For the Japanese defenders of Guadalcanal, April 27, 1943 began with a wave of 40 carrier bombers soaring over the eastern horizon, well defended by fighter escorts. They were not Japanese.
Barracks, gun positions, the radio station, and Henderson Field were pummeled. Fewer than a dozen Japanese fighters managed to engage the American aircraft, and for every USN plane that was destroyed, the Japanese fighters were downed in twos and threes. After releasing their death-dealing cargo over the island, the American aircraft returned to the carriers
Saratoga and
Ranger. More, smaller strikes were made throughout the day, including some attacks by B-17s and B-24s.
On April 28, naval gunfire joined the fray, as the
Indiana,
Washington, and
North Carolina began shelling the island, along with their accompanying cruisers and destroyers. On that day, bombardment operations also began against Japanese forces on Tulagi, where a seaplane base was (yet again) under construction. No significant Japanese naval forces were present.
On April 29, the 1st Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal. They encountered only some machine-gun fire and sparse mortar bombardment at first, but resistance quickly mounted, especially as the 1st Marine Regiment, commanded by Clifton B. Gates, moved towards Henderson Field. Expecting the Japanese to have been routed by the intense pre-invasion bombardment, the Marines encountered stiff resistance around Lunga Point and struggled to get off the invasion beaches. By nightfall, Henderson Field was in American hands, even though it was far too close to Japanese lines to make it safe to use and badly damaged as well. The Americans had also taken heavy casualties.
At the other invasion beaches, the Marines did much better. The 5th regiment (led by LeRoy P. Hunt), landing just to the east of the 1st, found only minor opposition in the form of snipers, light machine guns and the occasional mortar. The 7th regiment (under Herman H. Hanneken), which was the first to land (just east of Taivu Point), clashed with a ragtag force of Japanese heavy infantry of mixed quality that did a relatively poor job of defending their part of the island.
Map of landings with times
Also, the bombardment of Truk was postponed by ten days in order to make room for the landings on Guadalcanal.