Battle of Morotai 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 15 September 1944 – 4 October 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Indonesia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Pacific War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 2.0311, 128.2906 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Morotai, part of the Pacific War, began on 15 September 1944, and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. The fighting started when United States and Australian forces landed on the southwest corner of Morotai, a small island in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), which the Allies needed as a base to support the liberation of the Philippines later that year. The invading forces greatly outnumbered the island's Japanese defenders and secured their objectives in two weeks. Japanese reinforcements landed on the island between September and November, but lacked the supplies needed to effectively attack the Allied defensive perimeter. Intermittent fighting continued until the end of the war, with the Japanese troops suffering heavy loss of life from disease and starvation.
Morotai's development into an Allied base began shortly after the landing, and two major airfields were ready for use in October. These and other base facilities played an important role in the Liberation of the Philippines during 1944 and 1945. Torpedo boats and aircraft based at Morotai also harassed Japanese positions in the NEI.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Morotai (revision 1377122604), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Pacific War
- Battle off Horaniu 1943
- Bougainville campaign 1943
- Landing at Nadzab 1943
- Landing at Scarlet Beach 1943
- Landings at Cape Torokina 1943
- Battle of Angaur 1944
- Battle of Biak 1944
- Battle of Leyte Gulf 1944
- Battle of Ormoc Bay 1944
- Battle of Peleliu 1944
All 56 battles of the Pacific War →
Browse more: battles in Indonesia · Asia · World War II era battles