Combat· World War II
Marianas Campaign (Operation FORAGER)
The Mariana Islands sat deep in the western Pacific, close enough to Japan that bombers based there could reach the home islands.
Japan saw them as a vital inner line of defense and meant to hold them at all costs. The Allies set their sights on three: Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. Taking them would give the United States airfields for the new long-range B-29 bombers and a fleet base far forward in the Pacific. Two Marine divisions, later joined by a third and by Army troops, made the assaults under a single corps command. They fought across large islands of cane fields, ridges, caves, and cliffs, very different from the small coral atolls of earlier battles. Winning the Marianas broke Japan's inner defense ring, cost the enemy his fleet's air power, and brought his homeland within reach of American bombers.
Engagements in this conflict (1) Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 573