Battle of Peleliu 1944 / Part 1 - To the Gates of Hell

In September 1944, US Navy's Pacific Fleet moved on to the next objective of their island-hopping campaign, the Palaus islands. According to the plan designated as Operation Stalemate II, the American troops were to take the archipelago's two southernmost islands, Peleliu and Angaur. On September 15th, the landing of marines from the US 1st Marine Division on the island's beaches marked the beginning of the battle of Peleliu, which would prove to be one of the hardest and most brutal battle ever to be fought in the Pacific theater.
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Twitter: / fbattlefields

[@TheNinjaGumball]

Eugene Sledge's memoir With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa is a stellar chronicle of this battle and one of the finest combat memoirs ever written. I highly recommended

[@jedi4049]

The end of The Pacific sledge ptsd was so sad

[@coreychilders4970]

I’m reading this book as we speak. It is by far one of the best books on wwii

[@jedi4049]

@@coreychilders4970 On page 110 now. Great book. The volunteer that helped alerting the tank of friendly fire got killed helping. Or the kid who wanted to be a brain surgeon not making it. Its powerful.

[@coreychilders4970]

@@jedi4049 I read that part. And it pulls the heart strings.

[@L_Train]

Me too. The audiobook is currently on KZbin if you search for it.

[@BeautifuLakesStreamsBiologists]

Dad fought on Peleliu as an Artilleryman in the 1st Marines. He always pronounced the island name as PEL-leh-loo.

[@terryv]

Yes, it’s pronounced how those who were there pronounced it. That becomes the correct pronunciation, just as you gave it.

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

My father-in-law was in the US Army and he fought on Peleliu as an artillery man in the 41st. Everything that Sledge said in his book my father-in-law could back up. Although he rarely spoke of it.

[@skyepa9694]

Tenno heika banzai!

[@SteveBrownRocks2023]

You are correct.

[@surfdocer103]

Taiwan was Formosa on an accurate map

[@jayrob5270]

Good informative breakdown of the setup. Have just rewatched the Pacific episodes of this battle, both sides were full of brave men in terrible circumstances.

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you!!!

[@Britton_Thompson]

Both sides may have been brave, but only one had the supply lines and tactics to capitalize on it. I will never comprehend Japan's doctrine of "victory through starved, unequipped troops making suicide runs into enemy firepower"

[@ridgerunner5772]

As Hulsey pointed out the obvious with the complete loss of IJN /A air assets in the Southern Marianna's, this operation was a complete waste of precious lives and resources. The juggernaut wheels of Military Bureaucracy would have none of it. If an Operation is planned, the Operation will happen; no matter the costs, or common sense..... Great series and breakdown..... I have visited the island twice, the fact the Marines and Army accomplished what they did is astounding..... The people of Palau, and Peleliu are very gracious and grateful for the sacrifices of the American Lives that were wasted in this invasion..... May God Bless their Memory, and Their Families......both American and Micronesian....

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thanks!

[@michaeldean1289]

Great work as usual, really appreciate you sharing your time and effort ❤😊

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you so much 😀

[@scarletcrusade77]

Good to have you back FTB! Another great Pacific campaign video, can't wait to see more to come :)

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Hey, thanks!

[@scarletcrusade77]

@@FromtheBattlefields also if you don’t mind me pointing out your thumbnails for the last 2 battles have part 3 in all parts when there should have been a 1 & 2 on it 🙂 keep up the good work dude, can’t wait for the eventual release of PNG vids

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you very much for pointing this out. I don't know how this happened. I played with the thumbnails recently and paid more attention to how they look rather than what is written on them. BTW, this year, I plan to begin with the southwest Pacific campaign.

[@ex-navyspook]

​@@FromtheBattlefields Not sure if you're familiar with hypohystericalhistory (and not to take anything away from your excellent series), but he's got a great series on the PNG campaigns. Shows that MacArthur, while a great overall strategic planner, was terrible on tactical planning, tending to micromanage while not knowing what the troops at the front were facing (and never visiting the front to SEE what was actually going on), and was woefully inadequate on the logistics side.

