Operation Flintlock 65 Years Later

This week is the 65th year since Operation Flintlock and The Battle of Kwajalein. So not only is our home a tropical paradise it is also a former battlefield where thousands lost their lives during World War II. Here is a little excerpt from wikipedia on the battle.


-The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Following the capture of Tarawa in November 1943, American eyes turned to the Marshall Islands. These were the next vital stepping stone across the Pacific towards Japan, and would bring the islands of Guam and Saipan within the reach of US forces. Employing the hard-learned lessons of 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 a stiff resistance though outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the United States, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere.

By the time U.S. Troops landed on the islets of Roi, Namur, and Kwajalein the Navy had laid on a non-stop barrage of 2655 tons of ammunition.

In their first amphibious attack, the new 4th Marine Division landed on Roi and Namur Islands on February 1st 1944, while US 7th Division landed on Kwajalein. At the time this was the longest shore to shore amphibious assaults in history. The lessons of the bloody fighting on Tarawa had been well learned and the successful attack on the Marshalls set the pattern for future amphibious operations in the Pacific War.

The airfield on Roi (the eastern half) was captured quickly, and Namur (the western half) fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a satchel charge of high explosives into a Japanese bunker which turned out to be a torpedo warhead magazine. (Photo of this Explosion in the upper right of the operation flintlock collage). Only 264 out of 10.000 Japanese soldiers surrendered during the US Invasion.