Pacific Counterblow - Air Force Historical Studies Office

As the warning came through, a captured Rising Sun flag, the
signal to scramble, would shoot up at the pagoda. Every flyable
aircraft would head through the craters for the runway. If the crews
noticed a wind drop amid the dust, they knew the plane had run
afoul of a dud hole or a small crater hidden in the tall grass. First
planes on the runway took off first, two at a time-SBD's or P-4oo's.
Once aloft, the Grummans, test-firing, would climb for altitude while
the SBD's and P-4oo's flew off to work over Japanese territory. The
ground crews worked until the black flag went up; then they'd hit
the foxholes.
The 67th's ground crews shared the Marines' hardships on Guadalcanal,
even voluntarily manning the forward foxholes on nights when
a break-through seemed imminent. There were not enough of them
for the job; they had few tools, no hoist equipment, no new parts.
Only seven armorers had accompanied the original 14 planes. Refueling
in particular was a back-breaking job. Crew chiefs regularly
slept under the P-4oo's-in case individual Japanese were able to
slip through the Marine lines. Nothing but combat materiel had
accompanied the first flights to Guadalcanal.
After their repulse on Lunga Ridge, the Japanese evidently retired
to give the Guadalcanal problem some thought. The elements of
their solution, however, did not at once differ importantly from the
familiar pattern. The Tokyo Express still ran and air raids on
Henderson continued, as did the knife work in the bush and the
activities of "Maytag Mike." It was clear that decisive naval actions
and the landing of heavy reinforcements were necessary to secure the
Guadalcanal-Tulagi area. These were in the offing, but not immediately.
The Marines, reinforced by a large convoy on 18 September,
made their preparations. The ilth Group on Espiritu and the 67th
at Henderson carried on.
The October Crisis
N RESTROSPECT October was the crucial month in the Solomons.
Though initially surprised, the Japanese had reacted vigorously
to the American thrust. To begin with, off Savo Island their
guns uncovered the Marine lodgments. Next, tb exploit this advantage,
they dispatched in late August a powerful task force which the
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