Saipan June 15, 1944 - July 8, 1944

The 1943 plan for the defensive perimeter around the Japanese Home Islands stopped at Saipan in the Marianas. Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who had been leading the cabinet since 1941, was optimistic in his hopes for a successful defense of the island.

30,000 soldiers held Saipan. The civilian population was indoctrinated that the Americans would rape the women, kill the children and leave no one alive. The Japanese defensive tactics called for heated defense as soon as the lading started. Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, the hero of Pearl Harbor and the loser at Midway, was placed in command.

The US Marines were under fire as soon as the landings started on June 15, 1944. 2,000 Marines were casualties, but 20,000 were ashore by nightfall. In a running fight, the battle for Saipan was over by June 20. Except for a group of caves, the island was in Allied hands. Saipan was declared secure on June 22.

But on the night of July 7, 3,000 Japanese charged in the largest suicide rush of the war. Stunned, the Americans fell back, but quickly recovered and wiped out the Japanese in an all-night fight. Nagumo and his staff committed suicide before giving the order to advance.

All but 1,000 of the Japanese military units were dead, along with 22,000 civilians. The soldiers had pushed or pulled many over cliffs, but most had committed suicide by jumping themselves or by holding onto grenades in the caves. American casualties numbered 16,525.

Tojo was stunned by the fall of Saipan. His government fell; much of the optimism for a negotiated armistice was gone. Most who had the whole picture of Japan's war efforts realized that the war was lost; it was only a matter of time before the Japanese Home Islands came under direct attack.

Internal Links

Guam

Battle of the Philippine Sea

 

Internet Links

The Northern Mariana Islands and World War Two
The Northern Mariana Islands And World War II With A Review Of The Role Of Tinan, The Atomic Bomb And The Loss Of The U.S.S. Indianapolis

Military Life at Isley Field, Saipan: 1944-1945

The World at War

American Memorial Park, Saipan - World War II Virtual Museum
American Memorial Park, World War II Historic Museum (Virtual Museum); Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; Administered by the U.S. National Park Service.

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MARINE AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS (DUKWS) AT SAIPAN TINIAN

warofourfathers.com

Battle of Saipan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guy Gabaldon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seabees and the Battle of Saipan by David Moore

The Battle of Saipan

"The Battle For Saipan"; World War II Virtual Museum, American Memorial Park, Saipan

Breaching the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan

HyperWar: US Army in WWII: Campaign In the Marianas

American Experience | Victory in the Pacific | People & Events | PBS

The Battle of Saipan\

James Troy

I Accuse | TIME
World War II is the best-reported war in history, but its coverage is still far from perfect. Last week Editor & Publisher printed a vigorous letter from Saipan which illuminated one of the most...

The Generals Smith | TIME
At a Washington press conference, after his return last week from the Marianas, tough Lieut. General Holland M. Smith, commander of all the Marines in the Pacific,* was asked an embarrassing...

Rainbow Over Hell | Home

Guy Gabaldon - WWII Marine

 

Bibliography From Amazon.com

 

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