The Imperial Japanese Navy’s (IJN) Operation Ke was comparable with the Allied evacuations of Gallipoli and Dunkirk. It was a masterful operation that saw large numbers of effectively trapped and defeated, diseased, and starving Japanese troops spirited away from Guadalcanal on mainly IJN destroyers.
While the evacuation itself was a largely naval affair, there was considerable aviation activity both on behalf of the Allied and Japanese air forces and navies.
On the water, navies from both sides were heavily involved using anything from PT boats to aircraft carriers. All were involved in gruelling day and night warfare and, while the Japanese were generally battle-hardened, the Allies, mainly the Americans, were better equipped and had greater numbers.
This interesting, well-illustrated, but perhaps overly detailed little book presents a day-by-day, blow-by-blow account seen from both sides. The action was practically non-stop and thus exhausting for all concerned. The authors capture that aspect very well.
The venue was a tropical island paradise, albeit a disease ridden one. The diseases, of course, afflicted both sides, but they were an important factor in the battles.
While the Guadalcanal campaign was successful for the Allies and formed something of a turning point in the Pacific War, it was, like the earlier Battle of Milne Bay, on the western side of the Solomon Sea, a bad omen for the Japanese. That was despite Operation Ke being a textbook evacuation.
Their evacuated troops and ship’s and air crews mostly retired to Rabaul from where many of them became fatally involved in the subsequent Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Others were left to “rot on the vine” in Rabaul or Bougainville.
This book is a very interesting and informative account of one of World War II’s most important events.
Authors: Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman
Available from Avonmore Books, Kent Town, South Australia
