American missions against Lunga Point Airfield
July 31, 1942–August 7, 1942

July 31, 1942
(USAAF) Nine B-17s from the 11th Bombardment Group led by Colonel LaVerne G. Saunders took off from Efate on a strike against Lunga Point Airfield and Kukum Beach on Guadalcanal. From this date until the American invasion of Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942, the 11th Bombardment Group flies 56 strike and 22 search sorties in support of the invasion of Guadalcanal.

August 1, 1942
(SOPAC) Three B-17s from 98th BS, 26th BS and 431st BS strike Guadalcanal with their bombs landing near the wharf and Lunga Point Airfield without damage or casualties.

August 7, 1942
(USMC) U.S. Marines from the 1st Marine Division (1st MAR DIV) conduct an amphibious landing at Beach Red (Red Beach) on Guadalcanal. Caught by surprise, the Japanese did not fled to the west without demolishing the radio station, food stocks or construction. Advancing from Beach Read, the 5th Marines advanced along the north coast while the 1st Marines moved inland advancing to the edge of the Ilu River. By 4:00pm, the Marines captured the Lunga Point Airfield area.

Japanese missions against Henderson Field
August 25, 1942–June 16, 1943

August 25, 1942
IJN: During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons (Second Battle of the Solomon Sea), five Japanese destroyers: Yayoi, Mutsuki, Isokaze, Kawakaze and Kagero shelled Henderson Field at night causing only minor damage.

September 14, 1942
At dusk, float planes, mostly F1M2 Petes from Rekata Bay strike at low level from the south. From all accounts, quite a show. They were spread out in a loose gaggle and flew across dropping small bombs and shootin the place up. They in turn suffered heavy losses.

The R-Area Air Force was called upon to provide air support, and Admiral Jojima gathered what he had from the tenders Chitose, Kamikawa Maru, Sanyo Maru and Sanuki Maru: 19 F1M2s, each armed with 60-kilogram bombs, to be escorted by two of Kamikawa Maru's A6M2-Ns. At 5:30 p.m., however, the A6M2-Ns were intercepted near Lunga by F4F-4 Wildcats and one, flown by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matsutaro Omura, was shot down in flames by Lt. j.g. Elisha T. Stover of VF-5. The other Japanese pilot, Lieutenant Jiro Ono, escaped and claimed two of the F4Fs, although none in fact were lost.

Forty minutes later, the F1M2s appeared over Lunga and were attacked by more Wildcats. An F1M2 from Chitose, with Petty Officer 2nd Class Fujiro Yamanaka as its commanding observer, was shot down by Major John F. Dobbin of Marine fighter squadron VMF-224, while 2nd Lt. George L. Hollowell broke up a formation and damaged two F1M2 Petes from Sanuki Maru.

Between 6:25 and 6:30, more F1M2s descended over Henderson in shallow glides, scattering bombs all over the area. Only four or five bombs actually hit the airstrip, causing small fires and destroying a Bell P-400 Airacobra that had already been consigned to the scrapyard. As the Petes retired into the gathering dusk -- hurried along by 5-inch gunfire from the destroyers Sterrett and Hull -- Dobbin engaged one of Sanyo Maru planes in a head-on duel and sent it down in flames, killing Lieutenant Tadashi Yoneda and his observer, WO Yoshiharu Sato. "Smoky" Stover also got into what he called a "real dogfight" with an F1M2, trying to keep up with his surprisingly agile prey through five or six tight scissors maneuvers before the floatplane finally made a bouncing forced landing five miles east of Savo Island.

The Wildcat pilots claimed a total of nine F1M2s and one float-Zero, and the 3rd Defense Battalion's Special Weapons Group claimed two more Petes, but only Omura's A6M2-N and two F1M2s were actually shot down. Several of the returning biplanes had stood up to considerable punishment. One of Hollowell's opponents brought his damaged plane back with his observer, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ichisaku Yamada, wounded. Lieutenant Takeshi Horihashi's F1M2 also returned, although it was so riddled that it capsized and then caught fire shortly after landing. Expending the last of his ammunition on the Pete he had forced down, Stover departed content that it would never fly again, but in spite of the damage the F1M2 had taken, its crew, Seaman 1st Class Hiroshi Takayasu and Lt. j.g. Kaneshige Watanabe, managed to take off and return to Rekata Bay. The floatplane crews claimed five Wildcats shot down -- although the Americans lost none -- along with numerous other aircraft destroyed on the ground, but the Japanese ground offensive against Henderson Field was a failure, and the R-Area Air Force never staged a comparable raid against the air base.

October 1, 1942
(IJN) 4:30 a.m. two F1M2 Petes from Rekata Bay bomb Lunga Point, inaugurating a series of intermittent nocturnal strikes that the biplanes, operating singly or doubly, would make on Guadalcanal. Their few bombs caused little damage, but the nuisance raids kept the Marines awake at night, and the distinctive sound of the biplanes' engines earned them nicknames like "One-Lung Charlie" and "Washing Machine Charlie.". The sound of "Louie the Louse," as the Americans called the slow-flying planes when serving in an observation role, usually served notice that an offshore bombardment was imminent.

October 14, 1942
(IJN) At 1:33am floatplanes release flares to mark Henderson Field. At 1:37am Kongō and Haruna to commence a shore bombardment of Henderson Field firing a total of 918 shells including 14" High Explosive (HE) and Type 3 San Shiki (Sanshikidan) shells that contain 470 individual incendiary submunitions then switched to less effective Armor Piercing (AP). Kongō fired 435 shells and Haruna fired 483 shells. During the bombardment, Isuzu and destroyers provide covering firing targeting shore batteries. The force steams eastward passing Lunga Point firing to starboard, then made a 180 degree turn and fires to port while departing. On the ground, the shelling damaged the two runways, burned fuel and destroyed 48 parked planes and resulted in 41 KIA. Although PT Boats attempt to intercept, they are driven away by Naganami. At 2:30am the force retires northward up "The Slot" at 29 knots.

