Guadalcanal War Tour

Edsons Ridge
"Bloody Ridge"

Bloody Ridge has two memorials - one for the Allies and one for the Japanese. The Allies memorial has no markings or a plaque but is a pyramid shap and white. The Japanese memorial is further along the ridge and is similar to the one at Tambea. The memorial says:

MEMORIAL TOWER
The Guadalcanal War Dead Person in A.D. 1942.
2nd Division ISAMU SOCIETY
Construction in A.D. 1985

The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces. The Japanese referred to it as 'The Centipede', for the ridge line's shape from the air

It took place September 12–14 September 1942 on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives in the Guadalcanal campaign.

In the battle, U.S. Marines including the 1st Raider Battalion and 1st Parachute Battalions, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Kawaguchi's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces from the island.

The Japanese probed the Marine positions on 12 September 1942, and ferociously attacked on the night of 13th September and the battle continued until the 14th. The Marine line held, with heavy casualties on both sides.

Because of the key participation by Edson's unit in defending the ridge, the ridge was commonly referred to as "Edson's" ridge in historical accounts of the battle in Western sources. After Edson's Ridge, the Japanese continued to send troops to Guadalcanal for further attempts to retake Henderson Field, affecting Japanese offensive operations in other areas of the South Pacific.