Vital stepping stone in America's war against Japan * The pivotal
Battle of Tinian island, the base from which the United States launched their
atomic bomb attacks on Japan.
In July 1944, the 9,000-man Japanese garrison on the island of Tinian listened warily as the thunder of the United
States Navy and Marine Corps, Army and Air Corps, descended on their
neighbouring island, Saipan, just three miles
away. There were 20,000 Japanese troops on Saipan, but the US obliterated
the opposition after a horrific all-arms campaign. The sudden silence only
indicated it was now Tinian’s turn.
When the battle for Tinian finally took place the US acted with
great skill. Nevertheless, the Japanese resisted with their usual stubbornness,
and the already decimated US Marines suffered hundreds of casualties.
During the battle Japanese shore batteries were able to riddle the
battleship Colorado, killing scores, plus make multiple
hits on a destroyer, killing its captain. On the island itself the
US used napalm for the first time,
paving the way for Marines painstakingly rooting out strongpoints. One last
Banzai attack signalled the end to enemy resistance, as Marines fought
toe-to-toe with their antagonists in the dark.
In the end some 8,000 Japanese were killed, with only 300 surrenders,
plus some others who hid out for years after the war. But those Japanese who
resisted perhaps performed a greater service than they knew. After Tinian was
secured, the US proceeded to build the biggest
airport in the world on that island, home to hundreds of B-29 Superfortresses.
Among these, just over a year later, were the Enola Gay and Boxcar, which with
their atomic bombs would quickly bring the Japanese homeland itself to its
knees.
