Two months later , the Allies took advantage of Japan 's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched Military_operation the Guadalcanal Campaign ; this , along with the New Guinea Campaign , eventually broke Destroying Japanese defenses Defending in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing Causation factor to Japan 's ultimate surrender Surrendering in World War II .

The Actions along the Matanikau—sometimes referred to as the Second and Third Battles of the Matanikau—were two separate but related Cause_to_be_included engagements Hostile_encounter , which took place Process_start in the months of September and October 1942 , among a series of engagements between the United States and Imperial Japanese naval and ground forces Causation around the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal ( island in the southwestern Pacific , northeast of Australia ) during the Guadalcanal Campaign .

The Actions along the Matanikau—sometimes referred to as the Second and Third Battles of the Matanikau—were two separate but related Cause_to_be_included engagements Hostile_encounter , which took place Process_start in the months of September and October 1942 , among a series of engagements between the United States and Imperial Japanese naval and ground forces Causation around the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal ( island in the southwestern Pacific , northeast of Australia ) during the Guadalcanal Campaign .

Allied losses Earnings_and_losses in the battle Military_operation were at a rate higher than that experienced at Guadalcanal .

The Japanese activities on Tulagi and Guadalcanal were observed Perception_active by Allied reconnaissance aircraft , as well as by Australian coastwatcher personnel stationed in the area .

Because these activities threatened Warning the Allied supply and communication lines in the South Pacific , Allied forces counter-attacked Attack with landings of their own on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August 1942 , initiating Process_start the critical Guadalcanal campaign and a series of combined arms battles between Allied and Japanese forces that , along with the New Guinea campaign , decided the course of the war in the South Pacific .

Because these activities threatened Warning the Allied supply and communication lines in the South Pacific , Allied forces counter-attacked Attack with landings of their own on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August 1942 , initiating Process_start the critical Guadalcanal campaign and a series of combined arms battles between Allied and Japanese forces that , along with the New Guinea campaign , decided the course of the war in the South Pacific .

The battle coincided with the Allied invasion of French North Africa in Operation Torch on 8 November , the Battle of Stalingrad and the Guadalcanal Campaign .

Isoroku Yamamoto , commander of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy , was killed Killing on Bougainville Island when his transport bomber aircraft was shot down Use_firearm by United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft operating Being_in_operation from Kukum Field on Guadalcanal .

The Japanese decided Deciding to withdraw Escaping and concede Giving Guadalcanal to Allied forces for several reasons .

All attempts by the IJA to recapture Conquering Henderson Field , the airfield on Guadalcanal in use Using by Allied aircraft , had been repulsed Defending with heavy losses .

These losses Earnings_and_losses , plus the projected resources needed for further attempts to recapture Conquering Guadalcanal , were affecting Influence strategic security and operations in other areas of the Japanese Empire .

The operation Military_operation began Process_start on 14 January 1943 with the delivery Military_operation of a battalion of infantry troops to Guadalcanal to act as rearguard for the evacuation .

Two days later , Japanese aircraft sank Motion_directional a US destroyer near Guadalcanal .

On 9 February , Allied forces realized Coming_to_believe that the Japanese were gone Self_motion and declared Expressing_publicly Guadalcanal secure , ending Process_end the six-month campaign for control of the island .