The Japanese forces were completely surrounded.
The brutal Battle of Tassafaronga in November of 1942 had left them in an increasingly precarious
position, and the men at Guadalcanal knew that continuing to defend the island was futile.
As the US Marines and Navy got closer, the Japanese had to choose between fighting
to the last man or retreating in a desperate attempt to see another day.
It was then that the Imperial High Command asked Emperor Hirohito for a complete withdrawal.
The plea was heard, and soon the Japanese launched Operation Ke, a massive and ambitious plan
to save as many soldiers as possible while being entirely overpowered by air and sea.
More than ten thousand men were the target, and the only way to do it was right under the noses of
American forces ruthlessly attacking them... Recapturing Guadalcanal
Eight months after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, the 1st Division of the United States
Marine Corps was finally ready for payback. Supported by naval and air bombardments,
the leathernecks landed on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the eastern Solomons on August 7,
1942, to the complete shock of the Japanese. The objective was to deny the enemy the use of local
bases that would threaten allied supply routes. The following day, the Marines captured Tulagi
and the Japanese airfield at Lunga Point, which they would later rename Henderson Field. From
this base, the allied Cactus Air Force would operate from August to December of 1942.
However, the Japanese forces quickly retaliated while the Marines celebrated their anticipated
victory, and at the Battle of Savo Island, the Imperial Japanese Navy undertook a night surface
attack that almost annihilated the American Navy ships that had supported the US landings.
It would become the worst defeat of a single fleet in US Navy history, and for the following months,
the battle for Guadalcanal raged on between the Marines and the Japanese soldiers.
Both sides struggled without additional troops and resources, but the Americans
were eventually resupplied. With their increased presence on land and sea, the Japanese transport
ships could not deliver men and goods as they were repeatedly assaulted by the Cactus Air
Force operating from within Guadalcanal. On October 11, during the Battle of Cape
Esperance, the Imperial Navy dispatched a task force of heavy cruisers and destroyers to protect
a significant supply and reinforcement convoy. A relentless night battle then broke out in
the middle of the night after the US Navy spotted the Japanese and obstructed the supply operation.
Still, the Japanese fought valiantly and recaptured Henderson Field,
but morale quickly began to diminish without proper supplies and fresh reinforcements.
Throughout the rest of November, the Americans and Japanese engaged with each other in multiple
naval and land encounters, and the Imperial Navy delivered 7,000 soldiers and supplies
in a third and last effort to retake Henderson Field and destroy the Cactus Air Force.
They ultimately failed, and the famine spread swiftly among the ranks. Malnutrition,
coupled with a lack of ammunition and troops, quickly reduced the enemy’s combat effectiveness.
Starvation Island
After the Allied forces attacked the occupied Buna-Gona, the Japanese Combined Fleet Naval
leaders concluded that New Guinea posed a more significant threat to
the security of the Empire than the American presence at Guadalcanal.
During a reunion at the Army headquarters in Tokyo, Major General Kenryo Sato,
the War Ministry’s chief of its Military Affairs Bureau, suggested to Prime Minister General
Hideki Tojo that withdrawal from the island was inevitable: (QUOTE) “We have no choice.
Even now it may be too late. If we go on like this, we have no chance of winning the war.”
Emperor Hirohito was still committed to sending 95,000 tons of supplies to the starving troops at
Guadalcanal, but after four months of gruesome combat under the burning sun and the tropical
diseases, the realities of the costly campaign to push back the US forces began to sink in.
On December 23, Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake,
the commander of the Seventeenth Japanese Army on Guadalcanal, wrote: (QUOTE) “No food available,
and we can no longer send out scouts. We can do nothing to withstand the enemy’s offensive.
Seventeenth Army now requests permission to break into the enemy’s positions and
die an honorable death rather than die of hunger in our own dugouts.”
The Imperial Navy blamed the Army for such a desperate situation,
arguing that the Army did not effectively use the men and equipment given. Meanwhile,
the Army blamed the Navy for not supplying enough food and ammunition for the soldiers.
After four days of meaningless discussion, it was agreed that Guadalcanal could not be recaptured.
Then, on December 28, General Hajime Sugiyama and Admiral Osami Nagano informed Emperor
Hirohito of the intended withdrawal. He would finally agree two days later.
