What is island hopping?

In the war against the Germans, successful landings were made in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and southern France. In the war against Japan, the warfare was almost entirely amphibious. Landings were made on one island after another. This became known as "islandhopping." Each island brought the battle closer and closer to Japan itself.

American forces made amphibious attacks on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, on Kwajalein in the Marshalls, on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, on I wo Jima in the Volcano Islands, on Leyte in the Philippines, and on Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands close to Japan. The war in the Pacific ended soon after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, but the Japanese islands would surely have been invaded if the war had not ended when it did. The invasion of Japan would have been the greatest amphibious warfare in history.