The significance of Wake Island in WWII is that it was on the north side of the Marshall Islands and on the east side of Guam which, at the time were held by the Japanese. Devereux, USMC of Baltimore.The defense battalion was supplemented by Marine Corps fighter plane squadron VMF-211, consisting of 12 F4F-3 Wildcat fighters, commanded by marine aviator Major Paul A. Putnam, USMC.Al… The U.S. military never tried to retake the atoll but cut it off from resupply and …

Soon the island is attacked and the Marines pull together day …

WORLD WAR II Aug 15, 2016 Elaine Smith Before the threat of war in the Pacific and the outbreak of World War II, Wake Island was a stopping off point for vacationers aboard Pan American flights to and from the Orient. The Japanese garrisoned Wake with more than 4,000 troops and erected extensive fortifications to protect them from attack.

In January 1941, the United States Navy constructed a military base on the atoll.

Wake Island spent the rest of World War II in Japanese hands. The surrender was of American troops to those of Japan.

When tensions started to build up in the late 1930s the US Navy started fortifying the island and construction of an airfield and defenses started in 1941. Battle Of Wake Island summary: The Attack of Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island were simultaneous and Wake Island finished on December 23, 1941. In late December 1941, the Japanese reinforced existing forces on Wake Island, part of a coral atoll west of Hawaii, in massive numbers after being unable to wrest the island from a … D-day for the invasion of Iwo Jima was 19 February; and, on that day, Wake Island operated as before, flying 56 spotting sorties and firing 87 rockets. Bird watching, sports fishing, and swimming … The battle was for a small island in Central Pacific with the Marines and civilians of the island defending against invaders from Japan. His tendency toward spit and polish upsets the men's tropical lassitude, but Pearl Harbor changes everything. Planes from Wake Island flew spotting sorties, attacked defensive works with rocket fire, and flew local antisubmarine patrols and hydrographic observation flights over the beaches. In November 1941, Major Caton takes command of the small Marine garrison on Wake Island. On 19 August, the first permanent military garrison, understrength elements of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion, totaling 450 officers and men, were stationed on the island, under Major James P.S.