- Battle of Angaur
Infobox Military Conflict
partof=World War II ,Pacific War
conflict=Battle of Angaur
colour_scheme= background:#ffccaa
caption=
date=17 September –30 September 1944
place=Angaur ,Palau Islands
result=American victory
combatant1=flag|United States|1912
combatant2=nowrap|flag|Empire of Japan
commander1=flagicon|United States|1912Paul J. Mueller
commander2=flagicon|Empire of JapanSadae Inoue
strength1=15,000
strength2=1,400
casualties1=260 killed, 1,354 wounded, 940 incapacitated through heat exhaustion, accident, or sickness
casualties2=1,338 killed, 59 captured|The Battle of Angaur was a battle of the Pacific campaign in
World War II , fought on the island ofAngaur in thePalau Islands from17 September 1944 to30 September 1944 .Background
Angaur is a tiny volcanic island, just convert|3|mi long, separated from
Peleliu by a convert|6|mi|adj=on strait. A very small indigenous population lived by farming, fishing, andphosphate mining. In mid-1944 the Japanese had 1,400 troops on the island, under the overall command of Palau Sector Group commander, Lieutenant GeneralSadae Inoue .The weak defenses of the Palaus and the potential for airfield construction made them attractive targets for the Americans after the capture of the
Marshall Islands , but shortage of landing craft meant that operations against the Palaus could not begin until theMariana Islands were secure.Battle
Bombardment of Angaur by USS "Tennessee", cruisers, and Dauntless dive bombers from USS "Wasp" began on
11 September 1944 . Six days later on17 September , the U.S. 81st Infantry Division commanded by Major GeneralPaul J. Mueller landed on the northeast and southeast coasts. Mines and congestion on the beach initially gave more trouble than Japanese counter-attacks. But resistance stiffened as the Americans advanced on "the Bowl", a hill near Lake Salome in the northwest of the island where the Japanese planned to make their last stand. From20 September the 322nd battalion repeatedly attacked the Bowl, but the 750 defenders repulsed them with artillery, mortars and machine guns. Gradually hunger, thirst, and American shellfire and bombing took their toll on the Japanese, and by25 September the Americans had penetrated the Bowl. Rather than fight for possession of the caves, they used bulldozers to seal the entrances. By30 September , the island was secure.Aftermath
Airfields were being constructed as the battle was still being fought. But the delay in the start of the Palaus operation meant that the airfields were not ready in time for the start of the
Philippines operations in October 1944. AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey, Jr. had argued before the invasion of the Palaus that the operation was unnecessary, and military historians have agreed with him, suggesting that the main benefit was the combat experience gained by the 81st Infantry Division.The 81st Division moved on directly to the battle on Peleliu Island to aid the 1st Marine Division, which had encountered extremely stiff resistance in the central highland of that island.
References
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = Leyte: June 1944 - Jan 1945, "vol. 12 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
location =
id = ISBN 0316583170
* [http://www.army.mil/cmh/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: Western Pacific]
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