| Maps: World War II in the Pacific |
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American Advance Across the Pacific
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1943: Within two years of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy has rebuilt its Pacific fleet.
In November 1943, U.S. forces go on the attack at Tarawa, a small atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Japanese forces have built up strong defenses on the island of Betio, already naturally protected by jutting coral reefs. In fierce fighting, American forces suffer heavy losses, with over 3,400 Marines and Navy personnel killed. From a garrison of almost 2,600 men, only eight Japanese soldiers survive.
Two months after the brutal fighting at Tarawa, U.S. forces take the Marshall Islands with a fleet of new armored amphibious vehicles, nicknamed Alligators. Fewer Americans are killed or wounded than at Tarawa, but only 79 Japanese out of almost 5,000 survive.
General George Marshall identifies the Mariana Islands as a crucial strategic base, close enough for American B-29s to launch air attacks on Japan. These large, volcanic islands are physically different from the small, flat atolls the U.S. has claimed so far, and they also have a population of Japanese civilians.
On Saipan in June-July 1944, the U.S. defeats 30,000 Japanese troops, leaving only 1,000 survivors. After the fighting is over, hundreds of Japanese civilians hurl themselves off of cliffs, believing the Americans will kill them next.
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