Most of the battles in the south and Central Pacific revolved around the expansion of land-based air support. Each battle directly influenced the next. In one quick example, Operations Reckless/Persecution involved landings on the northern coast of New Guinea. More construction equipment than usual was loaded on the invasion transports since the beaches were out of range of US land-based aircraft and the Navy carriers were not allowed to stick around for more than three days. Once airfields were established, landings on Biak/Wakde farther north could proceed. These islands were needed so that the landings in the Marianas would have land-based air cover. Air fields in the Marianas would allow for very-long ranged bombers to strike the Japanese home islands. And so on...

In the Mediterranean, Corsica was referred to as the USS Corsica because so many squadrons were placed there. Additionally, the Foggia airfield complex in Italy was a major objective because its capture allowed 15th Air Force heavy bombers to strike targets in Germany and the Balkans from the south.

I'm afraid I don't know much about the Soviet bombing campaign.