Battle for Henderson Field
As lieutenant general and commander of the IJA 2nd Division, Maruyama and his division were deployed to Guadalcanal from September and October, 1942 in response to the Allied landings on the island. During the resulting Guadalcanal campaign, Maruyama led troops during the October 1942 Matanikau action and the subsequent Battle for Henderson Field, in which Maruyama's troops were decisively defeated. Maruyama and the survivors of his division were evacuated from Guadalcanal in February, 1943. Maruyama remained in command of 2nd Division until the beginning of June 1943, when he was transferred to the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff under Field marshall Hajime Sugiyama.