Carrier airstrikes hit Guam daily followed by intense naval gunfire. Naval air strikes began (July 5) and continud unabated until (July 21). He was also able to obtain better intelligence on Japanese deployment. Geiger used the delay for an extended preparatory bombardment. The invasion was schedulred for June 1944, but had to be postponed becuause of the protracted Japanese resistance on Saipan. Major General Roy Geiger of the III Amphibious Corps was given command of the the Guam invasion force. A primary American objective was the airfield on Orote Peninsula. Even so, the 18,500 men of the defending garrizson was a sizeable force given the size iof the Island. The Japanese garrison on Guam ws half of the Saipan garrison and had less heavy equipment, artillery and tanks. American air raids on Japan from Guam were not possible unless the United States also took Saipan. The Japanese concentrated their forces on Saipan, in part because it had a larger Japanese population and was located in the north. After the destruction of Japanese air forces, the Japanese garrison Guam could not support the beleagered garrison on Saipan. Most of the Chomoros in the Marianas lived on Guam. Guam was the southern-most and largest islands of Marianas, about 150 miles south of Saipan. Source: Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam. Here Chomoros are serving as guides for a group of Marines. The Marianas: Invasion of Guam (July 20-, 1944)įigure 1.-The Chomoros on Guam eagerly assisted the Americans landing to liberate their island in any way they could. World War II Pacific Theater - Marianas Guam invasions
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