In late 1944, as a precursor to the invasion of the Philippines, U.S. military analysts decided to seize the small island of Peleliu to ensure that the Japanese airfield could not threaten the invasion forces.
It was estimated that the island would fall in a week or so. In fact, the fighting on Peleliu would go on for 74 days. The US would pay a heavy price for capturing the island with a higher casualty rate than the fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
In this episode, I'm joined by Pacific War historian Joseph Wheelan, author of Bitter Peleliu: The Forgotten Struggle on the Pacific War's Worst Battlefield.
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107 - The Battle of the Peaks and Long Stop Hill
106 - Operation Swallow
105 - Case White: The Invasion of Poland, 1939
104 - Alarmstart: The Luftwaffe in the Mediterranean
103 'Chink' Eric Dorman-Smith
102 - D-Day Through German Eyes
101 - Operation CHASTISE: The Dambusters
100 - Left For Dead At Nijmegen
99 - George Mergenthaler - MERG
98 - Operation Market Garden
97 - Japanese POW: Ray Fitchett
96 - Bridge Busters: The Dortmund-Ems Canal Raid
95 - Jimmy Stewart
94 - 1941
93 - D-Day: The British Beach Landings
92 - D-Day: Omaha
91 - USS Arizona: Brothers Down
90 - Storm On Our Shores
89 - Cork Wars
88 - Division Leclerc
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