Washing Machine Charlie was a name given by the Allies (primarily the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

) to Imperial Japanese aircraft that performed usually solitary, nocturnal operations over Henderson Field on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

during the Guadalcanal campaign, as well as over other Allied bases during the

Solomon Islands campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, ...

, during the Pacific Theatre of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The name came from the distinctive sound of the aircraft's engines. The Japanese sent solitary aircraft on night-time missions over Guadalcanal and later other islands held by the Allies for various reasons, including scouting, dropping flares over Allied positions to assist Japanese naval or ground forces operating on or near the island, bombing airfields and installations, or simply harassing troops and disrupting their sleep. Various aircraft were used, including ship- or shore-based single-engine

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characterist ...

from the

R-Area Air Force was a unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during the Pacific War that was involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign and Solomon Islands Campaign. The unit operated seaplanes with a primary mission to protect resupply convoys head ...

, and occasionally twin-engine

Mitsubishi G4M The Mitsubishi G4M was a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. Its official design ...

bombers whose pilots made sure the engines were out of synchronization. The vibration created by the engines would wake most people; the readiness alert for potential bombs or combat would then keep the soldiers awake for the rest of the night. Later in the war,

night fighters A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ...

were used to stop these raiders. Independent of Japanese operations, a similar term, Bedcheck Charlie, was used in the European theatre to describe lone

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

aircraft that would appear over Allied lines in the late afternoon and evenings.

References

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External links

* * * * {{cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HuyZfTiUE2cC , title=Guadalcanal Legacy, 50th Anniversary, 1942-1992, Volume 2 , work=Philip D. Birkitt, Turner Publishing Company, Eugene L. Keller, isbn=9781563110535 , last1=Birkitt , first1=Philip D. , last2=Keller , first2=Eugene L. , year=1992 Pacific theatre of World War II European theatre of World War II

See also

References

External links