on Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands. On July 6,
1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began
constructing an airfield there. Operation Watchtower was the
codename for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the
surrounding islands. During the attack, American troops landed
on five islands within the Solomon chain. Although the invasion
came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had
grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida,
Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from
the Japanese defenders. But the Americans who landed on
Guadalcanal met little resistance-at least at first. More than
11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the
Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S.
forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the
outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but n