[@FlycatcherDr]

Dad got there in September (Operation Stalemate II. DAD was born 4 April 1925 - passed June 2018. Never spoke of the war or his time as a Marine. Thank you, dad, thank you ….

[@neggaballs3840]

Thank you for what? surviving?

[@sleeperawake9818]

People are SLEEPING on your great content! I know of no other documentary that covered the explosion of the bunker with 100's of torpedoes in the Marianas campaign except yours, on Kwajalein

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you very much!

[@christopherthrawn1333]

Excellent work here Sir and your Team

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Many many thanks!!!

[@leddhed5480]

My grandfather was a first lieutenant with the first Marine division on Peleliu.

[@andresalvarez7664]

Amazing FTB people! I'll be waiting the next chapter! Really well done!

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you!!!

[@matthewsatalic2751]

One of the best books I have ever read

[@wacojones8062]

I have read "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa" at least 4 times now through 2 different copies. One friend crossed paths with Sledge on Okinawa. Getting accurate intel on topography is still tricky as various means are available to block both visual Infra-red and Radar scans of the actual surface of a prepared defensive system.

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@FromtheBattlefields]

As always, thank you very much! 😀

[@oneshotme]

@@FromtheBattlefields You're welcome!!

[@ralfkessler]

I am VERY much interested in this campaign. My father was wounded there on that island. I want to know.

[@oldmanjoe6808]

My favorite uncle was fighting on Peleliu with the Marines. That man was also my God-father. His war stories I have cherished all my days, and I'm very old now. His influence I absorbed and joined the Marines during the Vietnam war. I don't regret it one bit.

[@DanielMulloy-bg6gw]

This is a great series!

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you very much!

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

Well said

[@aprilsmith9008]

My husband was there it's as he told me. Also, I E Shima. Semper Fi heroes. Never forget.

[@dianestephenson8528]

Dad was on the USS Sitkoh Bay as a radarman

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

This was MacArthur's folly.he had no need to have his flanks covered in his attack on the Philippines. He wasted American and Filipino lives like they meant nothing. Men died in vain on Peleliu. My father-in-law was in the US Army in the 41st artillery unit and he fought on Peleliu and he said it was an absolute living hell and he'd been to Gloucester all over New Guinea, you name it that Peleliu was the worst of the worst. And they were also bitter after that battle because it became nothing but a Backwater seaplane base. The great man, MacArthur, I shall return, Dugout Doug. He was universally disliked by all that served under him because he did not have them in his heart or their backs.

[@redaug4212]

No, this was Nimitz's folly. Peleliu/Angaur was a Navy planned and Navy led operation, and it was Nimitz who insisted to move forward with the invasion despite warnings from Halsey that securing Peleliu was superfluous. MacArthur's name was just attached to the battle after the fact to remove culpability from Nimitz and the Navy.

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

@redaug4212 I had no idea. Interesting to say the least. My father-in-law, who I have no love for, was with the US Army on Peleliu. He was an artillery soldier in the 41st regiment or Division. I really don't know much beyond that, but he did say that it was an absolute living hell and he had been involved in several battles on several islands prior to Peleliu. Thanks for the info.

[@RivetGardener]

Norman Schwartzkop was the "Dugout Doug" of the middle east war. Universally hated by all other than his 3d armored division; An arrogant man who disdained all soldiers other than the 3d Armored.

[@d.r.martin6301]

@@dianeduffcroop8158 I don't know about "the 41st regiment," but the army division was the 81st, the Wildcats. My dad was a medic there with the 81st.

[@raymondyee2008]

The true story behind "COD WAW" on the Peleliu missions.

[@MakeSomeNoisePlaylists]

McArthur....what a dork.....

[@rascalferret]

Remember when the AV kid burnt the film in the projector...

