These official U.S. Marine Corps photographs, numbered K-11, K-12, and K-19, document the aftermath of the Battle of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, fought during Operation Flintlock in late January and early February 1944. Intense pre-invasion naval and aerial bombardment reduced the island's palm groves to bare, splintered trunks and left the beaches strewn with wreckage, as seen in these images of Marines moving through the devastated terrain. Kwajalein was among the first Japanese-held territories captured by American forces in the Central Pacific offensive. Project: 218324