Above: Ngardmau, Babeldaob island, Palau Islands, modern day. Rusting remnants of a Japanese anti-aircraft gun. Photo licensed to War History Network. Click to expand.

Wreckage of a crashed Japanese Zero fighter on Peleliu Island in the Republic of Palau, Caroline Islands chain. The island of Peleliu has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Peleliu Battlefield, and has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Photograph licensed to War History Network.

Left: Peleliu, Palau Islands, 15 September 1944. The first wave of U.S. Marines in LVTs during the invasion of Peleliu. Photograph in the Public Domain. (Click image to expand)

Peleliu represented Japan's first 'defense in depth' strategy, although the 1st Marine Division encountered tough Japanese resistence on the southwestern beaches of the island. Conquerring Japan on the island was an essential piece of Operation Forager, a campaign that ran from June to November 1944 and included Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, and Anguar. Conflict and drama between the Pacific's combined leadership of Admiral Chester Nimitz and General Douglas MacArthur, the latter insisting on retaking the Philippines, while the former wanted a direct line to Japan, and bypassing the Philippines altogether. Either way, the taking of Peleliu was seen as necessary by the U.S. Joint Chiefs, Nimitz, and MacArthur. Peleliu proved fatal for 1,121 U.S. Marines who were killed in action, while 5,142 were wounded and 73 missing in action. (McMillan, 1949, p. 341)

Left: "Nearly across": Jap headquarters buildings were at the northern end of the airfield. Peleliu USMC Photo No. 2-6. From the Frederick R. Findtner Collection (COLL/3890), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH. (Click image to expand)

On day two of the landing--D plus1--crossing the airfield at the southern end of Peleliu was costly for the 5th and 7th Marines (Regiments). "For the second day they [casualties] are put 156, a nearly ludicrous figure. The 1st Marines reported that it had suffered 500 casualties the first day, 1,000 by the end of the second. Whatever the statistics, the 1st was in bad shape. Losses of fifteen percent normally are considered enough to relieve a unit: [Col. Lewsi B.] Puller had 33 percent in 48 hours." (McMillan, 1949, p. 302-303) Weather was another foe for the marines at Peleliu, with temperatures hitting 115 degrees at times in September. 

Multimedia: Video, Web, Photographs
Website: Naval History and Heritage Command - Operation Stalemate II: The Battle of Peleliu   |  Website: History Channel: Battle of Peleliu  |  Video: US Marines Intense Combat Footage Battle of Peleliu and Ngesebus Island  |  Photo album: U.S. Marine Corps at the Battle of Peleliu

Left: Peleliu USMC Photo No. 2-7. From the Frederick R. Findtner Collection (COLL/3890), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH. (Click image to expand)

The battle for Peleliu went on for 2 months, 1 week, and 5 days from 15 September to 27 November 1944. Supplying the front-line Marine Regiments ashore was critical towards their victory. The First Marine Division expended 13,319,488 rounds of .30 caliber ammo (carbine, rifle, BAR); 1,524,300 rounds of .45 caliber (pistol and submachine gun); 693,657 rounds of .50 caliber (machine gun); and 97,596 rounds of 60mm mortar. (McMillan, 1949, p. 341) In the aftermath of the battle, losses incurred far outweighed the limited strategic value Peleliu held. 

Left: Peleliu USMC Photo No. 2-16. From the Frederick R. Findtner Collection (COLL/3890), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH. (Click image to expand)

In Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific, author and Marine Corps veteran of Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa, R.V. Burgin writes "We took the island to secure the airfield so the Japs couldn't use it against MacArthur when he was landing on Mindanao, to the west. But we had already bombed it 24-7. We could have made it absolutely unusable. There was no way the Japs could have rebuilt it in time. They were finished as an airpower. (Burgin, 2010, p. 127.) 

Books and Suggested Reading
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge, first published in 1981 and still in print today. A New York Times Bestseller, this powerhouse memoir by the late Eugene B. Sledge remains a must-read for those interested in U.S. Marine Corps history. Victor Davis Hanson gives a powerful Introduction.

Sledge's fellow marine and mortar squad leader R.V. Burgin gives a memorable account of his time at war with the Marine Corps in the Pacific with his memoir Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. Burgin's account was first published in 2010. Lastly, the First Marine Division history in World War II comes to life in The Old Breed: A History of The First Marine Division in World War II, compiled and written by George McMillan in 1949. The volume includes a forward by (then) General A.A. Vandegrift, U.S. Marine Corps.