Actions along the Matanikau 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 September 1942 – 9 October 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Solomon Islands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Guadalcanal campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Empire of Japan, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -9.4106, 160.3489 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Actions along the Matanikau—sometimes referred to as the Second and Third Battles of the Matanikau—were two separate but related engagements between the United States and Imperial Japanese naval and ground forces in the Pacific theater of World War II. The actions occurred around the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal Island in the southwestern Pacific during the Guadalcanal campaign. These particular engagements—the first taking place between 23 and 27 September, and the second between 6 and 9 October—were two of the largest and most significant of the Matanikau actions.
The Matanikau River area includes a peninsula called Point Cruz, the village of Kokumbona, and a series of ridges and ravines stretching inland from the coast. Japanese forces used the area to regroup from attacks against U.S. forces on the island. From there, they launched further attacks on the U.S. defenses that guarded Henderson Field at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal, as a base to defend against Allied attacks directed at Japanese troop and supply encampments on western Guadalcanal, and as a location for watching and reporting on Allied activity around Henderson Field.
In the first action, elements of three U.S. Marine battalions under the command of U.S.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Actions along the Matanikau (revision 1378309019), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Koli Point action 1942 · 20 km
- Battle of the Tenaru 1942 · 31 km
- Battle for Henderson Field 1942 · 33 km
- Battle of Edson's Ridge 1942 · 33 km
- Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo 1942 · 40 km
- Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse 1942 · 42 km
Other battles of the Guadalcanal campaign
- Battle of Edson's Ridge 1942
- Battle of Tassafaronga 1942
- Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo 1942
- Battle of the Tenaru 1942
- Battle of Rennell Island 1943
All 6 battles of the Guadalcanal campaign →
Browse more: battles in Solomon Islands · Oceania · World War II era battles