Gilbert and Ellice Islands Ellice Islands", which replaced laws created during the BWTP. The Phoenix Islands were added to the colony in 1937. Banaba Island (Ocean Island) remained the headquarters of the colony until the British evacuation in 1942 during the Pacific War when Ocean Island and the Gilbert Islands were occupied by the Japanese. The United States forces landed in Funafuti on 2 October 1942 and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943 and constructed an airfield on each island and other bases. The atolls of Tuvalu acted as a staging post during the preparation for the Battle of Tarawa and the Battle
High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was an official who ruled the American Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship in the Pacific Ocean under the administration of the United States, between 1947 and 1994. The territory consisted of islands captured by America during World War II, prior to which they had been part of the Empire of Japan as the South Pacific Mandate. After World War II, the United Nations placed the territory under the United States trusteeship as the Trust