The Battle of Morotai, part of the Pacific War, began on 15 September 1944, and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. The fighting started when United States and Australian forces landed on the southwest corner of Morotai, a small island in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI), which the Allies needed as a base to support the liberation of the Philippines later that year. The invading forces greatly outnumbered the island's Japanese defenders and secured their objectives in two weeks. Japanese reinforcements landed on the island between September and November, but lacked the supplies needed to effectively attack the Allied defensive perimeter. Intermittent fighting continued until the end of the war, with the Japanese troops suffering heavy loss of life from disease and starvation.
LSTs landing supplies at Blue Beach, Morotai
Allied operations and major Japanese garrisons in the Western Pacific between July and September 1944
A long line of Allied landing craft and transports approaching Morotai
Infantrymen disembark into deep water on 15 September.
Philippines campaign (1944–1945)
The Philippines campaign, Battle of the Philippines, Second Philippines campaign, or the Liberation of the Philippines, codenamed Operation Musketeer I, II, and III, was the American, Mexican, Australian and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines during World War II.
General Douglas MacArthur, President Osmeña, and staff land at Palo, Leyte on October 20, 1944.
US soldiers on Leyte shortly after the landing
Troops of the 185th Inf., 40th Div., take cover behind advancing tanks while moving up on Japanese positions on Panay Island
Japanese Troops surrender to the 40th Infantry Division