_by Captain John C. Chapin, USMCR (Ret)_
By the beginning of 1944, United States Marine forces had already made
a dramatic start on the conquest of areas overrun by the Japanese early
in World War II. Successful American assaults in the Southwest Pacific,
beginning with Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942, and
in the Central Pacific at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands in November
1943, were crucial campaigns to mark the turn of the Japanese floodtide
of conquest. The time had now come to take one more decisive step:
assault of the islands held by Japan before 1941.
These strategic islands, mandated to the Japanese by the League of
Nations after World War I, were a source of mystery and speculation.
Outsiders were barred; illegal fortifications were presumed; yet
any Central Pacific drive towards Japan’s inner defense ring had to
confront these unknowns. The obvious target to begin with was the
Marshall Islands. As early as 1921 a Marine planning officer had
pinpointed their geographic significance.
_Planning the Attack_
In May 1943, the Combined Chiefs of Staff decided to seize them. This
difficult assignment fell to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz who bore the
impressive titles of Commander in Chief, Pacific, and Commander in
Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinC-Pac/CinCPOA), based at Pearl Harbor
in Hawaii. 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’ V 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 steppingstone attacks starting
in the eastern Marshalls were modified, and the daring decision was
made to knife through the edges and strike directly at Kwajalein Atoll
in the heart of Marshalls’ cluster of 32 atolls, more than 1,000
islands, and 867 reefs.
Kwajalein is the largest atoll in the world, 60 miles long and 20
miles wide, a semi-enclosed series of 80 reefs and islets around a
huge lagoon of some 800 square miles. Located 620 miles northwest of
Tarawa and 2,415 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: Roi and Namur, a pair of connected islands
shaped like weights on a four-mile barbell in the north end, and
crescent-shaped Kwajalein Island at the south end. The 4th Marine
Division under Major General Harry Schmidt was to assault Roi-Namur,
and the Army 7th Infantry Division under Major General Charles H.
Corlett would attack Kwajalein. After these islands were taken, there
was one more objective in the Marshalls: Eniwetok Atoll. This was
targeted for attack some three months later by a task force comprised
of the 22d Marine Regiment (called in the Corps the “22d Marines”) and
most of the Army’s 106th Infantry Regiment. Brigadier General Thomas E.
Watson, USMC, would be in command.
As a preliminary to these priority operations, the occupation of
another atoll in the eastern Marshalls was planned. This objective
was Majuro, which would serve as an advanced air and naval base and
safeguard supply lines to Kwajalein 220 miles to the northwest.
Because it was believed to be very lightly defended, only the Marine
V Amphibious Corps Reconnaissance Company and the 2d Battalion, 106th
Infantry, 7th Infantry Division were assigned to capture Majuro. 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 preinvasion 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 Marshalls, there were
altogether 380 ships, carrying 85,000 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 7th
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 22d Marines, however, had to come from Samoa
(where it had been on garrison duty for some 18 months), and the 4th
Marine Division was still at Camp Pendleton in California, where it had
recently been formed. On 13 January 1944, the division sailed from San
Diego to commence the longest shore-to-shore amphibious operation in
the history of warfare: 4,300 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 predawn, mess lines stretching along the passageways,
inspections and calisthenics on the cluttered decks, the loudspeaker
with its shrill whistle of a “bosun’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 21 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: hula girls, surf swimming, cooling draughts
in a local bar--just what was needed after the long nights in the
crowded, humid troop compartments during the voyage. Over the ships’
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 180th 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 30 January the ships threaded their way through
the eastern atolls of the Marshalls, and the following morning (dawn,
31 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 23d, 24th, and
25th Marines were assigned to the Roi-Namur operation, and the 32d,
17th, and 184th Infantry Regiments of the Army’s 7th Division were to
take the Kwajalein Island objectives.
[Illustration: PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS]
Meanwhile, the small group assigned to Majuro (2d Battalion, 106th
Infantry, plus the V Amphibious Corps Reconnaissance Company) had split
off from the main task force and would make its own landing on 31
January. Advance 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 30
U.S. ships lay at anchor in the Majuro lagoon.
