Bombing of Nauru Island

U.S. Army photo - 1943.

PHOTO: Gifted by Burger
In 1942 the Japanese occupied Nauru. The Japanese deported 1200 Nauruans to Truk, Caroline Islands to work as labourers, where 463 died as a result of starvation and bombing. The Nauruan survivors were returned to Nauru in 1946.
MAP: Nauru
Nauru is a coral atoll located about 2,580 miles southwest of Hawaii. Oval in shape, it has a circumference of 12 miles and an area of 8 square miles. latitude 0 degrees south and longitude 167 degrees east. The highest point of Nauru is the plateau which is 213 feet above sealevel. This plateau was rich with phosphate. The plateau covers four/fifths of the island.

Return to USS Boyd DD-544 Photograph Archive