** World War II -- island territories the Marianas arcchipelago Guam








World War II Pacific Island Territories: The Marianas Archipelago--Guam

World War II Chamorros
Figure 1.-- Here are some of the Chamorro school children in front of their newly opened school at Agat after the American liberation of Guam. The Chamorros were the only American population that suffered Japanese occupation. The Japanese opened Japanese-lznguage schools, but most Chamorros did not want to attend them. They had to be forced to show up. The photograph was taken by a member of a U.S. Naval Construction Battalion.

Guam was a largely nignored Spanish colonial possession. As part of Spanish colonial policy to subdue and Christanize the native Chamoros in the Marianasa, most of the Chomoros were resettled on Guam. Guam was separated from the rest of the Marianas which came to be known as the Northern Marianas as a result of the Spanish-American War. Guam was located to the etreme south beyond Rota. The Northern Marianas were purchased by the Germans and then seized by the Japanese in World War I. The United States in the Inter-War era did not fortify Guam. The Japanese in violation of treary obligations did fortify the Northern Marianasa. The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor imobilized the U.S. Pacific Fleet (December 7, 1941). Three days later a heavily armed Japanese invasion force overwealmed the small American garrison (December 10). Unlike Saipan to the north, there was no Japanese population on Guam, but a substantial Chomoro population which suffered under the brutal Japanese occupation. The American offensive in the Central Pacific finally reached the Marianasa (June 1944). The Americans struck first at Saipan and when the Imperial Fleet intervened, its fleet arms was badly damaged in the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944). Once the Japanese were defeated on Saipan, the Amerians invaded Guam. In the fierce fighting that followed, the Jpanese fought to the death and the island heavily damaged. After securing the iskand, it was turned into a forwatd supply base to support both naval and air operations against the Japanese.

Spanish Empire

Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to discover the islands (1521). He named them the Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves) because of his experiences with the Chamoros. Spanish Jesuit Luis Diego Sanvitores renamed the islands Las Marianas in honor of the Spanish queen Maria Ana of Austria (1668). He and five other priests established a mission in the Marianas. The Marianas, especially Guam where the Spanish administration was based, were a stopover for Spanish galleons traveling from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, Philippines in a convoy known as the Galeon de Manila. The Marianas under Spanish rule remained a backwater under the general government of the Philippines. The Spanish effort to Christanize and control the islands set off two decades of often brutal hostilities between the Spanish and the Chamorros who violently resisted them. The Spanish had to commit a substantial military force to gain control of the islands. Because of lingering resistance, the Spanish rounded up most of the the Chamoros on Saipan and trasported them to Guam. The Spanish had more trouble doing this on Rota where most of the Chamoros managed to hide in the island's caves and mountains. The Spanish permitted Caroline islabders to move to Marianas where they tended cattle for the Spanish. Pope Leo XIII confirmed Spanish sovereignty over the Marianas (1885). Spain began encouraging the Chamoros on Guam to move to the Northern Marianas. The Guam Chamoros were now throughly Hispanicized. The Spanish saw a larger Chanoro population on Saipan and other islands in the Northern Marianas as a way of strengthening Spanish control. The Carolinians had by that time settled much of the most productive coastal areas.

The Chamorrros

The Chamorro or Chamoru people are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands. They are of Mayo-Polynesian descending from people originating in southeast Asia. They appear to have arrived in the Marianas about 2000 B.C. There are no historical accounrd, but linguistic and archaeological evodence connect the Chammoros to the people who popilated the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, znd the Philippines. Available evidence suggests that different peoples may have arrived over time with multiple cultural, ethnic, and linguistic traditions. DNA studies may yield more precise evidence as to their origins. Some estimates suggest that as many as 100,000 Chamorros populated the Marianas when the Spanish first arrived (17th century). They fiercely resisted Spanish rule. Guam and the rest of the Marianasa became a Spanish colonial possession. The Chamorros were like many native peoples substantially reduced by the lack of resistance to European diseases. The Spanish killed many Chamorrop men in the Northern Marianas. As part of Spanish colonial policy to subdue and Christanize the native Chamorros in the Marianasa, most of the Chomoros on Saipan were resettled on Guam. On Rota some Chamorros managed to hide out in the hills. Most of the Chamorros, however, were moved to Guam. There they were Christianized and separated in different parishes to prevent further rebellion. The population declined to less than 10,000 people (about 1800). Father Frances X. Hezel oversaw their conversion. Chamorros caught or even reported to be engaging in pagan "sorcery" were publicly punished. Guam became the remote backwater of the Spanish Empire. The Chamorros by most accoynt got on well with the Americans after the Spanish-American War. Their contact was primarily with the U.S. Navy sailors. The American administration brought improved sanitation and education. The Navy also brought jobs for the Chamorros.

