Asiatic-Pacific Theater





The Asiatic-Pacific Theater, was the area of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941-45. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, there were two U.S. operational commands in the Pacific. The Pacific Ocean Areas, divided into Central Pacific Area, North Pacific Area and South Pacific Area, were commanded by Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas. The South West Pacific Area, including the New Guinea, Philippines, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies, was commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific Area. During 1945, the United States added the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific commanded by General Carl Spaatz.

Because of the complementary roles of the United States Army and the United States Navy in conducting war in the Pacific theater, there was no single Allied or U.S. commander (comparable to Eisenhower in the European Theater of Operations). There was no actual command; rather, SWPA, POA, and other forces and theatres such as the China-Burma-India Theater.

North Pacific Area

 * Aleutian Islands Campaign, 1942–43
 * Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943

Central Pacific Area

 * Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 1941
 * Battle of Guam, December 1941
 * Battle of Wake Island, December 1941
 * Doolittle Raid, April 1942
 * Battle of Midway, June 1942
 * Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, 1943–44
 * Makin Island raid, August 1942
 * Battle of Tarawa, November 1943
 * Battle of Kwajalein, February 1944
 * Battle of Eniwetok, February 1944
 * Raid on Truk (Caroline Islands), February 1944
 * Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, 1944
 * Battle of Saipan, June 1944
 * Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 1944
 * Battle of Guam, July - August 1944
 * Battle of Tinian, July - August 1944
 * Battle of Peleliu, September - November 1944
 * Battle of Angaur, September - October 1944
 * Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944
 * Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, October 1944
 * Battle of Cape Engaño, October 1944
 * Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign, 1945
 * Battle of Iwo Jima, February 1945
 * Battle of Okinawa, April 1945

South Pacific Area

 * Guadalcanal Campaign, August 1942–February 1943
 * Battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942
 * Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24–25 August 1942
 * Battle of Cape Esperance, 11–12 October 1942
 * Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942
 * Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. 12–15 November 1942
 * Battle of Tassafaronga, 30 November 1942
 * Solomon Islands Campaign, February–November 1943
 * New Georgia Campaign, June–August 1943
 * Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943
 * Battle of Kolombangara, 12–13 July 1943
 * Battle of Vella Gulf, 6–7 August 1943
 * Battle of Vella Lavella, August–October 1943
 * Naval Battle of Vella Lavella: 6/7 October 1943
 * Land Battle of Vella Lavella: 15 August – 9 October 1943
 * Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, 1–2 November 1943
 * Battle of Cape St. George, 25 November 1943
 * Bougainville Campaign, November 1943 – April 1944 and on to August 1945

South West Pacific Area major campaigns and battles

 * Philippines campaign, 1942
 * Battle of Bataan, January–April 1942
 * Battle of Corregidor, May 1942
 * New Guinea campaign, 1942–45
 * Battle of Rabaul, January–February 1942
 * Invasion of Salamaua–Lae, March 1942
 * Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942
 * Invasion of Buna-Gona, July 1942
 * Kokoda Track campaign, July–November 1942
 * Battle of Milne Bay, August–September 1942
 * Battle of Goodenough Island, October 1942
 * Battle of Buna–Gona, November 1942–January 1943
 * Battle of Wau, January 1943
 * Battle of the Bismarck Sea, March 1943
 * Salamaua–Lae campaign, April–September 1943
 * Finisterre Range campaign, September 1943–April 1944
 * Huon Peninsula campaign, September 1943–March 1944
 * Bougainville Campaign, November 1943–August 1945
 * New Britain campaign, December 1943–August 1945
 * Admiralty Islands campaign, February–May 1944
 * Western New Guinea campaign, April 1944–August 1945
 * Aitape–Wewak campaign, November 1944–August 1945
 * Philippines campaign, 1944-45
 * Battle of Leyte, October–December 1944
 * Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944
 * Battle of Palawan Passage, October 1944
 * Battle of Surigao Strait, October 1944
 * Battle off Samar, October 1944
 * Battle of Mindoro, December 1944
 * Battle of Lingayen Gulf, January 1945
 * Battle of Luzon, January–August 1945
 * Battle of Manila, February–March 1945
 * Battle of Corregidor, February 1945
 * Invasion of Palawan, February–April 1945
 * Battle of the Visayas, March–July 1945
 * Battle of Mindanao, March–August 1945
 * Battle of Maguindanao, January–September 1945
 * Borneo campaign, 1945
 * Battle of Tarakan, May–June 1945
 * Battle of North Borneo, June–August 1945
 * Battle of Balikpapan, July 1945

==China-Burma-India Theater major campaigns and battles ==
 * Burma, December 1942–May 1942
 * India-Burma, April 1942–January 1945
 * China Defensive, July 1942–May 1945
 * Central Burma, January 1945–July 1945
 * China Offensive, May1945–September 1945