Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign

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The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first battles of a large-scale offensive across the Central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The goal of the campaign was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow American air and naval assets to support future operations across the Central Pacific. Operation Galvanic and Operation Kourbash were the codenames for the Gilberts campaign (in modern Kiribati), and included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin, which took place during the Battle of Tarawa on 20–23 November 1943 and the Battle of Makin on 20–24 November 1943. Operation Flintlock and Operation Catchpole had the goal of capturing Japanese bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Majuro in the Marshall Islands.

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