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On July 24, 1944, US troops landed on Tinian. From the article:
"The 4th Marine Division landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and marine artillery firing across the strait from Saipan.[1]:72 With the help of Seabee ingenuity the Marines were able to land where the Japanese did not expect, along the Northwest coast with its water's edge small coral cliffs.[3] A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island.[1]:76 They withstood a series of night counterattacks supported by tanks, and the 2nd Marine Division landed the next day.[1]:80
The weather worsened on 28 July, damaging the pontoon causeways, and interrupting the unloading of supplies.[1]:81 By 29 July, the Americans had captured half the island, and on 30 July the 4th Marine Division occupied Tinian Town and Airfield No. 4.[1]:81
Japanese remnants made a final stand in the caves and ravines of a limestone ridge on the south portion of the island, making probes and counterattacks into the Marine line.[1]:85 Resistance continued through 3 August, with some civilians murdered by the Japanese.[1]:87
Aftermath
By 10 August 1944, 13,000 Japanese civilians were interned, but up to 4,000 were dead through suicide, murdered by Japanese troops or killed in combat.[1]:89 The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, surrendering on 4 September 1945. The last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was captured in 1953.[4]
After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific campaign. Camps were built for 50,000 troops. Fifteen thousand Seabees turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 7,900-foot (2,400 m) runways for attacks by United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bombers on enemy targets in the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, and mainland Japan, including the March 9/10 1945 Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[1]:89 North Field was built over Airfields No. 1 and 3, and became operational in February 1945, while West Field was built over Airfield No. 2, and became operational in March 1945.[1]:89
Four 1000-bed hospitals (110,111,112,113) were planned and located in preparation for the invasion of Japan. None were actually built, as the Japanese surrendered after the atomic bombs were dropped, which thus ended the need for the hospitals."
"The 4th Marine Division landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and marine artillery firing across the strait from Saipan.[1]:72 With the help of Seabee ingenuity the Marines were able to land where the Japanese did not expect, along the Northwest coast with its water's edge small coral cliffs.[3] A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island.[1]:76 They withstood a series of night counterattacks supported by tanks, and the 2nd Marine Division landed the next day.[1]:80
The weather worsened on 28 July, damaging the pontoon causeways, and interrupting the unloading of supplies.[1]:81 By 29 July, the Americans had captured half the island, and on 30 July the 4th Marine Division occupied Tinian Town and Airfield No. 4.[1]:81
Japanese remnants made a final stand in the caves and ravines of a limestone ridge on the south portion of the island, making probes and counterattacks into the Marine line.[1]:85 Resistance continued through 3 August, with some civilians murdered by the Japanese.[1]:87
Aftermath
By 10 August 1944, 13,000 Japanese civilians were interned, but up to 4,000 were dead through suicide, murdered by Japanese troops or killed in combat.[1]:89 The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, surrendering on 4 September 1945. The last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was captured in 1953.[4]
After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific campaign. Camps were built for 50,000 troops. Fifteen thousand Seabees turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 7,900-foot (2,400 m) runways for attacks by United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bombers on enemy targets in the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, and mainland Japan, including the March 9/10 1945 Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[1]:89 North Field was built over Airfields No. 1 and 3, and became operational in February 1945, while West Field was built over Airfield No. 2, and became operational in March 1945.[1]:89
Four 1000-bed hospitals (110,111,112,113) were planned and located in preparation for the invasion of Japan. None were actually built, as the Japanese surrendered after the atomic bombs were dropped, which thus ended the need for the hospitals."
Battle of Tinian - Wikipedia
Posted from en.m.wikipedia.org
World History
American History
Military History
Marines
Combat
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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It was this sort of no surrender, to the death fighting that made the bombing of two major Japanese cities imperative for ending the war
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Tinian's main claim to fame is the airbase structure that came after the fall of the island.
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SGT (Join to see), my father was the engineering officer on USS LST-78 during WWII. They landed on Tinian, but it was in 1945, after the battle.
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LTC Stephen C.
My father made it to all those islands, SGT (Join to see), but after all the fighting had been done. He simply didn't arrive in the Pacific in time!
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