Strongbow
Banned
03USMC said:The issue was indoubt for the 1st Marine Division for along time on Guadalcanal. They lacked sufficient supplies, sufficient naval support, sufficient air power. What Air Craft they did have were held together by cannabilizing wrecked aircraft, and fuel had to landed by floating 50 gallon drums from lighters to the beach then manhandled by Marines to Henderson field.
For awhile they subsisted on captured rations. Better than 85% of the "combat ready" Marines were afflicted with Malaria or other tropical illness'.
The Japanese landed reinforcements several times due to lack of Naval support.
No Guadalcanal wasn't more even.
O3, Thanks for the above but I don't agree with your last sentence.
Guadalcanal was never as one sided as Iwo Jima.
The following is from my link that you hopefully have read.
The near parity of the forces involved, both on land and at sea meant that combat was especially intense and characterized by extreme desperation. Disease also played a significant role in the ground campaign, as both the Japanese and American forces were weakened by malaria in the insect-infested jungles. Both sides had difficulty maintaining their supplies to the island, and in some cases Japanese army units suffered from starvation.