Operation Forager

Deep in the central Pacific sits a cluster of small islands, the Marianas, an archipelago that is just 900 miles from Japan. In 1944, that placed the main Marian Islands of Guam, Saipan and Tinian within range of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Under Operation Forager, the capture of these islands became a key objective of US strategy in the Pacific.

On 15 June 1944, US Marines landed on Saipan, the most heavily defended of the Marianas. It took three weeks of savage fighting from the confines of the beaches to the rugged mountains of the interior before the Japanese were overcome. It was the costliest battle to date in the Pacific War. But it was, US General Holland Smith claimed, ‘the decisive battle of the Pacific offensive’.

Guam was next. With a garrison of around 20,000 men, the Americans knew another bloodbath awaited. Following a massive air and sea bombardment, the marines stormed ashore again. Day after day the Americans advanced through dense jungles and thickly wooded hills until, on 10 August, all organised resistance was brought to an end. During the fighting on Guam, the tiny island of Tinian had been taken to complete the US victory in the Marianas.

Almost as soon as the fighting had ceased work began on expanding the existing airfields across the islands and building new ones. Tinian was turned into one enormous air base which, at its peak, was the busiest airfield in the world.

The battle for the Marianas was the scene of the largest banzai attack of the war, of mass suicides by the Japanese, of the most ferocious bombardments modern warfare could unleash and of determined, even sacrificial, resistance in hot, hostile and unhealthy jungles. Told through a unique collection of photographs and the words of those who were there, this pivotal operation which heralded the ultimate defeat of Japan, is brought vividly to life.