Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands 27 in preparation for operations against Japan itself. The USAAF bases in the Mariana Islands were within range of a number of Japanese air bases in the Pacific. These included Wake Island to the east, Truk and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands to the southeast, Woleai to the south and Yap to the southwest. To the north the Japanese had air bases in the Nampo Shoto chain of islands and Bonin Islands, which included three airstrips on Iwo Jima. Several of the minor islands in the Mariana chain also remained in Japanese hands, and there were airfields on Rota and
Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign mission, and the battleship was destroyed before it could engage the US navy. Control of the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands enabled the US Army Air Forces to conduct missions against targets on Honshu and Kyushu, with the first raid occurring on Tokyo, from March 9–10. Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign The Volcano and Ryūkyū Islands Campaign was a series of battles and engagements between Allied forces and Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific Ocean campaign of World War II between January and June, 1945. The campaign took place in the Volcano and Ryukyu island groups. The two main land battles