Marines in the Marianas: Volume 2 - Tinian and Guam

By Eric Hammel

The American mid-1944 campaign in the Mariana Islands was an important strategic step that placed Tokyo and the rest of Japan’s industrial heartland within range of the new U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 very-long-range bombers. Once the islands were secured and the airfields were built, the new Twentieth Air Force could do to Japanese industry what its strategic counterparts in Europe had been doing to German industry since mid-1943.
Even though these important objectives in the Marianas had been accorded an early place in prewar strategic planning, the shape of the Pacific War had left them alone for two and a half years of hard battles in the Solomon Islands and at the far eastern periphery of Japanese central Pacific holdings: first Tarawa in November 1943, then the Marshall Islands in January and February 1944.
The first and most difficult objective in the Marianas was Saipan, a former German colony that had been in Japanese hands since the end of World War I but had not been fortified in any meaningful way until the spring of 1944. It was invaded by the 2d and 4th Marine divisions on June 15, 1944, and declared secure on July 9.
A natural extension of the Saipan battle, Tinian was invaded by the 2d and 4th Marine Division on July 24, and the separate invasion of Guam, a former American base captured in December 1941, was launched by the 3d Marine Division and 1st Provisional Marine Brigade on July 21.
Relying mainly on 290 gripping photos gleaned from government archives, many with extended captions, veteran military history author Eric Hammel has created a stunning and coherent battle history dedicated to the memory of the United States Marines who endured the bloody campaigns to secure Tinian and Guam from their stubborn defenders.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pacifica Military History
• Release date: Jun 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781890988630

Eric Hammel

The late Eric Hammel was one of America's leading military historians with more than 40 well-received books published over a 50-year career. His previous books on the Solomons campaign, Carrier Clash, Carrier Strike, Decision at Sea, and Starvation Island, are among the leading authoritative sources on the subject due to their extensive use of first-person testimony.

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Tinian

July 24–August 1, 1944

BOMBARDMENT

The invasion and capture of Tinian was the inevitable extension of the Saipan battle for airfield sites from which the B-29 bombing assault on Japan could be mounted. (See Marines In the Marianas: Vol. 1, Saipan). Following a brief rest and reorganization on Saipan, the 4th Marine Division was launched ashore on J-day, July 24, behind a massive air, naval, and land-based artillery bombardment that had blanketed northern Tinian since early June. The invasion beaches were in northwestern Tinian, directly opposite the airfields numbered 1 and 3, which were well within range of the V Amphibious Corps (VAC) U.S. Army-Marine artillery groupment set up in southwestern Saipan.

A U.S. Navy light bomber based aboard an escort carrier charged with providing V Amphibious Corps with direct air support orbits over cane fields as fires ignited by bombs and artillery burn out of control on Tinian’s Airfield No. 1. (Official U.S. Navy Photo)

This Marine 155mm howitzer is one of the types of medium and heavy artillery that pummeled Tinian from southern Saipan in the days leading up to the Tinian invasion. (Official USMC Photo)

Each of VAC’s Marine divisions fielded a squadron of OY light observation planes used for guiding air, artillery, and naval gunfire missions. These vulnerble eyes in the sky, capable of monitoring ground targets from all points overhead, were crucial to the accuracy of air and gunfire support. (Official USMC Photo)

Experimental napalm bombs were first dropped in a combat environment during the run-up to the Tinian landings. Seen here, several napalm bombs detonate behind one of the Tinian invasion beaches on July 23, the day before the landings. (Official USMC Photo)

Japanese positions near Tinian Town erupt in flames under artillery fire originating on Saipan. June 24. (Official USMC Photo)

The prelanding bombardment was effective enough to knock out this large-caliber naval gun despite its excellent cover and stout protection. This bunker was probably reduced by naval guns fired from directly offshore. In addition to the gun and its ammnition, Marines found a very large supply of food and other war goods stashed in these structures. The entire island was heavily worked over ahead of the landings to prevent the Japanese from figuring out which beaches would be used. (Official USMC