Planning a Withdrawal
In early January of 1943, the Combined Fleet and the 8th Area Army put together Operation Ke, the
evacuation of Guadalcanal’s malnourished garrison. The plan was divided into two phases. The first
called for an Army battalion to land with supplies on Guadalcanal
around January 14 and act as the rear guard for the evacuation. The second phase would
begin with the withdrawal of the 17th Army to the western section of Guadalcanal around January 26.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Navy would launch an air and sea superiority campaign around
the Southern Solomon Islands to distract the Allied forces from a false offensive.
In addition, Port Darwin, Australia, the Marshall Islands, and other locations would
be assaulted to further increase the confusion. These deceptive operations would be accompanied
by false radio traffic to fool the Americans into thinking that another offensive was imminent.
These maneuvers would allow the 17th Army survivors to be picked up in three lifts
by destroyers, and submarines would pick up the soldiers left behind.
If everything went accordingly, Operation Ke would end by February 10.
Operation Ke
The Japanese transports continued their supply runs during the first days of January.
Then, on the 14th, nine destroyers delivered the Yano Battalion, the contingent of 750 men
under the command of Major Keiji Yano that would serve as the rear guard.
Accompanying Yano was Lieutenant Colonel Kumao Imoto, who was tasked with delivering
the withdrawal orders to General Hyakutake. During the first minutes of their walk through
the silent jungle in the middle of the night, the men from Yano’s contingent were met with a
harsh dose of reality. Bodies of deceased Japanese soldiers were everywhere. Imoto would later write:
(QUOTE) “The trail that led to Seventeenth Army headquarters was a trail of corpses.”
When the details of Operation Ke were given to General Hyakutake, he felt both relief
and shame. He wanted to go down in combat but also wished to live to see his men survive: (QUOTE) "It
is a very difficult task for the Army to withdraw under existing circumstances. However, the orders
of the Area Army, based upon orders of the Emperor, must be carried out at any cost. I cannot
guarantee it can be completely carried out." Sacrifices had to be made, and all the troops
left behind were encouraged to take their own lives to honor the Empire instead of surrendering.
The 38th Division was the first to disengage and withdraw towards Cape Esperance.
Still, many men were left behind while giving ground to the American forces they were fighting.
The withdrawal of the 38th was covered by Yano’s contingent, while the 2nd Division desperately
evacuated Kokumbona before the American 25th Infantry Division of the US Army encircled them.
Some Japanese units were left behind and fought to the last man to protect their comrades.
By January 23, the US had captured Kokumbona, and three days later,
the Army and Marine units attempted to halt the advance of the retreating Japanese.
Still, they were stopped by the Yano Battalion at the Marmura River.
On January 29, Yano retreated across the Bonegi River,
and the Japanese 2nd Division held its ground for over three days
before shore bombardments from US destroyers forced them to get on the move.
Meanwhile, hellish firefights took place over the skies of Guadalcanal, with American and Japanese
dogfights trying to support their ground units. As this happened, a US Navy task force confronted
two Japanese air groups near Rennell Island at sea, and the Chicago cruiser was hit by
two torpedoes and sunk. Wichita and Louisville were also hit but kept the fighting formation.
By February 2, most of the Japanese garrison had made it to the western sector,
and the Imperial Navy gathered its task force to begin the extraction.
The US forces believed that the enemy was reinforcing the island and mobilized men
and ships, but it was too late. Japanese Val attack aircraft sank the destroyer USS De Haven
and damaged the USS Nicholas while the first evacuation run was in progress.
After boarding about 4,900 men from the 38th Division,
the enemy transport destroyers departed and left the battle zone.
The second evacuation run took place on February 4. With more American units making their way to
the west, the retreat was more difficult, but Yano’s battalion resisted at the Segilau River.
The evacuation began at 11:30am, as 20 Japanese destroyers fought against 74
enemy aircraft and dozens of US Navy PT boats.
An hour later, Hyakutake and 3,900 men from the 2nd Division were extracted.
The American forces kept advancing every night until the less than 2,000 Japanese
soldiers that remained were almost entirely surrounded, and the last evacuation group
arrived at 12:03am hours on February 8 to take those remaining soldiers, including Yano’s men.
By 1:32am, Operation Ke had finished with considerable success. About 600 Japanese
soldiers lost their lives and about 3,000 were injured, but more than 10,000 had been extracted.
Still, the American forces never knew it was a withdrawal until
they noticed there was not a single Japanese survivor left on the island…
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