Spanish Ameican War (1898-99)

The United States seized the Philippine Islands from Spain in the oprning phase of the Spanish American War (1898). Guam was separated from the rest of the Marianasa which came to be known as the Northern Amarianas. Henry Glass captured the island at the onset of the Spanish-American War (December 10, 1898). Spain ceded Guam to the United States by the Treaty of Paris. The United States paid $20 million for the Island. Guam was located to the etreme south of the Marianas beyond Rota. The United States wa not interested in the northern Marianas. The Northern Marianas were purchased by the Germans and then seized by the Japanese during World War I.

American Administration (1899-1941)

President William McKinley by executive order placing Guam under the administration of the Department of Navy. The United States officially took possession of Guam (February 1899(. The U.S. Naval Station, Guam, was established (August 1899). The entire island was designated as Naval Station. The Commanding Officer, Captain R.P. Leary was designated as the first American Governor of Guam. The Unites Srates was unsure just how to administer the native Chomoros/Chamorus. The native Guamanians were given the status of U.S. nationals. They were not aliens, but neither were they U.S. citizens. Guam under Spanish rule had languished. Under American administration, many improvements were initiated. These included projects in agriculture, public health, sanitation, education, land management, taxes, and public works. One reform was introducing a public system of nonsectarian education. Capt. Leary required each adult to learn to write his or her own name within a specified time. The U.S. Navy used Guam as a refueling and communication station. PanAm operated a station and hotel on the island. It was part of tge famed China Clipper route. The United States in the Inter-War era while operating Guam as a naval station, but did not fortify it. It wa primarily important for the China Clipper and communications. The Japanese in violation of treary obligations did fortify the Northern Marianas. It was a tropical paradise as remote from population centers are major issues of international politucs as one could remember. Few Chamorros knew anything about the United States and even less about Japan. Or that their peaceful idland would play an important role in the the most terrible war in history.

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

It was the Japanese carrier attack on Pearl Harbor that brought America into the War. While Pearl Harbor was a stunning tactical victory, it was a strategic blunder by the Japanese of incaluable proportions. It was a stunningly successful military success, brilliantly executed by the Japanese. Eight battle ships, the heart of the American Pacific fleet were sunk. But the three carriers were not at Pearl. Despite the success of the attack, it was perhaps the greatest strtegic blunder in the history of warfare. The Japanese attack on the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor changed everything. A diverse and quareling nation, strongly pacifistic was instantly changed into a single united people with a burning desire to wage war. The issolationism that President Roosevelt had struggled against for over 7 years instantly disappeared. Even Lindburg asked for a commision to fight for the United States.The Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor imobilized the U.S. Pacific Fleet (December 7, 1941). Without the Fleet, Guam was impossible to defend.

Japanese Invasion (December 10)

Japan immediately after Pearl Harbor seized Guam which had only a small Marine detachment with small arms (December 1941). American authorities concluded based in part on decoded Japanese diplomatic messages that Japan was preparing to declare war and strike and American and British possessions in the Pacific. The military assessment was that the strike would come in the eastern Pacific and not Pearl Harbor which was considered too stringly defended. The Navy did not believe thar lightly defended Guam could be sucessfully defended if the Japanese struck, as was likely at the outbreak of war. Strong Japanese forces existed in the Nothern Marianas. The Navy began evacuating the civilian dependents of the American personnel October 17). At the time of Pearl Harbor only one deoendant was left on the Guam. The Navy ordered Guam's military governor, US Navy Captain George J. McMillin, to destroy all classified materials except those vital for options (December 4). Cpt. McMillin did so (Devember 6). The following day the Japanese unexopectedly struck Peal Harbor, largely imobilizing the Pacific Fleet (December 7). This was the omly force capable of defending Guam. With their success at Pearl Harbor, the outcome on Guam was inevitable. The American defence was only 274 sailors and 153 marines along with 100 Chamorros of the Home Guard. This force was not designed to resist an invasion. The defense of the Island was based on the Pacific Fleet. There were no heavy weapons. Japananese air strikes began (December 8). A 5,500 man Japanese invasion force began landing at 2 am in the morning (December 10). The outgunned Americans resisted until their guns jammed or they began running out of amunition. The actual battle lasted less than an hour. Governor George McMillin realized resistance was useless. the futility of the situation. Inside the Navy headquarters Naval Governor McMillin surrendered to representatives of Japanese Commander Hiroshi Hayashi at 7 am.

