Operation Nightwind

The Battle of Peleliu is in the pipeline; threatening the Allies plans is the island of Ngesehus. Reconnaissance indicate the Japanese are constructing a small auxiliary airfield on the island, to work in concert with the main airfield on the neighboring, larger island of Peleliu. Ngesebus also has artillery positions …

1944-05-01

Comp07

The Battle of Peleliu is in the pipeline; threatening the Allies plans is the island of Ngesehus. Reconnaissance indicate the Japanese are constructing a small auxiliary airfield on the island, to work in concert with the main airfield on the neighboring, larger island of Peleliu. Ngesebus also has artillery positions under construction, menacing the channel between the two islands. The Japanese have an inland radio station, just south of the airfield, with two relay stations leading up from the beach. US Marine Corps, Major General William H. Rupertus, deploys elements of the 1st Marine Division and US Army 81st Infantry Division in two waves. The first wave is specially trained in covert stealth inflitration operations and their mission is to destroy the communications network, disrupting communications between the airfields.

Ngesebus Island, Carolina Islands

The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States military, was fought between the U.S. and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Campaign of World War II, from September to November 1944, on the island of Peleliu. U.S. Marines of theist Marine Division, and later soldiers of the U.S. Army's 8ist Infantry Division, fought to capture an airstrip on the small coral island of Peleliu. This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944, in the Pacific Theater. Major General William Rupertus, commander of theist Marine Division, predicted the island would be secured within four days. However, after repeated Imperial Army defeats in previous island campaigns, Japan had developed new island-defense tactics and well-crafted fortifications that allowed stiff Resistance, extending the battle through more than two months. The heavily outnumbered Japanese defenders put up such stiff Resistance, often fighting to the death in the Emperor's name, that the island became known in Japanese as the "Emperor's Island." In the U.S., this was a controversial battle because of the island's negligible strategic value and the high casualty rate, which exceeded that of all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War. The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".

Wikipedia: Battle of Peleliu

American

Japan