4th Marine Division

He turned to four very capable men who would carry out the actual operation.

three admirals who were experts in amphibious landings fast carrier strikes and shore bombardment and major-general holland m smith who was the commanding general of the marines five amphibious corps and now also would be commanding general expeditionary troops it was he who would command the troops once they got ashore original cautious plans for stepping-stone attacks starting in the eastern marshals were modified and the daring decision was made to knife through the edges and strike directly at kwajalein atoll in the heart of the marshals cluster of thirty-two atolls more than one thousand islands and eight hundred sixty seven reefs kwajalein is the largest atoll in the world sixty miles long and twenty miles wide a semi enclosed series of eighty reefs and islets around a huge lagoon of some eight hundred square miles located six hundred twenty miles northwest of tarwa and two thousand four hundred fifteen miles southwest of pearl harbor its capture would have far-reaching strategic significance in that it would break the outer ring of japanese pacific defense lines within the atoll itself there were two objectives roye and namur a pair of connected islands shaped like weights on a four-mile barbell in the north end and crescent-shaped quadrillean island at the south end the fourth marine division under major-general harry schmidt was to assault roi namur and the army seventh infantry division under major-general charles h corlett would attack kwajalein after these islands were taken there was one more objective in the marshals eniwatak atoll this was targeted for attack some three months later by a task force comprised of the twenty second marine regiment called in the corps the twenty second marines and most of the army's one hundred sixth infantry regiment brig general thomas e watson u s m c would be in command as a preliminary to these priority operations the occupation of another atoll in the eastern marshals was planned this objective was majiro which would serve as an advanced air and naval base and safeguard supply lines to quadrillion two hundred twenty miles to the northwest because it was believed to be very lightly defended only the marine five amphibious corps reconnaissance company and the second battalion one hundred sixth infantry seventh infantry division were assigned to capture to support all of these thrusts there would be a massive assemblage of u s navy ships carriers battleships cruisers destroyers and an astonishingly varied array of transports and landing craft these warships provided a maximum potential for intensive pre-invasion aerial bombing and ship-to-shore bombardment the increased tonnage in high explosives the lengthened duration of the softening up process and the pinpointing of priority enemy targets were all lessons sorely learned from the inadequate preparatory shelling which had contributed to the steep casualties of tarawa for the marshals there were altogether three hundred eighty ships carrying eighty five thousand men with the plans in place and a very tight schedule to meet the d-day deadline the complex task of assembling and transporting the assault troops to the target area was put in motion readying the army seventh division was the easiest part of the logistical plan it was already in hawaii after earlier operations at attu and kiska in the aleutian islands off alaska the twenty second marines however had to come from samoa where it had been on garrison duty for some eighteen months and the fourth marine division was still at camp pendleton in california where it had recently been formed on thirteen january nineteen forty four the division sailed from san diego to commence the longest shore-to-shore amphibious operation in the history of warfare forty three hundred miles life at sea soon settled down into a regular routine all hands soon became acquainted with the rituals of alerts for general quarters in the blackness of pre-dawn mess lines stretching along the passageways inspections and calisthenics on the cluttered decks the loud speaker with its shrill whistle of a boatswain's pipe and its now hear this fresh-water hours and classes and weapons cleaning every day off duty the men took advantage of the opportunity to sleep play cards stand in line for ice cream write letters and of course engage in endless speculation about the division's objective which was originally known only by the intriguing title of burlesque and camouflage on twenty one january the transports carrying the marines anchored in lahaina roads off maui hawaii and visions of shore leave raced through the minds of all the men pula girls surf swimming cooling droughts and a local bar just what was needed after the long nights in the crowded humid troop compartments during the voyage over the ship's loudspeakers sad to say came a not unexpected announcement there will be no liberty after one day filled with conferences and briefings for the senior officers the task force sailed again next stop the marshall islands en route crossing the one hundred eightieth meridian there were the traditional colorful ceremonies in which the old salts initiated the men who had never before crossed the international date line into the domain of the golden dragon on thirty january the ships threaded their way through the eastern atolls of the marshals and the following morning dawn thirty one january they halted before their objectives with the northern component off roi namur and the southern component facing kwajalein island on every transport the men crowded the ships rails to stare at the low-lying islets which they must soon attack the twenty third twenty fourth and twenty fifth marines were assigned to the roi namur operation and the thirty second seventeenth and one hundred eighty fourth infantry regiments of the army's seventh division were to take the quadrillean island objectives meanwhile the small group assigned to majoro second battalion hundred sixth infantry plus the five amphibious corps

reconnaissance company

had split off from the main task force and would make its own landing on thirty one january advanced intelligence estimates of minimal enemy forces proved accurate there were no american casualties and just one japanese officer was captured on the main islet three days later more than thirty u s ships lay at anchor in the mujiro lagoon forward at the main theatre an awesome pre landing saturation bombardment begun on twenty ninth january was in full swing u s navy ships moved in on roinaumur with some at the unprecedented short range of nineteen hundred yards and poured in their point-blank massed fire continuing the repeated aerial strikes which had begun weeks earlier from the carriers waves of planes swept in low for bombing and strafing runs key enemy artillery and blockhouse strong points had earlier been mapped from submarine and aerial reconnaissance and individual attention was given to the destruction of each one the combined total of shells and bombs reached a staggering six thousand tons As a result of the underwater obstacles and beach mines uncovered at Tarawa, for the first time, Navy underwater demolition teams had been formed for future operations.

in the final moments of combat however lieutenant-colonel aquila j dais commander of the first battalion was standing to direct the last attack of his men a burst of machine-gun fire riddled his body and he became the most senior officer to die in the battle for his superb leadership under fire he was awarded a posthumous medal of honor across the sand spit on roye it had been a different story this island was nearly bare for it was mostly covered by airfield runways when the twenty third marines hit the beaches on d plus one the fierceness of the pre landing bombardment prevented the japanese defenders from mounting a coordinated defense small groups of marine riflemen joined their regiments attached tanks in a race across to the far side of the island this charging style caused considerable confusion as to who was where reorganized into more coherent units the men made a final orderly drive to finish the job in spite of the rapid progress on roy there were still some major enemy strong points which had to be dealt with an after-action report of the second battalion described one example of this perilous work in matter-of-fact terms there was a blockhouse constructed of reinforced concrete approximately three feet thick it had three gun ports one each facing north east and west another indication of the enemy's mistaken assumption that the americans would attack from the sea rather than the lagoon shore two heavy hits had been made on the blockhouse one apparently by fourteen inch or sixteen inch shells and the other by an aerial bomb nevertheless the position had not been demolished the battalion commander lieutenant colonel edward j dillon then ordered company g to take the blockhouse the company commander first sent forward a seventy five millimeter half track which fired five rounds against the steel door at this point a demolition squad came up and its commander volunteered to knock out the position with explosives while the half track continued to fire infantry platoons moved up on each flank of the installation the demolition squad placed charges at the ports and pushed bangalore torpedoes through a shell hole in the roof cease fire was then ordered and after hand grenades were thrown inside the door half a squad of infantry went in to investigate unfortunately the engineers of the demolition squad had not got the word to cease fire and had placed a shape charge at one of the ports while the infantry was still inside luckily no one was hurt but as the company commander reported a very undignified and hurried exit was made by all concerned inside were three heavy machine guns a quantity of ammunition and the bodies of three japanese many japanese had to be flushed out or blown up in the airfield's drainage ditches and culverts but by eighteen hundred that day d plus one roy had been secured secured seemed a somewhat flexible term when the first service of mass held the next day was interrupted by japanese shots by six february however the ground elements of a marine aircraft wing were ensconced at the airfield preparing for the arrival of their planes in five more days for the entire remainder of the war these planes pounded the by-passed atolls with such power that the japanese on them were eliminated from any further role in the war there was one surprise japanese air raid on roi staged from the mariana islands on twelve february this caused a number of casualties and major damage to material the repair of the airfield and its quick return to action was a tribute to the skills of both the twentieth marines an engineer regiment and the one hundred ninth naval construction battalion this achievement was one more illustration of the vital role played by a dizzying list of units that supported the assault rifle battalions besides the vast armada of naval planes ships and landing craft there were navy chaplains and corpsmen two specialties which are always navy in addition to the marine air artillery and engineer units there were the tanks heavy weapons mortar transport quartermaster signals and headquarters supporting units an amphibious operation to be successful must be a finely tuned highly trained juggernaut that depends on all its parts working smoothly together and this was clearly demonstrated in the marshals The conquest of Roynamur had been a relatively easy operation when compared to some of the other Marine campaigns in the Pacific.

At Tarwa, for example, more than 3,300 men had been killed or wounded in 76 hours.

The 4th Division's victory came at a cost of 313 Marines and corpsmen killed and 502 wounded.

by contrast the defeated japanese garrison numbered an estimated three thousand five hundred sixty three with all but a handful of them now dead two more tasks remained for the fourth division the first was mopping up the rest of the islets in the northern two-thirds of the atoll the twenty fifth marines which had supported the attacks of the twenty third and twenty fourth took off on a series of island hopping trips on board their