Cactus Air Force refers to the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the early stages of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. After December, the official name of the unit became Commander, Aircraft, Solomons (AirSols), but Cactus Air Force was still used frequently to refer to the organization. The term "Cactus" comes from the Allied code name for the island. In April 1943 the organization was redesignated as AirSols.
Read more about Cactus Air Force: Background, Henderson Field, Living Conditions, Commanders, Japanese, Tactics Employed, Coastwatchers, Aftermath, Medal of Honor Recipients, Order of Battle, Aircraft Flown
Famous quotes containing the words cactus, air and/or force:
“This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“It so happened that, a few weeks later, “Old Ernie” [Ernest Hemingway] himself was using my room in New York as a hide-out from literary columnists and reporters during one of his rare stopover visits between Africa and Key West. On such all-too-rare occasions he lends an air of virility to my dainty apartment which I miss sorely after he has gone and all the furniture has been repaired.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)