Battle of Kwajalein 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 31 January 1944 – 3 February 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Marshall Islands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 8.7167, 167.7333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing learned lessons from the Battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the US, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant morale victory because it was the first time the Americans had penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the Battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Kwajalein (revision 1379710940), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Other battles of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign
- Battle of Eniwetok 1944
Browse more: battles in Marshall Islands · Oceania · World War II era battles