Alligator Creek

The landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August met with no opposition, and the 5th Marine Regiment quickly established a secure beachhead at Lunga Point. Based on erroneous reports, the Imperial Headquarters, still concentrating upon their own operations aimed at the capture of Port Moresby, decided that a single …

1942-08-21

G16

The landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August met with no opposition, and the 5th Marine Regiment quickly established a secure beachhead at Lunga Point. Based on erroneous reports, the Imperial Headquarters, still concentrating upon their own operations aimed at the capture of Port Moresby, decided that a single experienced infantry regiment could sweep away the lodgement. Early on the 19th, the 900-man vanguard of the Ichiki Butai was put ashore at Taivu Point, well away from the American perimeter along the Ilu River. The ambush of a Japanese patrol alerted the Americans and the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marines took up position on the west bank of “Alligator Creek”. In the dark of 21 August, around 0200 hours, a green flare arched over the mouth of the Ilu, signaling the start of a Japanese headlong charge.

River Ilu, Guadalcanal

The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on August 21, 1942 on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an assault by the "First Element" of the "Ichiki" Regiment, under the command of Japanese Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field, which had been captured by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on August 7. Ichiki's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island. Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, which at the time numbered about 11,000 personnel, Ichiki's unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Jacob Vouza, a Coastwatcher scout, warned the Americans of the impending attack minutes before Ichiki's assault. The Japanese were defeated with heavy losses. The Marines counterattacked Ichiki's surviving troops after daybreak, killing many more. All but 128 of the original 917 of the Ichiki Regiment's First Element died. The battle was the first of three separate major land offensives by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese realized after Tenaru that Allied forces on Guadalcanal were much greater in number than originally estimated and sent larger forces to the island for their subsequent attempts to retake Henderson Field.

Japanese

American

Scenario Type = Standard