Appendix II
Chronology

1944
2 January U. S. Army troops land at Saidor, beginning drive up New Guinea coast.
30 January-7 February U. S. forces assault and capture Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.
16-17 February Task Force 58 strikes Truk, revealing weakness of that base.
18-23 February U. S. forces assault and capture Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, completing the breach of the Japanese outer defenses in the Central Pacific.
22-23 February Task Force 58 strikes Southern Marianas.
29 February-28 March U. S. forces assault and capture the main islands of the Admiralties group.
6 March 1st Marine Division lands near Talasea on New Britain.
12 March Joint Chiefs of Staff direct that Southern Marianas be seized, target date 15 June.
22 March 1st Provisional Marine Brigade activated.
23 March CinCPOA issues operation order for FORAGER directing capture of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.
23-25 March 77th Infantry Division departs U. S. for Hawaiian Islands.
30 March-1 April Task Force 58 strikes Western Carolines.
16 April BrigGen Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. assumes command of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade.
22 April U. S. Army troops invade Northern New Guinea, landing at Aitape and Hollandia.
26 April Expeditionary Troops Headquarters issues operation order for FORAGER.
11 May Southern Troops and Landing Force issues operation order for capture of STEVEDORE (Guam), second phase of FORAGER.
17 May Task Force 53 issues operation order for STEVEDORE with tentative landing date (W-Day) of 18 June.

--175--
23-27 May Task Force 53 conducts final rehearsal on beaches near Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal.
1 June LST groups carrying assault elements of Southern Troops and Landing Force depart Solomons for staging area at Kwajalein.
4 June Remainder of Task Force 53 with IIIAC Headquarters on board departs Solomons for Kwajalein.
6 June Allied troops invade the continent of Europe in Normandy.
9-12 June Elements of Task Force 53 leave Kwajalein for Southern Marianas.
15 June China-based B-29's attack Kyushu Island in first Superfort raid on Japan.
15 June 2d and 4th Marine Divisions land on Saipan in first phase of FORAGER.
16 June 27th Infantry Division, Expeditionary Troops Reserve, begins landing on Saipan.
16 June Fifth Fleet Commander cancels 18 June as W-Day for STEVEDORE, directs Task Force 53 to remain off Saipan as floating reserve, and orders Task Force 58 to engage approaching Japanese Fleet.
19-20 June Battle of the Philippine Sea. Japanese naval air arm suffers decisive defeat.
25 June 3d Marine Division released from floating reserve off Saipan and directed to return to Eniwetok.
30 June 1st Provisional Marine Brigade released from floating reserve off Saipan and directed to return to Eniwetok.
30 June-4 July Conference of top commanders on Saipan regarding STEVEDORE. Decision to commit 77th Infantry Division on Guam.
1-8 July 77th Infantry Division departs Pearl Harbor to join Task Force 53 at Eniwetok.
2-7 July U. S. Army troops assault and capture Noemfoor Island off Dutch New Guinea.
8 July Commander Fifth Fleet sets W-Day as 21 July.
8 July Ships and planes of Task Forces 53 and 58 commence intensive preinvasion bombardment of Guam.
9 July All organized resistance ceases on Saipan; mop-up begins.
10 July 305th Regimental Combat Team joins Task Force 53 at Eniwetok, assigned to 1st Provisional Marine Brigade.
14 July Admiral Conolly, embarked in the Appalachian, arrives off Guam to assume personal control of the bombardment program.
15-17 July Tractor and transport groups of Task Force 53 depart Eniwetok for Guam.
17 July Remainder of 77th Infantry Division arrives at Eniwetok.
18 July Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo and Cabinet resign as a result of the capture of Saipan.
21 July 3d Marine Division and 1st Provisional Marine

--176--
  Brigade land on Guam in second phase of FORAGER.
22 July 77th Infantry Division begins landing on Guam.
24 July 4th Marine Division lands on Tinian in third phase of FORAGER.
25 July 2d Marine Division lands on Tinian.
25-26 July Japanese counterattack against Marines on Guam repulsed with crippling losses to enemy.
27 July American sovereignty over the island of Guam is proclaimed.
29 July United States flag raised over ruins of former Marine Barracks on Orote Peninsula, Guam.
1 August All organized resistance ceases on Tinian; mop-up begins.
10 August All organized resistance ceases on Guam; mop-up begins.
21-22 August Units of 1st Provisional Marine Brigade begin leaving Guam.
1 September Island Command takes control over all forces remaining on Guam; intensive mop-up continues.
15 September U. S. Army troops assault and capture Morotai Island, Netherlands East Indies.
15-30 September U. S. forces assault and capture Peleliu and Anguar, Palau Islands.
23 September U. S. Army troops seize Ulithi Atoll in Western Carolines.
20 October U. S. Army troops invade Leyte Island in the Philippines.
23-26 October Battle of Leyte Gulf. Elimination of Japanese surface fleet as a major threat.
3 November 77th Infantry Division departs Guam.
24 November Saipan-based B-29's bomb Tokyo in first attack on enemy capitol by land-based planes.
15 December U. S. Army troops invade Mindoro Island in the Philippines.

--177--

Table of Contents ** Previous Chapter (Appendix I) * Next Chapter (Appendix III)

Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Jerry Holden for the HyperWar Foundation