nds and Australian Navy personnel. Basically these natives reported any Japanese activity to their superiors who then relayed this information by radio back to headquarters. It was essentially a basic form of intelligence.On June 13, Japan decided to establish an airbase on Guadalcanal to strengthen the outer perimeter of their advance. During the same time span the United States also realized the strategic importance of Guadalcanal and was in the planning stages of building an airfield as well. On June 24, King directed Nimitz to prepare to capture Tulagi and adjacent positions. In the days that soon followed, American intelligence concluded that the Japanese had landed airfield construction troops on Guadalcanal. Lieutenant Colonel Merrill B. Twining and Major William McKean soon reinforced this conclusion when they spotted an airfield under construction on Guadalcanal while flying a reconnaissance mission in their B-17 on the 17th of July. The Navy acted fast and operation “Watchtower” soon came into to being.The landing force was composed of the 1st Marine Division under the command of Major General Alexander Archer Vandegrift, and their job was the same as it always was, to take control of Guadalcanal and it’s sister island Tulagi. Meanwhile the Japanese forces on Guadalcanal were mostly construction workers and a small force of flying boats Dor Brown 5off the coast. Unknown to the Japanese, the U.S. convoy had managed to slip right upon the Japanese position shielded by cloud cover. Around 0600 on the morning of August 7, Japanese construction workers and the other various soldiers awoke to the blasts of naval gunfire from off the coast. Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats from the carrier Wasp followed soon after and quickly destroyed the little air opposition the Japanese had, which left them very vulnerable. After softening the beachhead, the Marines were ready to invade. Men sprawled down cargo nets from troop...
