Guadalcanal
- Episode aired Dec 2, 2005
- TV-PG
- 45m
YOUR RATING
A detailed look at the land and naval battles for the island of Guadalcanal, the first American invasion of the Pacific war.A detailed look at the land and naval battles for the island of Guadalcanal, the first American invasion of the Pacific war.A detailed look at the land and naval battles for the island of Guadalcanal, the first American invasion of the Pacific war.
Photos
Michael Carroll
- Narrator
- (voice)
Stu Hedley
- Self - USS San Francisco
- (as Stuart Hedley)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Featured review
Jungle Warfare.
In mid-1942 the Japanese are building an airfield on the Melanesian island of Guadalcanal. If completed, it will give the Japanese control over the sea lanes between the U. S. and Australia, so it must be stopped. The Marines land without opposition on Guadalcanal, capture the airfield, and innumerable Japanese supplies. It's not so easy across the bay on Tulagi, a small island that is fiercely defended by the Japanese. Eventually, the American forces prevail despite errors and tribulations.
This is only an hour-long program -- 45 minutes, allowing for commercials -- and it can't cover all of the bases, but it's a reasonably balanced and informed picture of events on and surrounding Guadalcanal, America's first offensive move against the Japanese empire. All the elements of war were involved -- air, sea, and land.
The initial landings were successful but bombing was a constant and the Japanese soon launched a number of counter attacks. They consistently underestimated the number of Marines on the island -- more than 10,000 -- and fed in replacements in small increments. The Japanese troops fought bravely and at this early stage of the war were still given to banzai attacks that were doomed to fail against automatic weapons. The night belonged to the Imperial Japanese Navy which shelled the airfield and the Marines guarding it.
The Japanese point of view is represented by reading from diaries and official reports. The talking heads are almost all American participants. There are some skillfully done reenactments, difficult at time to distinguish from the combat footage.
Unfortunately the strictures of time preclude the covering of some interesting details. The Battle of Savo is described as the worst U.S. naval defeat since 1812. The Marines watch their half-unloaded transports pull out for safer water, leaving them stranded, without any explanation. The Marines needed four days of air cover from Admiral Fletcher in order to unload their supplies. Fletcher removed his valuable carriers after two days and the transports had to follow.
It was a bitter and bloody battle, lasting six months. In the end it was the Japanese reinforcements that ran out of supplies, including essential like food, medicine, and ammunition. Seven thousand American died on Guadalcanal and thirty thousand Japanese, as much from disease and starvation as combat.
This is only an hour-long program -- 45 minutes, allowing for commercials -- and it can't cover all of the bases, but it's a reasonably balanced and informed picture of events on and surrounding Guadalcanal, America's first offensive move against the Japanese empire. All the elements of war were involved -- air, sea, and land.
The initial landings were successful but bombing was a constant and the Japanese soon launched a number of counter attacks. They consistently underestimated the number of Marines on the island -- more than 10,000 -- and fed in replacements in small increments. The Japanese troops fought bravely and at this early stage of the war were still given to banzai attacks that were doomed to fail against automatic weapons. The night belonged to the Imperial Japanese Navy which shelled the airfield and the Marines guarding it.
The Japanese point of view is represented by reading from diaries and official reports. The talking heads are almost all American participants. There are some skillfully done reenactments, difficult at time to distinguish from the combat footage.
Unfortunately the strictures of time preclude the covering of some interesting details. The Battle of Savo is described as the worst U.S. naval defeat since 1812. The Marines watch their half-unloaded transports pull out for safer water, leaving them stranded, without any explanation. The Marines needed four days of air cover from Admiral Fletcher in order to unload their supplies. Fletcher removed his valuable carriers after two days and the transports had to follow.
It was a bitter and bloody battle, lasting six months. In the end it was the Japanese reinforcements that ran out of supplies, including essential like food, medicine, and ammunition. Seven thousand American died on Guadalcanal and thirty thousand Japanese, as much from disease and starvation as combat.
helpful•10
- rmax304823
- Jul 12, 2016
Details
- Runtime45 minutes
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