Landing on Emirau

Landing on Emirau
Part of World War II, Pacific War
F4U Corsairs on Emirau Island in position along a taxiway to the new airport which was operational less than two months after the landing
Date 20–27 March 1944 Location Emirau Island, Territory of New Guinea 1°41′6″S 150°0′0″E / 1.68500°S 150.00000°E / -1.68500; 150.00000 Result Unopposed
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
William Halsey, Jr. Lawrence F. Reifsnider Alfred H. Noble William L. McKittrick
Strength
4,000
Casualties and losses
1 injured

The Landing on Emirau was the last of the series of operations that made up Operation Cartwheel, General Douglas MacArthur's strategy for the encirclement of the major Japanese base at Rabaul. A force of nearly 4,000 United States Marines landed on the island of Emirau on 20 March 1944. The island was not occupied by the Japanese and there was no fighting. It was developed into an airbase which formed the final link in the chain of bases surrounding Rabaul. The isolation of Rabaul permitted MacArthur to turn his attention westward and commence his drive along the north coast of New Guinea toward the Philippines.