Koli Point action

The Koli Point action took place during the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942. Allied forces attempted to encircle and destroy Toshinari Shōji’s forces. Shohji and most of his men were able to evade the encirclement attempt and escape into the interior of Guadal canal.

About Koli Point action in brief

The Koli Point action took place during the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942. U.S. Marines and U. S. Army soldiers attacked a concentration of Japanese Army troops. The Allied forces attempted to encircle and destroy Toshinari Shōji’s forces. Shohji and most of his men were able to evade the encirclement attempt and escape into the interior of Guadal canal. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U. s. and Australia. Allied aircraft that operated out of the airfield became known as the “Cactus Air Force” after the Allied codename for Guadal Canal. Japanese attempts to recapture Henderson Field failed when a failed force was defeated on 21 August in the Battle of the Tenaru Field. The next attempt took place from 12–14 September, with 6,000 soldiers under the command of Major Kiyotake being defeated in Battle of Edson’s Ridge. As the Allied forces concentrated on the Lunga Point area, the Japanese regrouped and delivered 4157 men from the 7th Marine Corps to GuadalCanal. On 18 September, an Allied naval convoy delivered 4,157 men to the Japanese on the Matanikau River. As a result, the surviving Japanese troops on the island were forced to retreat. The Japanese regroupsed west of the Mata River and the surviving surviving Japanese soldiers on the Edson’s Ridge were defeated in the battle of the Kawaguchi Ridge on 7 October. The battle ended the Japanese attempt to retake the island from Allied forces and ended the war in the Solomon Islands, with the loss of 3,500 Japanese soldiers and 1,000 Allied soldiers.

It was the first of many battles between the Allied and Japanese forces during the six-month-long campaign to take control of the islands. The Allies eventually won the campaign and captured the islands in late August and early September. The islands were used as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The airfield at Lunga point was later named Henderson Field by Allied forces. It became the base for the CAF aircraft based at Henderson Field, which later became the Allies’ main air base on Guadal CANAL. Japanese forces were unable to use large, slow transport ships to deliver troops and supplies to the island. Instead, they used warships based in Rabaul and the Shortland Islands to carry their forces to Gudalcanal. These ships were usually able to make the round trip down the Slot and back in a single night, thereby minimizing their exposure to CAF air attack. This method of transporting troops prevented most of the soldiers’ heavy equipment and supplies, such as heavy artillery, vehicles, and much food and ammunition, from being carried to Guadalcanal with them. It also prevented the Japanese from being killed or wounded.

Related posts:

Battle for Henderson Field Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Matanikau Offensive Battle of the Tenaru