Battle of Biak

E641651

The Battle of Biak was a World War II Pacific campaign in 1944 in which U.S. forces seized the strategically vital Biak Island from Japanese control to secure airfields for operations toward the Philippines.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Battle of Biak canonical 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf battle
airfieldCaptured Borokoe Airfield
Mokmer Airfield
Sorido Airfield
linked to: Mokmer Airfield
alsoKnownAs Biak Island campaign
belligerent Imperial Japanese Army
United States Army
casualties heavy on both sides
commanderForJapan Kuzume Naoyuki
linked to: Naoyuki Kuzume
commanderForUnitedStates Horace H. Fuller
Robert L. Eichelberger
conflict World War II
countryInvolved Empire of Japan
linked to: Imperial Japan

United States
endDate 1944-08-20
followedBy Allied operations toward the Philippines
forcesInvolved 41st Infantry Division (United States)
Japanese 222nd Infantry Regiment
U.S. I Corps
front Pacific Theater of Operations
JapaneseCasualties several thousand killed
location Biak Island
Schouten Islands
near New Guinea
militaryBranchInvolved Imperial Japanese Navy air units
United States Army Air Forces
United States Navy
notableFeature heavy fighting around Mokmer airfield
use of tanks by Japanese defenders
objective capture Biak Island
seize airfields on Biak
operation part of Allied advance along the New Guinea coast
partOf New Guinea campaign
Pacific War
precededBy Allied landings along the New Guinea coast
region western New Guinea
result Allied victory
significance denied Japan a key air base in western New Guinea
provided airfields to support the liberation of the Philippines
startDate 1944-05-27
strategicPurpose secure air bases for operations toward the Philippines
support General Douglas MacArthur’s advance toward the Philippines
tacticsUsedByJapan cave defenses
defense in depth
theater South West Pacific Area
USCasualties over one thousand killed and wounded
year 1944

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.