"The 1st Marines on Bloody Nose Ridge" Topic

On 15 September 1944, the 1st Marine Division landed on Peleliu, their commander predicting they would take the island in four days. The grueling Battle of Peleliu would last 73 days, with the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division eventually taking over operations…

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Thanks for the find, Bill. One of my late great uncles fought there with the 1st Mar Div. For him, that was preceded by Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester.

Peleliu was taken with incredible courage and bravery, but at a terrible cost. Although it has become more talked about recently, it has for many years been the forgotten battle of the Pacific.
It was unfortunately an example of limited intelligence, underestimating the enemy and the use of predictable tactics against an enemy which had learnt from previous mistakes and was fully prepared for what was to come.
The real tragedy is that it was completely unnecessary. due to its lack of strategic importance.

I had a friend that was on Peleliu, he said what he remembered the most was the terrible smell.

In the previous battles of the 1st Marine Division when they broke through the enemy lines the battle was pretty much over. The problem Puller had on Peleliu was they kept pushing but there was no breakthrough like previous battles. I'm pretty sure he was eventually relieved. He was under a lot of pressure and his brother Sam had been killed on Guam a few months earlier.

Wolfhag