US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

276 Amphibians Came To Cotzquer
building of the airdrome between 17 July and 25 July has never been
satisfactorily explained. But the word finally did get through and it was
clearly stated in the Intelligence Annex of the PHIBSOPAC Operation
Plan issued on 30 July that an “enemy landing field is known to exist in the
Solomons at Guadalcanal.”
In addition to believing that there had been some failure to get routine
air reconnaissance intelligence through to him during a cruciaI period, it was
Admiral Turner’s strong belief that Morison’s History of Naval Operations
in World War 11 gave quite the wrong inference when it stated: “It was the
start of airfield construction there [Guadalcanal], before the end of June,
that sparked off the whole Guadalcanal operation.” It was Admiral Turner’s
belief that it had been “sparked off” long before that.’”
As to planning, the best testimony comes from Fleet Admiral King who
wrote:
The planning of the Solomons landings was done in COMINCH Headquarters
by Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, who was then sent to the South
Pacific in command of the amphibious force that was to carry them out.”s
“ (a) Turner; (b) Morison, Coral Sea, Midway and Subma~ine Actions (Vol. IV), p. 256.
“ King’s Record, p. 434. Reprinted by Permission of W. W. Norton & Co., Inc.