20 Photos from Inside the Fiercely Contested Battle of Peleliu During WWII

Witness the grueling two months of taking the Emperor's Island

Published 4 days ago

See one of the most harrowing battles of the Pacific Theater through the eyes of the men who fought it.

By the end of the summer of 1944, the U.S. strategy of island hopping in the Pacific had proven successful. General MacArthur sought to enter the Japanese-controlled Philippines via an airbase on the island of Peleliu. What was predicted to be a swift, four-day takeover ultimately took two months, as the Japanese had learned new defense strategies like fortifying the high ground and digging a complex of intricate tunnels & caves into Umurbrogol Mountain.

Follow the U.S. Marines in their brutal and drawn out invasion of what became known as the deadly “Emperor’s Island”.

1
View of Peleliu looking south
1944

2
Marines of the 1st Marine Division engaged in the type of fighting that typified the struggle for the Umurbrogol Pocket
September 15, 1944

3
US Marine charges across the beach on Peleliu Island, the “walkie talkie” strapped to his back and clutching a radio phone in his right hand.
September, 1944
4
U.S. Marines taking cover behind a knocked out LVT (nicknamed “The Trail”)
During day 1 of the Battle of Peleliu

5
Marines of the 1st Marine Division fighting from the cover of a coral
September 15, 1944
6
Marines of the 1st Marine Division firing an M1919A4 .30-caliber machine gun during the battle
September 15, 1944
7
A Marine War Dog handler reads a note just delivered by his canine messenger during the battle.
September 15, 1944

8
1st Marine Division PFCs Gerald P. Thursby and Douglas D. Lightheart, smoking cigarettes
After landing on Peleliu’s White Beach Two
9
Landing craft launch a rocket attack against the Peleliu beaches prior to landings by 1st Marine Division
September 15th, 1944
10
The first wave of LVTs moves toward the invasion beaches, passing through the inshore bombardment line of LCI gunboats
September 15th, 1944

11
The 1st Marine Division heads for the Peleliu beaches, as its LVTs churn past the offshore line of LCI gunboats
September 15th, 1944
12
An OY-1 Grasshopper spotter aircraft being manhandled on the flight deck of USS Petrof Bay during the Peleliu operation
September 19th, 1944
13
Marines investigate a Japanese landing barge after attacking it with LVTs
Peleliu, 1944

14
Marine riflemen and tanks in the Horseshow Ridge area of Peleliu's Umurbrogol massif pass the only source of fresh water for the Japanese defenders
Early October 1944
15
An F4U Corsair carrying a napalm canister for a close air-support mission taxis on the Peleliu airfield while fighting in the island's interior was still ongoing
September, 1944
16
USS Robinson slips along the beach at Peleliu on D-day
September 15th, 1944

17
Cpl Peter P. Zacharko stands by a captured Japanese 141mm mortar
September 1944
18
Frontline warning sign on Peleliu
October 1944
19
A F4U Corsair drops napalm on Japanese positions atop Umurbrogol
October, 1944