Battle of the Tenaru River

Battle of the Tenaru
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Japanese soldiers, killed while assaulting US Marine positions, lie dead on the sandbar at the mouth of Alligator Creek, Guadalcanal after the battle on August 21, 1942.
Date August 21, 1942 Location Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom British Solomon Islands	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Vandegrift Clifton B. Cates	Harukichi Hyakutake Kiyonao Ichiki  †
Units involved
1st Marine Regiment	28th Infantry Regiment Ichiki Detachment
Strength
3,000	917
Casualties and losses
41–44 killed	774–777 killed, 15 captured

 United States
 United Kingdom

28th Infantry Regiment

The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on August 21, 1942 on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign.

In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an assault by the "First Element" of the "Ichiki" Regiment, under the command of Japanese Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field, which was captured by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on August 7. Ichiki's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island.

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