American POWs

The Japanese military officials were intent on erasing any American influence. The American military personnel, other U.S. citizens, as well as some Spanish clergy (including Bishop Miguel Olano), were kept under guard. The prisoners were transported to Japan on the Argentina Maru. It sailed (January 10, 1942). There were 400 prioners from Guam aboard, including POWs, five nurses and a number of civilians. All Americans on Guam were accounted for except six sailors. They were interned in camps around Kobe. One group of 80 Guam POWs were interned at the Hirohata POW camp and forced to work as slaves at the Nippon Sietesu steel mills (Nippon Iron and Steel-NKK). There they endured starvation and brutality at the hands of the Japanese guards. One of the OOWs spoke Japanese and was able to help the group avoid some beatings because he could explain the Japanese commands to the other POWs. The men had to learn to steel food, but being caught meant vicious beating with baseball bats and group punishments for the entire camp. 【Iannarelli】 The Japanese also captured five Navy nurses on Guam: Lieutenants (jg) Leona Jackson, Lorraine Christiansen, Virginia Fogerty and Doris Yetter, under the command of Chief Nurse Marion Olds. The Japanese transported them to Japan. They were held for 3 months in Zentsuji Prison on Shikoku Island and were then moved to Eastern Lodge in Kobe. All five survived and were repatriated (August 1942).

Japanese Occupation

The Japanese renamed Guam "Omiya Jima". Unlike Saipan to the north, there was no Japanese population on Guam, but a substantial Chomoro population of about 22,000 suffered under the brutal Japanese occupation. Guam was the only American terruitory with civilians occupied by Japan during the War. The Japanese also occupied two Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska), but the civilians had been evacuated. Japan was administered by the Japanese military. In Sumay, which was the island's commercial center, all of the 2,000 residents were evicted from their homes. Some, however, were given permission to dismantle their homes The Chamorros wre forced to endured 32 months of Japanese occupation. Japanese occupation of Guam proved especially brutal, even by Japanese standards. There were various reasons for this. Not only were the Japanese occupying American territory, but the Chamorros remained loyal to the Americans. Some Chamorros had defied the Japanese and hid American sailors attempting to evade capture. The Japanese permitted a degree of religious practice and business activities. Children's attendance was mandatory at occupation era schools, but of 5,000 children attending pre-war American schools, only 600 Chamorro children attended the schools opened by the Japanese. 【Palomo】 There were, however, numerous attricities committed by both officers acting in official capacity and poorly supervised military personnel. There were grenade slaughters and rapes. The 29th Division of Japan's Kwantung Army set up concentration camps. The Japanese executed 600 Chamorro's for various infractions. Some were beheaded. The Japanese were incensed when they learned of the 3-year effort by Chamorro's to hide and care for U.S. Navy radioman George Tweed. Japanese brutality increased as they began to prepare for invasion. The Japanese conscripted Chamorros for forced labor to building defenses and runways. Others were put to slave labor in rice paddies. Rice paddied did not exist on Guam before the War, but the Japanese ocuupiers wanted rice to eat. So they set up paddies at Piti, Inarajan and Merizo. They forced the Chamorros to work them. [Palomo] When American ships and planes appeared, Japanese barbarities on the Chamorros only escalated.

Japanese Strategy

The Japanese in the Solomons experienced substantial losses, both Imperial Army and Naval losses, including a very significant losses of the well-trained air crews with which they had begun the War (1942). Especially troubling to the Japanese were the fleet losses--ships especially the battleships they needed to fight the Kantai Kessen that they were still dreaming about. It was now dawning on the Japanese that the Americans were very different than the Russians they had fought in 1905. They decided to resist the American offensive in the Central Pacific by heavily fortifying islands, but with out Fleet actions. Rather they would instead focus on rebuilding the fleet. Of course given the disparity in industrial power, this was exactly the wrong strategy. The result was a series of bloody but ubsucessful island engagements, losing the outer shield of the Marshall and Gilberrt Islands as wll as most of New Guinea. It was clear to the Japanese by mid-1944 that an island bastion no matter how well fortified could not resist a well supported amphibious firce. They could bloody the Marines, but not defeat them. The Marianaa were so important that for the first time in more than a year, the Japanese prepared for a fleet action. And the larger size of the Marianas permitted the construction of airfields. Thus land based aircraft could support the carriers in attacking the American invasion force. As aesult, the Japanese believed that they could defeat an American invasion which was absolutekly critical given possession of the Marianas would put thev Home Islands within range of the new B-29 Superfortresses. The stunning losses iof Guam based auir craft the feaft og the Imperial Navy in the Philippines Sea and finally the loss of Saipan and Tinian left no doubt to the Japanse on Guam that they has any chance of success. So their effort was just to kill as many Americans as possible before being killed. The commanders on Guam, however, had not yet adjusted their tactics. Thus Guam would see one of the last desperate major Banzi charges of the War with expected results.