[@ChristopherCase-l4j]

Some marines said peluilu was tougher than Okinawa

[@paulredinger5830]

Peleliu wasn’t necessary at all. MacArthur insisted it be taken to protect his flank. The islands could be neutralised by airstrikes like Truk, Rabaul, and other numerous islands were. MacArthur like Montgomery were both overrated commanders. Dugout Doug lost the Philippines, fumbled on the Kokoda track, Buna, and Gona. Battlefields. Dictating things without ever knowing the terrain on any of those battlefields. Including the fiasco in northern Korea. Montgomery was to capture Caen on D-DAY! How many weeks did it take? Failed to close the ring in Normandy trappings the Germans there. Failed again trapping the best German units in Belgium. Slow to counter attack there too. Won’t even mention Arnhem! Moving a army corp on a SINGLE ROAD? REALLY? The only battlefields they won they won by shear numbers, and an avalanche of materials. They should of both lost command and been retired. Like general Lucas at Anzio. Nothing could of stopped him from driving to Rome! Clark decided to capture undefended Rome instead of cutting the Germans off in Italy. Allowing them to retreat, and fight again north of Rome. How many men died fighting those elite German units? MacArthur, Montgomery, and Clark had political clout, and the news media saying how wonderful they were. Lucas didn’t.

[@redaug4212]

MacArthur had little to no involvement in the decision to invade Peleliu. Operation Stalemate was conceived entirely by the Navy and pushed by Nimitz. That it coincided with the Army's invasion of the Philippines has given many historians with a bias against MacArthur a convenient opportunity to place the blame squarely on him. In reality the Navy was planning the invasion weeks before the decision was even made to invade the Philippines, and Nimitz was the one who was insisting in the days immediately prior to the invasion despite suggestions from Halsey to divert to Leyte.

[@dianeduffcroop8158]

Thank you for your comments! I have held the same opinion for many many years. Dugout Doug, Montgomery and Clark spent material and Men like they didn't matter at all which of course in hindsight they didn't matter to those quote-unquote leaders. MacArthur actually makes me sick to my stomach and if I ever met Montgomery I would bitch slap that little piece of shit. Had XXX corp done their instead of stopping to drink tea, Market Garden may have turned out differently. The 101st and the 82nd were dug in and they were fighting and doing their jobs waiting for XXX corp. And we have to remember that both the 101st and 82nd were shock troops. They were not meant to stand in a defensive position for extended periods of time. That was not their job. That was not what they were trained for but they did it magnificently.

[@surfdocer103]

Anyone who deeply studies the Pacific Theater knows Peleliu was unnecessary. The battle was largely forgotten by the populace until the Pacific.

[@Your_Local_Anarchist420]

​@@surfdocer103 not necessarily. I look up at lot of battles because I play call of duty or battle field or medal of honor ect ect.

[@sabrecatsmiladon7380]

Tough to watch this battle.....so you captured the ...not sure the word I want to use...the essence of how God-awful this island was

[@FromtheBattlefields]

Thank you very much! I just scratched the surface.

[@stanstenson8168]

It's a beautiful place now.

[@sabrecatsmiladon7380]

@@stanstenson8168 AWESOME!!! That really made me feel better for the Island/Nature. We must forgive and heal or the wounds never close =)

[@carlo6230]

Thank God for those men and the brass leading them, if the despots leading our armed forces were in charge then we would have lost without firing a shot, just like now

[@MichaelSmith-cq6tu]

Heros RIP

[@aprilsmith9008]

Paul Parry was one of those Marines.

[@surfdocer103]

Map at 3:30 has Formosa as Taiwan.

[@BcFuTw9jt]

The AI voice is terrible, would be a great series if it was a real person

[@bobkohl6779]

Pelelui was uneeded and a collasal waste

[@joonanlim2121]

saw the devil

[@williamhetrick1550]

Another hell hole.

[@dougmackenzie5976]

Is this being read by some AI chatbot? Every place name was badly mispronounced.

[@joebombero1]

It isn't AI. They have had computerized voices reading text for blind people since the 1980s.

[@ELTONSIMMONS-t4e]

Old arrogance political B. S.

[@jacobcorcho2518]

GOOD ONE DONO LULW

[@stevengegar9709]

An airborn asault in the night would have made things easier to defeat the Japanese , and I have no idea why they didn't attempt it ! ! ! ??? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[@williamahrendt5260]

They would have never landed on the island, they would have been over or under and landed in the water, maybe some would have made land but look at what happened in France

[@stevengegar9709]

@@williamahrendt5260 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