Marshall Islands Campaign: "What Makes a Battle" 1943 US Army Film MISC-1037; World War II

more at http://quickfound.net/

'Pictures the battle of the Marshall Islands as a piece of master strategy. Explains that forces of land, sea and air united blows that resulted in success and each success resulted in another battle. Points out that out of 10,000 Japanese only 264 surrendered. Uses animation to explain strategy.'

Originally a public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_and_Marshall_Islands_campaign

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from November 1943 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The purpose was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow air and naval support for upcoming operations across the Central Pacific. Operation Galvanic and Operation Kourbash were the code names for the Gilberts campaign that included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin. Operation Flintlock and Operation Catchpole were aimed at capturing Japanese bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Majuro in the Marshall Islands...

Background

The Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Gilbert Islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They built a seaplane base on Makin and dispersed troops along the coastlines of the atolls to monitor the Allied forces' movement in the South Pacific.

The Marshall Islands are located approximately 220 miles (350 km) northwest of the Gilbert Islands, and had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I as part of the South Seas Mandate. The Japanese regarded the islands as an important outpost for their navy.

Allied commanders knew that an eventual surrender of Japan would require penetration of these islands. While commander of the United States Army, General Douglas MacArthur, wanted to push towards the Philippines via New Guinea, the United States Navy's Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, favored a drive across the central Pacific, through the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Carolines, and eventually the Marianas, which would put American B-29 bombers within range of Tokyo. In addition to forcing the Japanese to fight two fronts against the Allies (Nimitz driving from the east and MacArthur from the south), Nimitz's plan would neutralize the outer Japanese defenses, allowing American ground, naval, and air bases to be stationed there for future attacks against other occupied island groups. These outer islands included the atolls of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilberts, and Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls...

Aftermath

In the Gilberts, the Americans emerged victorious, but were caught unprepared, suffering 2,459 dead and 2,286 wounded. Japan suffered a total of 5,085 dead and 247 captured. The heavy casualties and gruesome fighting conditions for both sides convinced General Holland Smith, commanding general of the V Amphibious Corps, that Tarawa should have been bypassed, although other American admirals disagreed.

The Marshalls, by contrast, were a much easier landing. The Americans used the lessons learned at Tarawa by outnumbering the enemy defenders nearly 6 to 1 with heavier firepower (including use of armor-piercing shells) after the islands took nearly a month of heavy air and naval bombardment. In the Marshalls, the Americans lost 611 men, suffered 2,341 wounded, and 260 missing, while the Japanese lost over 11,000 men and had 358 captured.

After the Gilberts and Marshalls were taken, the Allies built naval bases, fortifications, and airfields on the islands to prepare for an assault on the Marianas. The Japanese defeat forced military leaders to draw back to a new defensive perimeter, the Absolute National Defense Zone, which included the Marianas and Palau. These islands were heavily fortified for an upcoming assault because if captured, they would put American heavy bombers within range of Tokyo...