History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II is the official history of the Corps during the war. Its five volumes were published beginning in 1958. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
In the Preface to Volume I, Maj. Gen. E.W. Snedeker, the Marine Corps Assistant Chief of Staff, wrote, "By publishing this operational history in a durable form, it is hoped to make the Marine Corps record permanently available for the study of military personnel, the edification of the general public, and the contemplation of serious scholars of military history." [6] Much of the content of the series was derived from 15 historical monographs describing individual campaigns which were prepared soon after the end of World War II. Some of the monographs were expanded by their original authors for inclusion in the current works, while other authors expanded the rest and wrote original material. Japanese sources which had not been available earlier were consulted.
In addition to the main text, each volume includes photographs, appendices, and maps. The appendices contain a chronology, orders of battle, statistics, and guides to military map symbols and abbreviations. Small maps are included within the text and larger ones fold out from inside the back cover.
"This book covers Marine Corps participation through the first precarious years of World War II, when disaster piled on disaster and there seemed no way to check Japanese aggression." [6] It begins with an overview of the Corps' development of its amphibious warfare doctrine and landing craft, the Corps' expansion beginning in 1940, and the replacement of British forces in Iceland in July 1941. Further sections describe Marine Corps actions during the Pearl Harbor attack, the defense of Wake Island, the loss of the Philippines, the battle of Midway, and the struggle for Guadalcanal.
This volume describes the series of campaigns during which the Allied forces moved north and west along the Solomon Islands chain from Guadalcanal to Bougainville Island and leapt west to New Britain island in the Bismarck Archipelago. An earlier intention to recapture Rabaul was replaced by a plan to reduce that Japanese base solely by air action, and the last section of this volume describes the Marines' contribution to that isolation.
This volume opens with a review of early plans for a war against Japan and how they evolved into the strategy eventually followed in the "island hopping" central Pacific Ocean campaigns. It continues with the battles to secure Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands; the islands of Roi-Namur, Kwajalein, Engebi, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls; and Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in the Mariana Islands.
Volume IV opens with the development of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, which began in the 1920s, and describes the gradual inclusion of aviation in the Corps' structure. It continues with sections describing the bitter fight for Peleliu, the Marines' contribution to the primarily Army campaign to recapture the Philippines, and the iconic battle for Iwo Jima. A separate section describes Marine aviation during the campaigns for the Marianas, Carolines, and Iwo Jima.
Half of this volume is devoted to the final campaign of World War II, the invasion and capture of Okinawa. Most of the balance describes plans for the invasion of Japan, the occupation of Japan after its surrender, and the little-known, and futile, efforts to mediate between the Kuomintang and Mao Zedong's Communist forces. It concludes with a retrospective on amphibious warfare and a summary chapter called "A Final Accounting".
Volumes I, II, III, and V were published by the Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Volume IV was published by the Historical Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. They were printed and offered for sale by the Government Printing Office. All five are available as PDFs: , , , , and .
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the first major land offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The operation involved loading personnel or supplies aboard fast warships, later submarines, and using the warships' speed to deliver the personnel or supplies to the desired location and return to the originating base all within one night so Allied aircraft could not intercept them by day.
Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the Supreme Allied Commander in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), General Douglas MacArthur, whose forces had advanced along the northeast coast of New Guinea and occupied nearby islands. Allied forces from the South Pacific Area, under Admiral William Halsey, advanced through the Solomon Islands toward Bougainville. The Allied forces involved were from Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the US and various Pacific Islands.
The New Georgia campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied strategy in the South Pacific to isolate the Japanese base around Rabaul. The campaign took place in the New Georgia group of islands, in the central Solomon Islands and followed the Allied capture of the Russell Islands. The main fighting took place on New Georgia island itself, although significant actions also took place around the island chain throughout the campaign.
The South Pacific Area (SOPAC) was a multinational U.S.-led military command active during World War II. It was a part of the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas under Admiral Chester Nimitz.
The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific. The campaign took place in the Northern Solomons in two phases. The first phase, in which American troops landed and held the perimeter around the beachhead at Torokina, lasted from November 1943 through November 1944.
The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942. The Japanese occupied these locations and began the construction of several naval and air bases with the goals of protecting the flank of the Japanese offensive in New Guinea, establishing a security barrier for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain, and providing bases for interdicting supply lines between the Allied powers of the United States and Australia and New Zealand.
