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The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island.The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii), and ended on 23 December, with the surrender of American forces to the Empire of Japan.
Wake Island 1941: A Battle to Make the Gods Weep. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781849086042. Rottman, Gordon L. (2002). U.S. Marine Corps World War II Order of Battle - Ground and Air Units in the Pacific War, 1939 - 1945. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31906-5. Sherrod, Robert (1952). History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II. Washington, D.C ...
Overly confident that the island's defenses had been reduced by air bombardment, his forces suffered heavy casualties in the first phase of the Battle of Wake Island before being forced to retreat. Hayate and Kisaragi were sunk, and Yubari was hit 11 times by shells fired by the Marine defenders. Perhaps surprisingly for the Japanese Naval ...
Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal with Wake Island Device Henry Talmage " Hammerin' Hank " Elrod (September 27, 1905 – December 23, 1941) was a US Marine Corps aviator . He was the first aviator to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II , for his heroism in the defense of Wake Island .
In November 1941, VMF-211 embarked 12 of its 24 F4F-3 Wildcats and 13 of its 29 pilots aboard USS Enterprise for movement to Wake Island, the scene of the squadron's heroic battle, launching from the carrier and arriving at Wake on 3 December. [4] On 8 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Wake, destroying seven of the aircraft on the ground.
Across the International Date Line just a few hours later on December 8, Japanese aircraft bombed Wake Island. While the Marines were able to repulse the first Japanese landing attempt on December 11, the Japanese successfully landed on December 23 and captured the island and all of the defenders. [3] [4]
He was the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the 1st Defense Battalion Detachment during the defense of Wake Island in December 1941. He was captured on Wake Island as a prisoner of war, along with his men, after a 15-day battle with the Japanese. After his release in September 1945, he concluded his military career as a colonel in 1948, where upon ...
After departing Wake Island, Maj Bayler arrived at Midway Atoll and quickly joined the growing Marine Aviation Detachment there under the command of LtCol William J. Wallace. His task was to again establish air-ground radio communications however he also assisted the 6th Defense Battalion with the installation and operation of their newly ...