Saipan (June 15-July 8, 1944)

The American offensive in the Central Pacific finally reached the Marianas (June 1944). The Americans struck first at Saipan. American planners debated how to attack The Marianas. The initial plan was to take periferal island and then attack Saipan. Admiral Nimitz vetoed this approach and decided to go right for Saipan. The Americans decided to bypass Rota. Tinian was a smaller island 5-miles southwest of Saipan and thus combined in the Saipan invaion. The American invasion force was enormous. It was an armada of 535 ships with 127,570 U. S. military personnel. About two-thirds were Marines (2nd and 4th Divisions). Seven American battleships and 11 destroyers shelled Saipan and Tinian for 2 days prior to the landings. On the second day the initial force was joined by 8 more battleships, 6 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers. Saipan and Tinian were ringed by an incredible naval force which conducted one of the most intensive shellings of the War. Without planes and ships, the Rota garrison had no ability to threaten the American assault on on Saipan and Tininan. The main American invasion force went ashore on a 4 mile streach of beach at Chalan Kanoa. Despite the 2-day naval barage, Japanese shore defenses were still largely intact. The Japanese destroyed 28 American tanks the first day. The Japanese had crefully prepared for the invasion. They had placed colored flags in the lagoon to indicate the areas in which howitzers in positions beyound Mt. Fina Susu has been ranged. The artillery fire proved deadly on the Second Marine Division which suffered 2,000 casualties. Fighting continued for 24 days

Battle of the Philippine Sea

The next major American campaign was the Marianas and resulted in the Battle of the Phillipine Sea. The major islands were Tinian, Saipan, and Guam. The islands were taken by the Japanese 3 hours after Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941). The Japanese built important defensive positions on the islands, including air fields. General Takashuina commanded a 19,000 man force. The Japanese planned an all-out naval counter attack in the Central Pacific called Operation Z. Vice Admiral Fukudome, Chief of Staff, carring the plan was in a plane crash over the southern Philippines. Filipino guerillas found the documents and relayed it to the Americans. The American offensive to take the islands was Operation Forager. The Marianas was the inner-ring of Japanese defenses. Unlike the earlier Gilbert and Marshall campaigns, the Japane Navy did sally out to oppose the invasions. Saipan and Tinian would bring the Japanese Home Islands within range of new B-29 bombers. In the Philippine Sea. Japanese reconnaissance planes found Task Force 58. The Japanese launched 372 aircraft, in four waves. The American carriers of Task Force 58 have about 950 planes. Radar oprovides advanced waring and the Japanese attacking force is intercepted. Many Japanese planes were shot down and more are destroyed by fleet anti-aircraft fire. The Japanese attack was ineffective. Only the USS South Dakota was hit by a single bomb. The Americans launched an air strike on Guam and a counter strike at the Japanese carriers requiring the Americans pilots to return in the dark. The Japanese lost about 300 aircraft and their invaluable pilots. The Americans lost only 29 pilots. US submarines Cavalla and Albacore sink the Japanese carriers Taiho and Shokaku. The battle is called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot (June 19). The Japanese losses signaled the extent to which the ballance of power had shifted in the Pacific War. The loses in the Phillipines Sea meant that the Japanese carrier force would not be an important factor in the upcoming battle for the Phillipines

American Invasion of Guam (July 20, 1944)

Guam was the southern-most and largest islands of Marianas, about 150 miles south of Saipan. Most of the Chomoros inn the Marianas lived on Guam. After the destruction of Japanese air forces, the Japanese garrison Guam could no support the beleagered garrison on Saipan. Major General Roy Geiger of the III Amphibious Corps wasc given command of the the Guam invasion force. The invasion was schedulred for June 1944, but had to be postponed becuause of the protracted Japanese resistance on Saipan. Geiger used the delay for an extended preparatory bombardment. He was also able to obtain better intelligence on Japanese deployment. Naval air strikes began (July 5) and continud unabated until (July 21). Carrier airstrikes hit Guam daily followed by intense naval gunfire. The landings began (July 20). Theisland was surrounded by reefs, cliffs, and heavy surf which presented a chllenge for an amphibious landing force. The first objective was the exposed Orote peninsula on the western side of Guam. An airfield was located here. The 3rd Marine Division landed near Agana to the north and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed near Agat to the south. The Japanese were prepared and despite the pre-invasion shelling, Japanese artillery sank 20 LVTs. The marines fought their away ahote on both beaches. They were, however, 7 miles a part and linking up proved a difficult undertaking. The 77th Infantry Division had a difficult time crossing the reef without amphibious landing craft. In the fierce fighting that followed, the Jpanese fought to the death and the island heavily damaged.

