Map of the Marshall Islands and a detailed map of Kwajalein Atoll
Sites of US conquest are indicated in black; Japanese-held atolls indicated in red were bypassed.
Roi-Namur is in the upper right corner, Kwajalein Island in the bottom corner; islands are designated with US codenames with native names in parentheses.
Forces of Imperial Japan held several sites in the Marshalls.
Majuro Atoll was targeted by US planners because it would provide an excellent fleet anchorage;[1] its capture was the responsibility of the 2nd Battalion (reinf.) of the US Army's 106th Infantry Regiment plus a reconnaissance company of Marines.[2] Because the Japanese had abandoned it over a year earlier, the atoll was declared secure at 0950 hours on D-Day.[3]
The Japanese command considered Kwajalein Atoll, unlike Majuro, to be vital to the defense of the Marshalls.[a] and had heavily fortified both of its major islands.
Kwajalein is shaped roughly like a boomerang.
Capture of the connected islands of Roi-Namur, located in the northeast corner of the atoll, was the responsibility of the 4th Marine Division.[5] Roi was declared secure at 1802 hours on D+1,[6] Namur at 1418 hours on D+2.[7]
Kwajalein Island is located at the south corner of the atoll; its capture was assigned to the US Army's 7th Infantry Division.[8] The island was declared secure at 1618 hours on D+4.[9]
Eniwetok Atoll, being the furthest to the northwest, lay astride the air supply route for the Japanese, making it another objective for US planners.[10] It was captured as the result of Operation Catchpole in February.
Four other atolls held by the Japanese in the Marshalls (Wotje, Maloelap, Mili and Jaluit) all contained a seaplane base, an airfield or both. These sites were simply bypassed as part of the US "island-hopping" strategy.[11]
The ships and troops of Operations Flintlock were under direct operational command of Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner aboard amphibious command ship Rocky Mount.[14]
Since the Japanese Combined Fleet had stripped most of its air power to defend the base at Rabaul, Admiral Mineichi Koga chose not to challenge the American operations in the Marshalls.[15]
121st Naval Construction Battalion landing on Roi-Namur as 3rd Battalion, 20th MarinesRadio Operators from 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, under fire on NamurExplosion of a torpedo warhead magazine on Namur, 1 Feb 1944A Stuart tank of Company B, 4th Tank Battalion on NamurMarine tanks advance across the airfield on Roi, 1 Feb 1944
Clark, George C. (2006). The Six Marine Divisions in the Pacific: Every Campaign of World War II. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN0-7864-2769-8.
Rottman, Gordon L. (2004). The Marshall Islands 1944: Operation Flintlock, the capture of Kwajalein and Eniwetok. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-1-84176-851-9.
Stanton, Shelby L. (1984). World War II Order of Battle. New York: Galahad Books. ISBN0-88365-775-9.
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