Takeo Itō was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
The Raid on Choiseul was a small unit engagement that occurred from October 28 to November 3, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign, and was launched to divert Japanese from the Allied landings at Cape Torokina, on Bougainville Island. During the raid, United States Marines from the 2nd Parachute Battalion, landed on Japanese-occupied Choiseul in the northern Solomon Islands and carried out raids on Japanese army and navy forces over a 25-mile (40 km) area over the course of seven days with the assistance of local Choiseul islanders and an Australian coastwatcher. The force was withdrawn back to Vella Lavella by landing craft following the successful lodgment of US troops on Bougainville.
AirSols was a combined, joint command of Allied air units in the Solomon Islands campaign of World War II, from April 1943 to June 1944. It was subordinate to the Allied but U.S.-led Commander, South Pacific Area, itself part of Pacific Ocean Areas. AirSols superseded and absorbed the Cactus Air Force, which controlled Allied air units in the Solomons during 1942–43. AirSols was made up of United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the Thirteenth Air Force, United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) forces.
Minoru Sasaki sometimes referred to as Noburo Sasaki, was a Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
The Matanikau River of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, is located in the northwest part of the island. During the World War II Guadalcanal campaign, several significant engagements occurred between United States and Japanese forces near the river.
The Battle of the Koromokina Lagoon was fought between the United States Marine Corps and Imperial Japanese Army forces on Bougainville Island. It took place on 7–8 November 1943 during the Bougainville campaign.
Tadayoshi Sano was a lieutenant general and commander in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II.
The Battle of Viru Harbor was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II that took place on New Georgia island during the New Georgia Campaign from 28 June – 1 July 1943. It was one of the first actions of the campaign and involved an overland advance by elements of a Marine Raider battalion, supported by a United States Army infantry company. Supported by airstrikes, the Marines carried out an enveloping attack on the Japanese defenders around the harbor and forced them to withdraw. The harbor was subsequently used by US forces to support further operations, although plans to build a PT boat base in the area were later canceled when the harbor was found to be unsuitable.
The Battle of Wickham Anchorage took place during the New Georgia campaign in the Solomon Islands during the Pacific War from 30 June – 3 July 1943. During the operation US Marines and US Army troops landed by ship around Oleana Bay on Vangunu Island and advanced overland towards the anchorage where they attacked a garrison of Imperial Japanese Navy and Army troops. The purpose of the attack by the U.S. was to secure the lines of communication and supply between Allied forces involved in the New Georgia campaign and Allied bases in the southern Solomons. The U.S. forces were successful in driving the Japanese garrison from the area and securing the anchorage, which would later be used to stage landing craft for subsequent operations.
The Drive on Munda Point was an offensive by mainly United States Army forces against Imperial Japanese forces on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from 2–17 July 1943. The Japanese forces, mainly from the Imperial Japanese Army, were guarding an airfield at Munda Point on the western coast of the island that the U.S. wished to capture as one of the key objectives of the New Georgia campaign. After landing around Zanana on 2 July from Rendova, U.S. troops began a westward advance towards the airfield at Munda. Held up by difficult terrain and stubborn Japanese defense, elements of three U.S. regiments advanced slowly along the Munda trail over the course of two weeks. The slow progress resulted in a reorganization of the U.S. forces assigned to the drive, and preparations were made for a corps-level offensive, but before this could be launched, the Japanese launched a counterattack on 17 July.
The New Georgia counterattack was a counterattack on 17–18 July 1943 by mainly Imperial Japanese Army troops against United States Army forces during the New Georgia campaign in the Solomon Islands. The U.S. and its allies were attempting to capture an airfield constructed by the Japanese at Munda Point on New Georgia with which to support further advances towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul as part of Operation Cartwheel.
The Battle of Munda Point was a battle, from 22 July – 5 August 1943, between primarily United States Army and Imperial Japanese Army forces during the New Georgia Campaign in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific War. The battle took place following a landing by U.S. troops on the western coast of New Georgia from Rendova, as part of an effort to capture the Japanese airfield that had been constructed at Munda Point. This advance had become bogged down and while the Allies brought forward reinforcements and supplies, the Japanese had launched a counterattack on 17–18 July. This effort was ultimately unsuccessful and afterwards U.S. forces launched a corps-level assault to reinvigorate their effort to capture the airfield. Against this drive, Japanese defenders from three infantry regiments offered stubborn resistance, but were ultimately forced to withdraw, allowing U.S. forces to capture the airfield on 5 August. The airfield later played an important role in supporting the Allied campaign on Bougainville in late 1943.
The 38th Division was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army, activated 30 June 1939 in Nagoya, simultaneously with the 39th, 40th and 41st Divisions. Its call sign was the Swamp Division.