Guadalcanal, part of the Solomon Islands, on August 7, 1942 and fought in the Guadalcanal Campaign until relieved on 22 December 1942. Some of the heaviest action the regiment saw on Guadalcanal took place on August 21, 1942 during the Battle of the Tenaru, which was the first Japanese counter-attack of the campaign. Following their first campaign, the regiment was sent to Melbourne, Australia to rest and refit. During their stay, there they were billeted in the Melbourne Cricket Ground until leaving in September 1943. The 1st Marines' next action was Operation Cartwheel, which was the codename for the campaigns in Eastern New Guinea and New Britain. The regiment was the first ashore at the Battle of Cape Gloucester on December 26, 1943; and continued fighting on the island, at such places as Suicide Creek and Ajar Ridge, until February 1944. The 1st Marines next battle was its bloodiest yet – the Battle of Peleliu. The regiment landed on September 15, 1944 as part of the 1st Marine Division's assault on the island. The division's commanding general, Major General William H. Rupertus had predicted the fighting would be, "...tough but short. It'll be over in three of four days – a fight like Tarawa. Rough but fast. Then we can go back to a rest area.".During the Battle of Peleliu, the regiment was decimated by heavy artillery and accurate small arms fire in the vicinity of Bloody Nose Ridge. Repeated frontal assaults with fixed bayonets failed to unseat the Japanese defenders from the 14th Division (Imperial Japanese Army). The 1st Marines fought on Peleliu for 10 days before being pulled off the lines after suffering 58% casualties and no longer being combat effective. Ten days of fighting on Peleliu cost the 1st Marine Regiment 1,749 casualties. The last World War II engagement for the regiment was the Battle of Okinawa under the command of Colonel Arthur T. Mason. In September 1945, the 1st Marines deployed to North China to take part in the garrisoning of the area and in the repatriation of former enemy personnel. It remained in China until February 1949. It is also likely that they were stationed in North China to bolster the Chinese Nationalists defense against the Chinese Communists. The presence of the 1st Marines was used as leverage by George C. Marshall in 1945–46 to attempt to moderate a settlement to the impending Chinese Civil