The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944

by Ian W. Toll

But Operation “Shoestring,” as WATCHTOWER was ruefully nicknamed by the men who carried it out, vindicated King’s philosophy of the early counterattack. In subsequent operations of 1942 and 1943, north and south of the equator, planners had been forced to work against oppressive deadlines and commanders had been forced to rely on deficient or awkward logistics. But the Americans had always appeared before they were anticipated, and the Japanese had been obliged to fight earlier than they would have liked. “Everywhere, I think, you attacked before the defense was ready,” Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura told interrogators after the war. “You came far more quickly than we expected.”103 On many other islands where the defenses were mature, the Americans merely leaped past them and let the defenders “wither on the vine.”