Battle of Angaur The Battle of Angaur was a battle of the Pacific campaign in World War II , fought on the island of Angaur in the Palau Islands from 17 September — 22 October 1944 . This battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager which ran from June 1944 to November 1944 in the Pacific Theater of Operations . Background . Angaur is a tiny limestone island , just long , separated from Peleliu by a strait . A very small indigenous population lived by farming , fishing , and phosphate mining . In mid - 1944 , the Japanese had 1 , 400 troops on the island , under the overall command of Palau Sector Group commander , Lieutenant General Sadae Inoue and under the direct command of Major Goto who was stationed on the island . The weak defenses of the Palaus and the potential for airfield construction made them attractive targets for the Americans after the capture of the Marshall Islands , but shortage of landing craft meant that operations against the Palaus could not begin until the Mariana Islands were secure . Battle . Bombardment of Angaur by the battleship , cruisers , and SBD - 5 Dauntless dive bomber s from the aircraft carrier began on 11 September 1944 . Six days later on 17 September , the U . S . 81st Infantry Division — commanded by Major General Paul J . Mueller — landed on the northeast and southeast coasts . Mines and congestion on the beach initially gave more trouble than Japanese counter - attacks . But resistance stiffened as the Americans advanced on " the Bowl " , a hill near Lake Salome in the northwest of the island where the Japanese planned to make their last stand after the rest of Angaur and Saipan town , were taken . There was another small position where the Japanese had about 400 soldiers in a defense at the South East corner of the island that was neutralized on September 20 after 2 days of harsh fighting and about 300 U . S . casualties . From 20 September , the 322nd Infantry Regiment repeatedly attacked the Bowl , but the 750 defenders repulsed them with artillery , mortars , grenades and machine guns . Gradually , hunger , thirst , and American shellfire and bombing took their toll on the Japanese , and by 25 September the Americans had penetrated the Bowl . Rather than fight for possession of the caves , they used bulldozers to seal the entrances . By 30 September , the island was said to be secure although the Japanese still had about 300 more soldiers in the Bowl and surrounding areas that held out for almost 4 more weeks . Towards the end of the first week of October , 1944 , the protracted conflict had degenerated into minor patrol action with sniping , ambushing , and extensive booby - trapping employed by both sides . The island ' s defense commander , Major Goto was killed on October 18 fighting to keep possession of a cave and the last day of fighting was October 22 with a total of 36 days of fighting and blasting the Japanese resistance from their caves with explosives , tanks , artillery and flamethrowers . The 81 Infantry Division had finally taken the whole of Angaur with relatively light casualties but met the same stiff resistance that was found on Peleliu . The battle of Angaur was a rare occasion where the American casualties outnumbered the Japanese casualties with 2 , 560 U . S . to 1 , 397 Japanese . These figures were a direct result of a saturation of mines and booby traps and the fact that the Americans outnumbered the Japanese by a factor of almost 10 : 1 . Americans 10 , 000 - Japanese 1 , 400 . Aftermath . Airfields were being constructed as the battle was still being fought , but the delay in the start of the Palaus operation meant that the airfields were not ready in time for the start of the Philippines operations in October 1944 . Admiral William F . Halsey , Jr . had argued before the invasion of the Palaus that the operation was unnecessary , and military historians have agreed with him , suggesting that the main benefit was the combat experience gained by the 81st Infantry Division . During the fighting , Seabee s created an airstrip that would house B 24 Liberator bombers of the 494th Bomb Group , 7th Air Force . The group engaged in frequent bombings of the Philippines and other Palau Islands . The 81st Division moved on directly to the battle on Peleliu Island to aid the 1st Marine Division , which had encountered extremely stiff resistance in the central highland of that island . They would remain on Peleliu for another month taking the island and mopping - up .