Description

This fourth volume focuses exclusively on confrontations between the Japanese Naval Air Force (JNAF) and Allied air power in the Solomons theatre between 1943 and 1944.  Following the bloody 1942 Guadalcanal campaign, the JNAF fought a largely defensive war in the Solomons against gathering Allied forces. Perhaps surprisingly, right through to the end of 1943, the JNAF offered significant resistance to the Allies and never ceded air superiority in the vicinity of its key base of Rabaul. Only in 1944, when units were withdrawn to the Central Pacific and the Philippines, was the JNAF presence in the South Pacific finally wound down to just a token force. Illustrated throughout with photographs and colour profiles.