Memoir '44: Pacific Theater

A coral atoll lost in the vast expanse of the North Pacific, Wake Island was home to "PAAville", a small stop-over on Pan American Airways' U.S.-China route during the 1930s. In the military build-up to the war, the US Navy …

The Japanese units defending the western flank of the Shuri line were in a strong defensive position. Entrenched in tunnels with interlocking fields of fire between Sugar Loaf, Half Moon and the surrounding hills, they were able to hold off …

At 05.30 the morning of September 15, 1944, naval support ships began a massive pre-landing bombardment of Peleliu, in the Palau islands. Armored amphibious tanks came ashore ahead of the infantry waves of the 1st, 5th and 7th Marines. But …

Lt. General Takeshi's counterattack plan called for a night attack on July 25/26. The goal was to split the 3rd Marines and target ammunition and supply dumps. The frontline of the 3rd Marines was stretched thin in the area and …

On July 21st, the first wave to hit the northern landing beaches off the island of Guam in the Marianas, were amphibious tank units. Most of the Japanese infantry had pulled back from their beach defenses during the heavy naval …

On February 26, 1945 the Marines of the 4th Division found themselves facing a formidable complex of defensive positions on Iwo Jima. Hill 382, The Amphitheater, Turkey Knob and the village of Minami, were to become collectively known as the …

At the close of the year, Maj. Gen. Millard Harmon, commanding U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific concluded that Mount Austen, the high ground that dominated American positions around Henderson Field, had to be taken in order to secure …

A four-pronged Japanese plan to attack and recapture Henderson Field on Guadalcanal was scheduled for October 22nd, 1942. The main force, 7,000 men under the command of General Maruyama, planned to approach the airfield from the South, but found…