American Base

After securing the Island, it was turned into a forward supply base to support both naval and air operations against the Japanese, especiallfor the long-awaited in vasion of the Philippines, although Navy planners were begining to think about Formosa (Taiwan). The military began the process of transforming Guam into the most potent forward staging area for naval and air operations in the Pacific. The United States had planned to bomb the Japanese from airbases in China. A Japanese offensive, however suceeded in seizing the areas where the bases were to be built. The Marianas in any case proved to be a better site for the bombers. Bases there could be more easily supplied than in China wehere the Americans faced the daunting challenge of flying over The Hump. The Seabees rapidly constructed five airbases. This enabled the new B-29 bombers from the island to attack targets throughout the Western Pacific, including the Japanese Home Islands. These were the airfields from which fleets of B-29s would turn Japan's wood and paper cities into piles of glowing cinders. Thousands of American aircraft of all types would be based in Guam, Saipan, and Tinian.

Civilians

The Chamorros like other Pacific peoples were involved in a war not of their making. Unlike Saipan, the civilians on Guam were almost all Chamorros. There were almost no Japanese civilians. There was one lone American sailor who maaged to llude the Japanese. Most ofthe Chomoros were in a poor condition after 3 years of Japanese occupation. One author writes, "The Chamorros of Guam suffered immeasurable cruelty during Japanese rule, which lasted from December 1941 to August 1944. Chamorros suffered loss of property, liberty, incarceration, and in many cases, mass executions. However, they were more than victims. Chamorros displayed tremendous courage and heroism, continually resisting an enemy occupier for almost three years, oftentimes with deadly results." 【Iwamoto】 As elsewhere where the Japanese Empire, food became scarse. The Chamoros were farmers, but the barely produced enough for their own consumption and not for the large Japanese garrison. The Japanese did not ship much in the way of food to their island garisons. They were excpected to live off the food grown locally. So the Japanese sized much of he produce grown by the Chamorro farmers. They created rice paddies and forced the Chamorros to work them. The Japanese also seized men for forced labor. Some were sent to work on other islands, most of whom perished there,few survuved to retuirn to Guam. When the Japanese realized the Amerricans weere preparing to invade, the Japanese began rounding up the Chamoros on Guam and interning them in a concentration camp. The procession from Agana (Hagåtña) was little different than the Bataan Death March. Little food and no medical care was provided in the camos. Some Chomorros hid in the the hills to escape internment. The U.S. military after liberating the Islandset about providing food and shelter for the residents of a war-ravaged island. The military sheltered many the 21,000 Chamorros in tent resettlement camps. The military provided food and medical care. The Chamorros were given both clothing provided by the American Red Cross and military fatigues, khakis and G.I. T-shirts. The military also set about building 1,400 houses in Agat, Sinajana, Barrigada, Talofofo, Yona, Asan, and Dededo. The Sumay Village residents were moved to Santa Rita. The Chomoros quickly returned to their farms if the land had not been converted for military use. Others Chomoros got jobs with the military as a result of the huge devlopment of military operations in Gum, primaroly a powerful air base to pirsue the Stratehic Bombing Campaign against Japan. For many Chomorros it was their first wage paying jobs.

War Crime Trials

The AZllied powers United States after the War tried Japanese military personnel all over the Pacific. Ten death sentences were carried out, including three admirals and one lieutenant general. Captain Iwanami was one of the officers hanged. The military court convinced 24 Japanese for committing war crimes on Guam. These were men not captured on Guam, but arrested in Japan or other locations. Only eight of those convincted were actually hanged. A major factor leading to the execuutions was murders involving cannibalism. 【Rogers, pp. 205-06.】 There were also procecutions of a small number of Saipan Chamorros who cooperated with the Japanese. .

Sources

Iannarelli, Anthony N. The Eighty Thieves: American P.O.W.S in World War II Japan.

Iwamoto, Nicholas. "Caught between the sun and stars: The Chamorro experience during the Second World War," Vol. 18 (University of Hawai'i at Hilo: Hononu, 2020), 18p. .

Palomo, Tony. "Rising Sun dawns on Guam".

Rogers, Robert F. Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam







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Created: 11:23 PM 8/11/2008
Last updated: 5:25 AM 1/17/2024