bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Order Of Battle, © 2024 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 11 Apr 2024. 
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WWII Japan's Order of Battle submodule provides an organizational context to the major ground combat operations of the War with Japan. This submodule is under development April 2024 - some pages are incomplete.​
Order of Battle Subpage
Associated Combat Submodule
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The Pacific in World War II
The Pacific in World War II
Scalable Version of Map
Major US Army Pacific Area land campaigns in roughly chronological order with starting date:
  • Philippine Islands, 7 December 1941; 13,847 dead. (RAC: most died as Prisoners of War, may exclude filipino members of Philippine Scouts)
  • Central Pacific, 7 December 1941; 517 dead. (RAC: mostly Hawaiian & Gilbert Islands)
  • East Indies, 1 January 1942; 461 dead. (RAC: most died at sea; land campaign never really happened)
  • Papua, 23 July 1942; 343/671 dead. (RAC: I suspect both of these figures are too low.)
  • Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942; 712 dead.
  • New Guinea, 24 January 1943; 4,684 dead.
  • Northern Solomons, 22 February 1943; 1,774/1,821 dead (New Georgia 1,094 dead; Bougainville 727 dead)
  • Aleutian Islands, 3 June 1943; 818 dead.
  • Bismarck Archipelago, 15 December 1943; 346 dead.
  • Eastern Mandates, 31 Jan 1944; 434 dead. (RAC: mostly Marshall Islands)
  • Western Pacific, 15 June 1944; 3,066 dead. (RAC: mostly Mariana Islands)
  • Leyte, 17 October 1944; 3,504/3,593 dead.
  • Luzon, 15 December 1944; 8,310 dead.
  • Southern Philippines, 27 February 1945; 2,070 dead.
  • Ryukyus, 26 March 1945; 4,718 dead. (RAC: Okinawa & adjoining islands.)
Commentary:
  • The dead counts are only US Army and US Army Air Force dead; excludingAir Force dead who didn't die in a land campaign.
               Major Marine Corps battles in roughly chronological order with starting date
South & SW Pacific:
Solomon Islands:
  • Guadalcanal & Tulagi, 7 Aug 1942, 1st Marine Division, replaced by 2nd Marine Division, Americal Division, & 25th Infantry Division.
  • New Georgia - this was primarily an Army operation but battalion-sized Marine Corps units participated.
  • Bougainville, 1 Nov 1943, 3rd Marine Division (400 dead) & 37th Infantry Division.
Bismarck Archipelago:
  • Cape Gloucester, 26 Dec 1943, 1st Marine Division (310 dead).
Central Pacific:
Gilbert Islands:
  • Tarawa, 20 Nov 1943, 2nd Marine Division (1,009 dead)
Marshall Islands:
  • Kwajalein, 31 Jan 1944, 4th Marine Division (augmented) & 7th Infantry Division (total 531 dead).
  • Eniwetok, 17 Feb 1944, 22nd Marine Regt. & 106th Infantry Regt. (total 390 dead).
Mariana Islands:
  • Saipan, 15 Jun 1944, 2nd & 4th Marine Divisions & 27th Infantry Division.
  • Guam, 21 Jul 1944, 3rd Marine Division (1,568 dead) & 77th Infantry Division.
  • Tinian, 24 Jul 1944, 4th & 2nd Marine Divisions (368 dead).
Palau Islands:
  • Palau Islands - Peleliu, 15 Sep 1944, 1st Marine Division (1,336 dead) & 81st Infantry Division.
Iwo Jima & Okinawa:
  • Volcano Islands - Iwo Jima, 3rd, 4th & 5th Marine Divisions. This was a Marine Corps operation except for an Army garrison regiment that fought after the Marines left..
  • Ryukyu Islands/Okinawa, 1st & 6th Marine Divisions (3,440 dead; 118 naval medical personnel dead).
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > Order of Battle webpage: