1. A Stunning Success
American occupation forces were also ferried to Germany, Japan, Korea, and China. Simultaneously, Chinese troops were sealifted from southern to northern China to disarm the Japanese, as well as to oppose Chinese communists in the region. Simultaneously, hundreds of thousands of disarmed Japanese were shipped from all over eastern and southern Asia, as well as numerous Pacific islands, back to the Japanese home islands.
It had taken nearly four years for America to deploy over eight million servicemen overseas during WWII. It would take only 14 months to reverse the torrent, and return most of them back home. In short, Operation Magic Carpet was an enormous, and enormously successful, feat of logistics, planning, and execution – a fitting end to America’s experience in WWII.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Chun, Clayton K.S. – The Doolittle Raid 1942: America’s First Strike Back at Japan (2006)
Dahl, Hans Frederik – Quisling: A Study in Treachery (1999)
Hoidal, Oddvar K. – Quisling: A Study in Treason (1989)
Lowry, Thomas, and Wellham, John W.G. – The Attack on Taranto: Blueprint For Pearl Harbor (1995)
National Naval Aviation Museum – Magic Carpet Ride
Naval History and Heritage Command – Doolittle Raid
New York Times, November 18th, 2003 – Mitchell Paige, 85, Guadalcanal Hero, Dies
Universal Ship Cancellation Society – Operation Magic Carpet
US Naval Institute News – Camouflaged Ships: An Illustrated History
Warfare History Network – U.S. Involvement in WWII: How (and How Much) the Military Grew
War History Online – The Ship That Disguised Itself as an Island to Evade the Japanese in WWII
We Are the Mighty – That Time a Dutch Warship Pretended to be an Island to Evade the Enemy
We Are the Mighty – This Medal of Honor Recipient Walked 200 Miles to Serve in the Marines
