The Battle of Einwetok

Battle of Eniwetok (1944)
In this week in military history, we explore the Battle of Eniwetok in 1944 that was part of the United States’ island-hopping strategy during World War II.
In early February 1944, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz flew from Pearl Harbor to the recently captured Kwajalein Atoll, one of the Marshal Islands, to meet with his top commanders to plan the attack against Eniwetok Atoll. By taking Eniwetok island, the Allies would have an airfield and harbor to support attacks against the next stronghold, the Mariana Islands. They decided to use the 22nd Marines under the command of Colonel John T. Walker and two battalions of the Army's 106th Regiment.
In January 1944, aircraft carriers increased their strikes on the island to prepare for the amphibious landings and ground assaults. The initial strategy was to take the atoll by invading two separate adjoining islets to the south.
On February 17th, the heavy guns of the United States Navy’s battleships, cruiser and destroyers began shelling the northern and eastern pasts of the island. The Navy’s air attack shielded the forces slowly navigating their way in.
On the morning of February 18th, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 22nd Marines landed. The American bombing toppled trees and obscured the spider holes in which the Japanese were hiding. Though the Japanese were hard to locate in their foxholes, the Marines overwhelmed the island, securing it for the Allies by late afternoon.
The fighting then shifted to the island of Eniwetok. On February 19, the 106th Infantry’s First and Third Battalions took to the beach, but encountered heavy Japanese resistance. With a steep bluff ahead and the Japanese hiding behind trees and in spider holes, the fight was dangerous and slow going as a result. Reinforcements from the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Marines helped to secure the southern part of the island. Despite the Japanese holdouts, the island was secured by February 24th.
The American victory came at a steep cost to the Japanese. Roughly 3,400 Japanese were killed, wounded or captured, while American forces suffered 350 dead and 800 wounded.
With these key harbor and airfield captured, Nimitz's forces could now aid General Douglas MacArthur's New Guinea and Central Pacific campaigns.
Join us next time for another segment of This Week in Military History with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library!

[@johnlarson111]

my father talked about the spider holes on that atoll. he was wounded on Eniwetok