October 25, 1942
(JAAF) Ki-46 Dinah pilot Captain Hideo of the 76th Independent Air Squadron flew low over Henderson Field and was shot down. It crashed near the strip, and Army helmets were recovered from the wreck. It was soon discovered the dead aircrew wore IJA rather than IJN uniforms. (Ref: First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign page 343)

L/3/5 On The Canal by Tom Cuddihy (narrative of Ore Marion) 181–182
"One of our guys let out a yell.  I looked his way and saw him pointing toward an approaching, low-flyin airplane of a type [Army Ki-46] we hadn't seen before.  It was coming towards us from over the Matanikau-Point Cruz area, which meant that it had to be a Jap, probably from Rabaul. As it got closer, I made out its details: a slow fling, twin engine, non-combat plane with big shiny red meatball on each wing - and its winner of a pilot was now bringing it in at treetop level with its wheels down, showing every sign that he was coming in for a landing. Landing on our airfield! 'Whatis that crazy bastard doing?' one of our guys yelled.  Holy shit! He's coming in for a landing! By now we were all heads-up, wide-eyed and watching... Soon the mysterious plane was broadside to us, and we could see four windows on the side of its fuselage, with faces looking out through those windows - at us.  Those faces beloned to Japanese officers wearing white uniforms, and the fact that we could make out that much detail tells you how close the plane was to our ridge.  It couldnt have been much more than 75 feet from our position, floating in at about the same elevation as our ridgetop.  No one gave the signal or said a word, but no one had to.  Everyone started firing, using every weapon we had. From positions below the ridge and several different directions other Marines were also firing on that misguided champion of a pilot. The plane was flying so low and so slow that we couldn't have missed it with a rock. At least a hundered tracers along with rounds from all kinds of weapons went through that fuselage.  The plane took a sudden, sharp dip below the ridge level and sank into the treetops, out of sight. The next thing we saw was the explosion and some of the thousand flying pieces that recently had been the mystery plane. My guess is that someone back at their headquarters had given these Japanese a bum scoop, leading them to believe that the airfield was captured and they land safely. It had to be something like that because this clearly wasn't a combat plane."

The Leatherneck Boys, page 113
"Sunday, October 25, 1942. One 2 motored reconnaisance plane came over airfield taking pictures. It was beautiful with a big red circle on it and black numbers. This field [Fighter II ?] shot it down! You could see the 20's bursting on the wing. It winged over, 1/2 left wing came off, and it crashed and burned on the beach near us."

November 8, 1942
Comsopac warned Cincpac of the first known presence of Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) planes over Guadalcanal.

November 14, 1942
(IJN) A cruiser force, under the commander of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, included heavy cruisers Chōkai, Kinugasa, Maya, and Suzuya, light cruisers Isuzu and Tenryu, and six destroyers was able to slip into the Guadalcanal area uncontested due to the withdrawal of the battered U.S. naval forces. Suzuya and Maya bombarded Henderson Field. The 35 minute bombardment caused some damage to various aircraft and facilities at the airfield, but didn't put it out of operation. The cruiser force ends the bombardment around 2:30am and clears the area to head towards Rabaul via the Shortlands.

January 27, 1943
(JAAF) A total of 74 Japanese aircraft attack Guadalcanal, the only mission flown by the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) against Guadalcanal. The Japanese formation includes nine Ki-48 Lilys from the 45th Sentai that took off from Munda Airfield escorted by Ki-43-I Oscars from the 1st Sentai and 11th Sentai. Over Guadalcanal, the Japanese formation is intercepted by P-40 Warhawks from the 44th Fighter Squadron and 68th Fighter Squadron. During the air combat, seven Oscars are shot down over Kokumbona to Cape Esperance. Returning, five damaged Ki-43-I Oscars land at Ballale Airfield. The Americans loose seven aircraft including: two P-38s, two P-40s plus two P-40s damaged beyond repair and one F4F likely from VMF-112 ditched due to lack of fuel returning from the misson.

March 23, 1943
(IJN) During the night, three G4M1 Bettys from the 705 Kokutai armed with 60kg and 250kg bombs bombed Henderson Field northwest dispersal area, The attack destroys six bombers including: B-17E "Zero Six Zero" 41-9060, B-17E "Buzz King" 41-9124, B-24D "Flying Gator" 41-23898, B-24D "Shamrock", B-24D "Lone Wolf" and a Hudson from 3 Squadron, RNZAF.

June 16, 1943
Search aircraft report nearly 250 Japanese airplanes at Rabaul and other airfields jammed with aircraft. In air action in the Solomons, about 120 Japanese aircraft converging on Allied vessels off Tulagi and Guadalcanal are met by more than 100 Allied fighters (USAAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, US Navy and US Marine Corps). The skies over Savo and Tulagi, and Cape Esperance and Koli Point are filled with dogfights and flak from ship and ground guns. The battle results in the largest single-day Allied aerial victory of the Solomon Islands campaign; 79 airplanes are claimed shot down by Allied fighters, and AA claims 17 more; 6 Allied fighters are lost. The Japanese succeed in damaging 3 ships (2 of which have to be beached) and cause considerable destruction on Guadalcanal.