Forward at the main theater, an awesome pre-landing saturation
bombardment, begun on 29 January, was in full swing. U.S. Navy ships
moved in on Roi-Namur, with some at the unprecedented short range of
1,900 yards, and poured in their point-bank 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 6,000 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. Fortunately, they found no mines at
Roi-Namur and were not needed at Kwajalein.
Another factor which would assist the assault troops was the
configuration of the atoll. The two main objectives, at the north end
and at the south, were each adjoined by islets, and these neighboring
locations were to be seized on D-day, 31 January, as bases to provide
close-in artillery support for the infantry landing. On either side of
Roi-Namur the 14th Marines would bring in its 75mm and 105mm howitzers
and dig them in to support the main landing from islets which carried
the exotic names of Ennuebing, Mellu, Ennubirr, Ennumennet, and
Ennugarret. As is always the case in war, there were problems. The
task was assigned to the 25th Marines, and, because of communications
difficulties, the different units going ashore on different islets
could not coordinate their landings. Their radios went dead from
drenching sea swells that swept over the gunwales of the amtracs (LVTs,
landing vehicles, tracked, or amphibian tractors). Nevertheless, by
nightfall, the beachheads had been secured, and, for the first time,
U.S. Marines had landed on a Japanese mandate.
On board the transports outside the lagoon, the men of the 23d and 24th
Marines spent the afternoon of D-day transferring to LSTs (Landing
Ships, Tank). That night saw a muddled picture of amphibian tractors
stranded or out of gas inside the lagoon, with many others wandering in
the blackout as they sought to find their own LST mother ship.
While this scramble was going on, the assault troops on board the LSTs
were facing, each in his own way, the prospect of intensive combat on
the following morning. One rifleman, Private First Class Robert F.
Graf, remembered:
As I thought of the landing that I would be making on the morrow,
I was both excited and anxious. Yes, I thought of death, but I
wasn’t afraid. Somehow I couldn’t see myself as dead. “Why wasn’t
there fear?” I wondered. Even though I was nervous, it was with
excitement, not fear. Instead there was a thrill. I was headed
for great adventure, where I had wanted to be. This was just an
adventure. It was “grown up” Cowboys and Indians, it was “grown up”
Cops and Robbers.... Thoughts of glory were in my mind that night.
Now it was my turn to “carry the flag” into battle. It was my turn
to be a part of history. To top it all off, I was going into battle
with the “Elite of the Elite,” the United States Marines. Just
prior to falling asleep, I prayed. My prayers were for courage, for
my family, and I prayed to stay alive.
By the next morning, D plus 1, 1 February, the LSTs had moved inside
the lagoon. Up before dawn, the infantrymen filed into the cavernous
holds of the LSTs and clambered onboard their amphibious tractors. Graf
described his equipment:
Landings were made with each person loaded with weight. We wore
our dungarees, leggings, and boondockers (shoes). Our skivvies
(underwear) had been dyed green while we were still in the States.
White ones were too good a target. In addition, our packs were
loaded with whatever gear we thought we would need, such as extra
socks, toilet gear, poncho, and our “D” and “K” rations. Extra
cigarettes were stuffed in also. Believe it or not, some of us
carried books that we were reading.
I wore two knives. The K Bar [knife] that was issued was tucked
into my right legging. The throwing stiletto that I had purchased
was on my belt; a leather thong at the bottom of the sheath was
tied around my leg so that the knife would not flop around. My
bayonet was in its sheath and attached to my pack. On went the
loaded pack. Around my waist went the cartridge belt, fully loaded,
with ten clips of M1 rifle ammo, each clip holding eight rounds.
Over my shoulder were two bandoleers of M1 ammo, holding an
additional eighty rounds. Hanging from my pockets were four hand
grenades, only requiring a pulled pin to be activated. We donned
our helmets with the brown camouflaged covering. Finally we slung
our gas masks over our shoulders. Now we were ready for bear!
[Illustration: