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Subpages: Gilbert Islands Marshall Islands Mariana Islands Marianas Naval War Palau Islands
Other Links: Naval War with Japan
Subpages: Gilbert Islands Marshall Islands Mariana Islands Marianas Naval War Palau Islands
Other Links: Naval War with Japan
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Central Pacific > Marshall Islands, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 8 Jun 2025
The Marshall Islands, 31 January - 22 February 1944
The Marshall Islands, 31 January - 22 February 1944
The Marshall Islands were a former German colony administered by Japan as a League of Nations mandate after WWI. They were sometimes called the Eastern Mandates, to distinguish from the Mariana and Caroline islands further to the west, which the Japanese also administered.
US forces had captured the Gilbert Islands to the south in November 1943. The Marshall Islands were far better suited to serve as advance operating bases during attacks on the Mariana and Caroline islands.
US Marine and Army forces attacked three major atolls in the Marshall Islands:
US forces had captured the Gilbert Islands to the south in November 1943. The Marshall Islands were far better suited to serve as advance operating bases during attacks on the Mariana and Caroline islands.
US Marine and Army forces attacked three major atolls in the Marshall Islands:
- Majuro in the southeast Marshalls was lightly defended and was taken without US casualties by a force of about 1,000 on 31 January.
- Kwajalein in the central Marshalls is about 300 miles northwest of Majuro.
- Eniwetok, also spelled Eniwetak, in the extreme northwest Marshalls is about 400 miles northwest of Kwajalein.
With the Marshall Islands in US control, they were developed as base areas for the mid-1944 operations in the Mariana Islands.
Sources for Big Pigeon's Central Pacific > Marshall Islands webpage:
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - Central Pacific > Marshall Islands:
† Jones, Paul Bernard, SN 297,023, US Marine Corps, Webster Co.
- The Kwajalein Atoll, January 1944 map is courtesy of the United States Military Academy at https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/world-war-two-asia.
- The Eniwetok Atoll, 1944 map is courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Eniwetok_map.png.
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - Central Pacific > Marshall Islands:
- Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Dead module.
† Jones, Paul Bernard, SN 297,023, US Marine Corps, Webster Co.
- Co. C, 1st Bn., 22nd Marine Regt.; KIA 22 Feb 1944 Parry Is., near Eniwetok Is., Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Is.
- WWII Japan > Central Pacific > Marshall Islands @ Battle of Parry Is.