Operation KE: The Cactus Air Force and the Japanese Withdrawal from Guadalcanal by Roger Letourneau
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Overview: Operation KE explores the air combat that attended the Japanese evacuation of Guadalcanal in early 1943 – a topic which has hitherto received very little attention. Operation KE was successful largely because Japanese strategic planning and tactical execution was basically sound. The traditional view holds that the Japanese got away with the initiative largely because the Americans let them; the US Pacific high command felt it was not worth the effort to try and stop them. Letourneau contends that this was not entirely the case. He argues that the Cactus Air Force and Guadalcanal-based naval units did their best to disrupt the evacuation, still believing that the Tokyo Express was bringing reinforcements and supplies to the 17th Army. Other US forces in the South Pacific did make a half-hearted and questionably-executed attempt to stop the Japanese, but were bluffed into adopting a "wait-and-see" posture.
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, War
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