Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign
Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign, November 1943-February 1944
To open up a second front against the Japanese in late 1943, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, organized two amphibious operations in the Central Pacific. The Gilbert Islands were invaded first in November 1943. The Marshall Islands were invaded in late January 1944. The capture of the numerous islands, islets, and reefs improved communications across the Pacific and took the intense focus of the Japanese off General Douglas A. McArthur, USA, and Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., USN, in the harsh battles of the Southwest and South Pacific.
Image: 80-G-K-13796: Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, during the beginning of Operation Galvanic (Gilbert Islands Invasion), October 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
