Puller, Munro, and Monssen - the daring resuce of 1/7 Marines - 2nd Battle of the Matanikau Part II
Sun Feb 01 2026
2nd Matanikau - Guadalcanal and Pullers rescue of the 1/7th Marines.
The 2nd Battle of the Matanikau Part II - This is the eighth episode of our Guadalcanal series with historian and author Dave Holland.
This episode discusses:
What was the plan for 27 September, and why was it inherently risky?
How did a breakdown in command-and-control affect the Marines' river-crossing plan at the Matanikau River?
How did the Japanese react so fast, and what trap did they set behind Chesty Puller?
Why did the Raiders get stopped short of the One Log Bridge—and what happened to Ken Bailey?
What role did comms failure play once the fight started to go wrong?
How did the amphibious "end run" force end up trapped west of Point Cruz?
What made the situation worse once they were cut off—equipment and radios?
How did the "HELP" undershirt signal actually work, and what did the pilot do?
How was the rescue executed—who coordinated it, and what enabled withdrawal under fire?
What were the lessons learnt and why are they important today?
Who was Samuel B. Griffith?
*]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "59f613f3-b8a9-420c-bd76-32fbc72206af" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> Dave Holland is an ex-Marine and was posted to Guadalcanal with the Australian Federal Police. He regularly leads battlefield study tours through the area. He is a world-leading expert on the battles of Guadalcanal and author of Guadalcanal's Longest Fight - The Pivotal Battles of the Matanikau Front.
Check out the show notes for this episode.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/principlesofwar - if you've learnt something from this episode and you can afford it, please support the podcast at Patreon.
Great Professional Military Education for your Unit. This episode covers C2, Littoral Manoeuvre and naval support to land operations.
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2nd Matanikau - Guadalcanal and Pullers rescue of the 1/7th Marines. The 2nd Battle of the Matanikau Part II - This is the eighth episode of our Guadalcanal series with historian and author Dave Holland. This episode discusses: What was the plan for 27 September, and why was it inherently risky? How did a breakdown in command-and-control affect the Marines' river-crossing plan at the Matanikau River? How did the Japanese react so fast, and what trap did they set behind Chesty Puller? Why did the Raiders get stopped short of the One Log Bridge—and what happened to Ken Bailey? What role did comms failure play once the fight started to go wrong? How did the amphibious "end run" force end up trapped west of Point Cruz? What made the situation worse once they were cut off—equipment and radios? How did the "HELP" undershirt signal actually work, and what did the pilot do? How was the rescue executed—who coordinated it, and what enabled withdrawal under fire? What were the lessons learnt and why are they important today? Who was Samuel B. Griffith? *]:pointer-events-auto [content-visibility:auto] supports-[content-visibility:auto]:[contain-intrinsic-size:auto_100lvh] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" tabindex="-1" data-turn-id= "59f613f3-b8a9-420c-bd76-32fbc72206af" data-testid= "conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn= "assistant"> Dave Holland is an ex-Marine and was posted to Guadalcanal with the Australian Federal Police. He regularly leads battlefield study tours through the area. He is a world-leading expert on the battles of Guadalcanal and author of Guadalcanal's Longest Fight - The Pivotal Battles of the Matanikau Front. Check out the show notes for this episode. https://www.patreon.com/cw/principlesofwar - if you've learnt something from this episode and you can afford it, please support the podcast at Patreon. Great Professional Military Education for your Unit. This episode covers C2, Littoral Manoeuvre and naval support to land operations.