Battle Anaysis Peleliu By Sean Cowley

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The Battle of Peleliu By: Sean Cowley MILH360 1

With the Horrific attack on Pearl Harbor that occurred on December 7, 1941, the United Sates would want its revenge against the Japanese Empire. With only a day later the United Stated would declare war on the Japanese Empire. This would cause the United States to have to find a new way on which they can achieve the foundation of making landfall on mainland Japan. Looking towards the topography it would not be easy due to the fact of difficult island chains that were caught between both Countries. This would start the newborn tactic of the Island-Hopping campaigns. With this campaign being in place the air combat element or known as the “ACE” was essential when it came to ensuring the naval vessels had the survivability for the longevity of the war. The Battle of Peleliu was an essential battle when it came to the island- hopping campaigns that occurred in November of 1941. Peleliu is located within the Palau islands. The island was essential when it came to not only controlling the airfield to achieve air superiority, but also to push the Japanese Empire further back towards their mainland. Peleliu was an unforgiving island that had more significant terrain than any other island that the United States would voyage upon. The terrain can be seen to have ridges, but also dense vegetation that would be hard to navigate through, intricate cave systems that the Japanese have been preparing knowing that the United States would be attacking. These cave networks not only acted as an ease for the Japanese soldiers to be able to move freely, but also acted as a fortress for the Japanese Empire to utilize their weapon systems to their best capabilities that they could. With this Island being within the eyes of the United State, we can witness that it is imperative that they seize this island to conquer the airfield and build the steppingstone needed to move into the Battle of Okinawa. 2

With the United States having their eyes on Peleliu they noticed that it would be the perfect Island to be able to utilize their aircraft to launch out of continuously for the rest of the War in the Pacific. The United States also identified that the strategic location of the island was capable of being a port for their naval vessels in slingshotting them towards Okinawa. This was imperative in the United States tactic that would achieve a turning point in the island-hopping campaigns. One the other hand we had Colonel Kunio Nakagawa. This Colonel oversaw the Japanese Army that was on Peleliu. He knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before the United States made landfall on this island. With they had a mission on blocking the enemies’ capabilities of taking the airfield or having freedom of movement on the island. With the operation of Stalemate II abut to commence from the United States the Japanese army ensured that they would be protected from all technology that they brought into the fight. This included the Colonel to give orders in making trench systems that was such of a complex network that they were able to move underground throughout the entire Island and be able to reinforce specific key locations to chokepoint the United States. Amphibious warfare was known when it came to the Japanese Empire from seeing it be utilized against them. The United Sates have been experts in this tactic due to utilizing it not only in the European theatre, but also utilizing it in multiple islands prior to the Battle of Peleliu. The United States would bring forth a veteran military that was the 1 st Marine Division. This Division fought in countless islands on their way to Peleliu and was very comfortable when it came to fighting the Japanese Empire. This would show the effectiveness of the unit when it came to understanding their tactics and how they would fight in their defensive posture. The United States also brought the 81 st Infantry Division from the army that was not as war hardened as the marines but still eager to be 3

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learned by the marines on how the Japanese would fight in combat. All in total the United States brought forth approximately 70,000 troops to either land on the island or be in support in the water. This would be a significant number of troops to be deployed due to it being a huge combat power to the United States in the pacific. The Japanese Empire only had the troops of just over 11,000 commanded by Colonel Kunio Nakagawa that was mentioned before. These soldiers were not war hardened at all so far in the war. This was due to the depth that they were in the Pacific and far away from where the main fighting was going on during the movement of the United States moving closer to Okinawa. With the Colonel understanding the less experienced soldiers being on the front lines, they were evenly matched with the United States due to their fortifications that they created. With the Japanese army being significantly smaller than the United States, they would have been on a disadvantage until the tactical level of utilizing the terrain to their advantage to even the playing field on the island. The United States were ready when it came to bringing new technology into this Battle. The most significant one that can be seen to overwhelm the enemy would be the utilization of employing aircraft from carrier vessels and long-range bombing tactics. These bombing strikes were able to deny the enemies ability to achieve air superiority in the island that would enable to ground combat element to have ease of access to maneuver on the battlespace. Air support would not be possible with the United States without the capabilities of communication. The United States brought communication assets that not only talked to the aircraft to pinpoint locations of key interest to target, but also to communicate with the naval vessels. With being able to communicate with the naval vessels they were able to utilize their main guns “Mt-51 &Mt-52” in the suppression and destruction they needed of the terrain. The United States being a war 4

hardened unit have noticed that casualty care was most vital when it came to making landfall on any island. The increas3e in technology of medicine not only was useful when it came to the longevity of patients but also the effectiveness of ensuring the transition of the troops moving back towards the ships via LST’s. The Japanese Empire were lower in their capabilities that they brought to the table compared to the United States. They did have aircraft capabilities; however, they did not have the same amount of combat power to increase their air superiority. This can be seen due to a lack of equipment due to after the Battle of Midway. With the Japanese utilizing excavating tool to build their trenches, the Japanese Empire was capable of being able to utilize their automatic weapons and crew served direct fire weapons on key places that would make a principal direction of fire to inflict mass casualties upon the United States making landfall. The Japanese also had the ability to utilize indirect fire weapons that would not only be able to delay the United States ability to land on the beach but also their ability to seize the airfield that they were wanting to take in the beginning of this landing. The United States had a hard training program when it came to the Marine Corps. This training can be seen as a 13-week training of field exercises and weaponry training to ensure their effectiveness of marksmanship not matter what job they were. With the 1 st Marine Division being combat units, the unit was preparing with a package they endured upon prior to deploying. This package included conducting training for multiple months at a time to ensure the units readiness at a moment’s notice. The Japanese Empire did not have the same training when it came to logistics utilization as the United States. They were high spirited that lead to their ability to not be easily surrendered upon. They were taught to be able to spend months without any resupply and be able to not only live on the land but also be able to fight viciously. 5

They were taught to fight so viciously and had such a passion for their Country that they would rather die in the field of battle than to be sent home a failure. This would cause a major problem to the United States when it came to the morale of an average American and killing such a significant size force. The Japanese army emplaced a blocking position on the higher ground mountain side of the Island. With this high advantageous position, they would have clear fields of fire to employ all their organic weapon systems together to achieve mass surprise fires. The United States broke down the Island into sectors of responsibilities and splash points for landing. This would enable to the leaders of the units to be able to hyperfocus their analyzation of the terrain to their area of responsibility. They would break down these splash points by stating White 1 and White 2. The 1 st Marines landed in the western portion of this Island. The 7 th Marines focused their landing efforts via their LST’s to the south. The goal they were trying to achieve was to envelope the island into a choke point where the Japanese could not retreat or fall behind the Americans lines to flank them from the rear. The Americans of 1 st Marines analyzed that the majority of the Japanese Army would be further inland on this island holding a strongpoint of some sort. Due to them not being able to gather intelligence on the underground tunnel system the Japanese had created, they became under heavy fire from a terrain feature to be “The Point”. This terrain feature was significant key terrain for the Japanese due to being able to employ their machine guns in the best advantageous spot possible and inflicting massive amounts of casualties. The 1 st Marines would have to turn their focus away from reaching the center of the island to deal with the immediate threat. This threat could delay the Americans advance, however, did not stop the attack form completing. After the point was seized by the 6

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Americans, they looked towards their first objective of the Battle which was the airfield. The Japanese illuminated any vegetation around the airfield. This would deny the Americans much concealment on their movement towards seizing the airfield. The Americans would lose many lives due to having to run through the open under the heavy fire of the Japanese Army. The last major phase of this battle was the gruesome bloody hill or known in a tactical sense of “Hill 100”. This hill was significant in the aspect that the Japanese Army would attrite 71% of V1/1’s combat power and make them combat effective in the rest of the Pacific theatre until the Battle of Okinawa. With the hill not only being a hard terrain feature to take, but it also showed the capabilities of the Japanese to be able to reconstitute their forces and send out waves of counter attacks against the United States. With the landing points for the Americans have heavy reconnaissance and intelligence gathered, it appeared that the United States had a problem when it came to their logistical train during this attack. This was mostly due to the success of the Japanese Army being underground the Americans did not account for how many enemies they will have to come across. The splash points were also vastly dispersed which would cut off mutual support between both units. This allowed the Japanese Empire to be able to attack units in easy chunks rather than taking on an Infantry Regiment all at once becoming overwhelmed. If the United States had made splash points closer together and sent units out in waves, they would have been able to conduct probing attacks and have the enemy show their primary positions to hyperfocus their attacks. The utilization of technology in the regards to naval surface firepower rendered the effects ineffective. The United States utilized the tactic of bombarding the shoreline prior to the LST’s making landfall. Due to the heavy fortifications of the Japanese Empire, minimal casualties were 7

created on the Japanese side due to the salvos of the naval fleet. The bombing did create some lucky cover and concealment of troops though during their attack on the airfield the first day. Pictures can be seen of United States troops utilizing craters as a fighting position that was created from the destroyers. In conclusion, the bloody Battle of Peleliu, that was fought form the months of September and November of 1944, shows the capabilities of technology when it came to the naval power of the United States and amphibious assault capabilities. The strategic utilization of Peleliu can be seen as a major debate with historians if the airfield was ever truly a depiction of a difference in the air superiority. This can be seen as due to the terrain, fighting, and weather caused high casualties on both sides of the fighting forces. This Battle depicts amazing tactics on both the Japanese and United Sates side. With the Japanese able to create a major highway of underground tunnels to quickly reinforce and move their troops around the island was a leap ahead of what the United States was ready for. With the United States capable of deploying the troops they did at multiple splash points at the same time showed the capabilities of command and control on the strategic and operational level. These lessons learned not only shaped future islands to be taken in the future, but also showed the future of how amphibious operations should be conducted to ensure the safety and longevity of troops. This only came after the 1 st Marine Division were combat ineffective until the Battle of Okinawa due to the Battle of Peleliu. 8

Bibliography: “Battle of Peleliu Photo Gallery.” Naval History and Heritage Command. Accessed November 18, 2023. https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and- operations/world-war-ii/1944/peleliu/peleliu-photo-gallery.html. - Goulding, Vince. 2006. “Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944--The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War.” Parameters. Carlisle Barracks: U.S. Army War College. - Hanlon, David. 2018. “The Battle over Peleliu: Islander, Japanese, and American Memories of War.” Contemporary Pacific 30 (1): 244–47. https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2018.0021. - Leckie, R. (2021). Helmet for my pillow . Hassell Street Press. - Parillo, Mark P. War in History 12, no. 1 (2005): 116–18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26061750. - Peleliu landing beaches and Front Lines Battle Map . Battle Archives. (n.d.). https://battlearchives.com/products/peleliu-landing-beaches-and-front-lines-battle-map - Sledge, E. (2007). With the old breed . Presidio Press. 9

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- VENZON, ANNE CIPRIANO. Naval War College Review 48, no. 4 (1995): 137–38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44637678. - World War II letters (C0068) - state historical society of Missouri. Accessed November 18, 2023. https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/columbia/C0068.pdf. 10

Battle Anaysis Peleliu By Sean Cowley

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