The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place January 31 to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500. For the US, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant morale victory because it was the first time the Americans had penetrated the “outer ring” of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the Battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US. — Wikipedia
KAREN EARNSHAW
A series of stunning colorized photos of the US Army during the second world war in the Pacific, including a number from the Marshall Islands, were brought to life through vivid colorization by a Welshman. Royston Leonard, from Cardiff, used his master artist skills to reinvent the images … and kindly given me permission to publish them here. Leonard said: “The Japanese code was to not surrender and to fight to the death which was their way to die in battle with honor, almost no prisoners were taken unless they were badly injured and could no longer fight,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of photos of the European war in color but almost nothing from the Pacific War.”
Note: To see more of Royston’s images go to the following site:
