With the operation over there was time to reflect on the battle and evaluate the human cost. The Marines lost 1,050 killed in action, 250 died of wounds, 5,450 wounded, and 36 missing. Total casualties by regiment were: 1st Marines – 1,749, 5th Marines – 1,378, and 7th Marines – 1,497. The 81st Inf. Div. casualties on Peleliu were 1,393, of whom 208 were killed in action. A further 260 were killed and 1,354 wounded on Angaur. Japanese dead on Peleliu were an estimated at 10,900 including those lost at sea in reinforcement attempts and raids. Only 202 prisoners were taken; of these only 19 were Japanese, the remainder being Korean and Okinawan laborers. Virtually the entire 1,400-man garrison of Angaur was wiped out with only 59 prisoners being taken.
One aspect of the battle for Peleliu always mystified the American military, and that was the role played by MajGen Murai in the defense of the island. Captured orders examined after the battle, along with the interrogation of prisoners of war, indicated that the island commander was Col Nakagawa and that General Murai was there as a mere adviser. This appeared a most unusual situation, having a general as adviser to a colonel, particularly considering how strict the Japanese military code was. In addition the garrison on Peleliu was above the level of that usually commanded by a colonel.
In March 1950, General Inoue, who had survived the war and was on Guam in a US Navy prison, was interviewed by LtCol Worden, USMC. Inoue’s testimony, and a report from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both confirmed General Murai was definitely on Peleliu during the battle and that both he and Col Nakagawa were promoted by special promotion on 31 December 1944, the day that both their deaths were accepted by the Japanese high command.
Not all the Japanese defenders were quite ready to join their ancestors. Here five of the 200-plus prisoners of war taken on Peleliu are escorted to the rear by Military Police.
Marine Corsairs drop napalm onto Japanese defenses in the Umurbrogol. The time between take-off from the Peleliu airstrip and their target was so short that the pilots did not even have time to raise their undercarriage.
Peleliu was garrisoned for the next few months by units of the 81st Inf. Div. (321st RCT), also by Navy “Seabees” and Marine aviation units as well as the Marine 3rd Base Headquarters Battalion.
Although the fighting was officially over and Peleliu declared secure, groups and individual Japanese troops still remained in isolated pockets and caves, mainly in the north of the island and the Umurbrogol mountains. For months afterwards, the Army units left to garrison the island were flushing out stragglers and sealing up caves. Three months after the fighting in the Umurbrogol Pocket was over, the huge tunnel complex was still occupied by a handful of Japanese Navy and Army troops. After several attempts by the Americans to persuade them to surrender – to no avail – the entrances were blasted closed. To everyone’s amazement, in February 1945, five surviving Japanese managed to dig their way out to the surface, only to be captured. Marine aircraft began arriving soon after D-Day on Peleliu: VMF-114, VMF-121, VMF-122, VMTB-134, VMF(N)-541, and VMR-952.
Also based on Peleliu after its fall were two Navy sea search units. Patrols from these units would discover the survivors from the USS Indianapolis (CA-35), the ill-fated ship that delivered elements of the atomic bomb to Tinian and, after departing Guam en route to Leyte, was sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58.
On 18 January 1945, totally out of the blue, Japanese troops from Babelthuap landed on Beaches Purple and White. After a brief struggle between them and the garrison forces, 71 Japanese lay dead and two had been captured.
The Kossol Passage north of Babelthuap, still occupied by the Japanese, remained in use as a fleet anchorage and, in conjunction with Ulithi, supported operations in the Philippines.
The 81st Inf. Div. remained on Peleliu and Angaur mopping up, clearing the battlefield of months of damaged equipment and materiel, guarding against possible seaborne raids from the north, and touring the battlefield until it departed between 6 December 1944 and 8 February 1945 sailing for New Caledonia where it would prepare for the assault on Okinawa in April 1945. The 1st Mar. Div. would fight there as well.
Years after the end of World War II, rumors persisted on Peleliu about surviving Japanese soldiers still hiding out in the mountains and swamps; eventually 120 Marines were sent to the island to search for survivors who were said to be preparing to attack Navy dependent housing. After several attempts to coax them out to surrender failed, a Japanese admiral was brought to Peleliu to convince the survivors that the war was over and it was acceptable to give themselves up with honor. Eventually on 22 April 1947, a lieutenant emerged along with 26 bedraggled 2nd Infantry soldiers and eight 45th Guard Force sailors – their battle for Peleliu was finally over. This was the last official surrender of World War II
Angaur was occupied by Navy Seabees, who started work constructing a 7,000ft airfield for the Army Air Forces, even before the island was secured, from which initially Marine aircraft wings flew sorties in support of the fighting still raging on Peleliu. It was later used by the 494th Heavy Bombardment Group which flew B-24 Liberators in support of US troops fighting in the Philippines. Raids were also flown against Koror and Babelthuap still occupied by General Inoue. The Navy established a small boat-repair facility on the island.
Whether Peleliu needed taking or not remains a subject of some deliberation by Generals and historians alike, but some facts are clear:
1. MacArthur’s flank was secured for his return to the Philippines and the danger of Japanese air strikes or troop reinforcements from the Palaus was removed. This danger though was minimal as all Japanese aircraft in the Palaus had been destroyed and few of the Japanese barges were capable of the 700-mile open-sea trip to the Philippines.
2. Several thousand first-rate Japanese troops had been eliminated and the remaining troops in the Western Carolines could be contained by air and sea operations originating from the new American airbases on Peleliu and Angaur.
3. The change in Japanese tactics served as an early warning to the Allies of what to expect in the forthcoming operations on the Japanese homeland. This made the 1st Mar. Div. and 81st Inf. Div. two of the divisions best prepared for the coming battle on Okinawa.
Of the 1st Mar. Div.’s commanders, General Rupertus was relieved of his command and instead given command of the Marine Corps Schools back in the United States. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in an action considered by many taken to keep him quiet. General Rupertus died of a heart attack at the Washington Navy Yard on 24 March 1945. He was 55 years old.
Colonels Puller, Harris, and Hanneken were all returned to the US for a long-overdue rest. The atomic bombs would be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki before they received their next commands. Chesty Puller would go on to become the most decorated Marine in the history of the US Marine Corps.