1 February 1944
U.S. Forces Land in the Marshall Islands
After penetrating the Japanese defensive perimeter in the Gilbert Islands, Nimitz launched Operation Flintlock, the invasion of the Marshall Islands. On February 1 the 4 th Marine Division and the 7 th Infantry Division landed on Kwajalein Island, securing it after three days of intense combat in which more than 8,000 Japanese soldiers and 1,800 Americans were killed or wounded. Two weeks later U.S. forces moved on to Eniwetok, where yet again the Japanese chose to fight to the death, losing 3,500 men, while the American side suffered 1,200 casualties.

Histories:
The Marshalls
Eastern Mandates
The Gilberts and Marshalls

Campaign Map:
Allied Invasion of Marshalls, 1944

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Christopher Maggio
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Herbert Gross
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with W. Wallace Kaenzig

Photographs:
Men of the 7th Division using flame throwers to smoke out Japanese from a block house on Kwajalein Island
Back to a Coast Guard assault transport comes this Marine after two days and nights of Hell on the beach of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands