Admiralty Islands ADMIRALTY ISLANDS A South Pacific island group 200 miles northeast of New Guinea, forming part of the larger Bismarck Archipelago The Japanese occupied the Admiralties in April 1942 Some islands were retaken by Western Allied forces in 1944; others were bypassed in the island-hopping campaign Los Negros was secretly scouted on February 27, 1944 Poor Japanese dispositions enabled American troops to get ashore on the far side of that island two days later, with General Douglas MacArthur on hand to watch the preliminary bombardment The attackers quickly established a perimeter around a captured air strip The Japanese struck back with small infi ltration attacks that night, but were repulsed On March the Japanese commander realized the mistake of his initial dispositions and launched a main attack on the now firm American perimeter The attackers came under close naval gunfire, but persisted Parts of the perimeter were overrun in handto-hand fighting that lasted through the night, killing 61 Americans but some 750 Japanese Not one Japanese soldier surrendered: all wounded or able-bodied survivors killed themselves A number of small garrisons on other Admiralty islets were quickly overcome by Western Allied air, naval, and ground forces The most significant fight took place on Manus Island starting on March 15 Australian and American aircraft and ground forces attacked and overran the Japanese airfield on Manus on the 16th, but fighting continued against Japanese bitterenders until March 25 U.S forces took two more islets in the chain on April 1, reaching them in stealthy native canoes By the time all fighting ended in the Admiralties the invaders suffered 330 dead and nearly 1,200 wounded Japanese dead numbered 3,300 Just 75 Japanese allowed themselves to be taken prisoner, and most of them were too badly wounded to prevent capture See also Alamo Force; Bismarck Sea, Battle of the; Rabaul ADSEC Advance Section, Communications Zone The logistics section directly supporting U.S troops during the cross-Channel invasion of France in 1944 AEAF Allied Expeditionary Air Force The senior air command of the Western Allies, under SHAEF AEF Allied Expeditionary Force The formal nomenclature for all Western Allied armies involved in the 1944–1945 campaign in northwestern Europe under the unitary command of General Dwight Eisenhower See also SHAEF AEGEAN ISLANDS See Crete; Dodecanese campaign AFGHANISTAN This isolated and mountainous Muslim land was occupied by the British out of India from 1857, but it was never fully “pacified.” Afghans 10