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Guam - On July 21 1944 the United States switched its attack on the Marianas to Guam, at the southern end of the island chain. The marine general Roy Geiger, commander of the new III
Amphibious Corps, sent the 3rd Marine Division ashore north of Apra Harbor, while the 1st Brigade and the 77th Infantry Division attacked south of Apra. Both assaults struck the west side of
the island, the same place as the Japanese conquest of Guam on December 10, 1941. Guam was defended by some 19,000 troops under General Takeshi Takashina. The southern beachhead had been
pressed inland a mile by nightfall of the first day. But it took the 3rd Marine Division in the north four days of the hardest fighting on the island to push a mile inland and link up the two
beach heads. On the night of July 25-26, the Japanese mounted fierce counterattacks, which were beaten back only by narrow margins. The 1st Brigade then completed the mop up of Orote Peninsula
between the two landing beaches. Meanwhile, on July 31, the 3rd Marine and the 77th Infantry divisions, left to right abreast, struck northeast. A week later the 1st Brigade came into the line
and on the left, adding an impetus to an already steady advance. On August 10, the assault reached the northern tip of the island, returning Guam to US control. The re-conquest cost 7,800
American casualties -- 6,716 marines, 839 40 soldiers, and 245 sailors, including 1,023 dead.
Photo - Marines plant flag on Guam (Wikipedia)
Map - Battle of Guam 21 July - 10 August 1944 (Wikipedia)
| Tommy Trampp |
