Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

AIR SUPERIORITY
During the fighting on Guadalcanal, the Japanese had very cleverly
constructed an airfield at Munda, on New Georgia, the next large island up
the Solomons chain from Guadalcanal. Hanging palm treetops on cables
stretched over the strip, the Japanese prevented discovery until the field
was ready to go into operation. This obviously had to be the next target of
the South Pacific forces. As an intermediate step, the Russell Islands, sixtyfive
miles nearer Munda than Henderson Field, were occupied before the
end of February. The Japanese were anything but passive while the
occupation of the Russells and preparations for the invasion of New
Georgia continued. Guadalcanal became a more lucrative target for the
Japanese every day as airfields were extended and improved and supplies
accumulated. They attempted, as late as June, to establish control
of the air over the southern Solomons. Very heavy attacks were mounted
on April 1, April 7, May 13, and especially on June 16, when well over
100 Japanese planes made an apparently all-out effort. Allied claims of
enemy aircraft destroyed were certainly exaggerated-during World
War I1 they almost always were-but they amounted to 180 fighters and
bombers during these attacks. Allied losses were only a fraction of this,
and many of the downed American and New Zealand pilots were rescued
to fight another day. Whatever the Japanese losses were, they were
great enough that it was impossible for them to keep up the steady, regular,
and sustained bombing that experience proved necessary for the neutralization
of a base.’*
Allied air forces in the Solomons were a remarkable example of interservice
and international cooperation, and they were far stronger in 1943
The Grumman F6F Hellcat became the principal carrier-borne fighter for
the U.S. Fleet after 1943, gradually replacing the Wildcat.
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