History of Honiara

held this hill top in the second half of 1942 and showered artillery fire on American troops at the Henderson airport located below the hill. Eventually the hill was captured but the Japanese held on to the ridges like the Gifu, Sea Horse, and Galloping horse for about a month. Most of the Japanese died out of starvation, banzai assaults or direct killing.

Hyakutake's soldiers conducted numerous assaults over three days at various locations around the Lunga perimeter. Along the Matanikau River, the principal river flowing through what is now central Honiara, tanks attacked in pairs across the sandbar at the mouth of the river behind a barrage of artillery. Marine 37 mm (1.46 in) anti-tank guns and artillery quickly destroyed all nine tanks. At the same time, four battalions of Marine artillery, totaling 40 howitzers, fired over 6,000 rounds into the area between Point Cruz and the Matanikau, causing heavy casualties in Nomasu Nakaguma's infantry battalions as they tried to approach the Marine lines. Both sides incurred heavy losses during the events of the overall battle, especially the Japanese attackers. After an attempt to deliver further reinforcements failed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, Japan conceded defeat in the struggle for the island and evacuated many of its remaining forces by the first week of February 1943. The Quanset house built by the Americans can still be seen in the back lanes of the town and numerous memorials give testament to the war, today.

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