Lunga Point
The Japanese were taken by surprise. By nightfall on 8 August, the 11,000 Allied troops—primarily from the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Alexander Vandegrift—secured Tulagi and nearby small islands as well as the Japanese airfield under construction at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal. The Allies later renamed the airfield Henderson Field. Allied aircraft operating out of Henderson were called the "Cactus Air Force" (CAF) after the Allied code name for Guadalcanal. To protect the airfield, the U.S. Marines established a perimeter defense around Lunga Point. Additional reinforcements over the next two months later increased the number of U.S. troops at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal to more than 20,000.