The Other D-Day: Operation Forager, the Invasion of Saipan (June 12, 1944)

Operation Overlord — The D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944

The invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) was a major turning point in World War 2. It is a battle with which we are well-familiar. We have the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and the HBO series “Band of Brothers” to thank for much of the ongoing interest. As we celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the beginning of the end for Hitler and Nazi Germany, we are also witnessing the last living participants in the battle who made their way this week to the famous invasion beaches on the Normandy Coast (Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, and Sword). It is a poignant scene to see these ninety + year-olds return to that horrible place that is forever etched in their memories and for which we are so very grateful.

The scale of the D-Day invasion in Normandy is simply mind-blowing–the largest seaborne invasion in human history. Some 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers took part. The total number of men put ashore the first day was nearly 160,000, with a remarkable total of 875,000 allied combatants arriving on the continent by the end of June, 1944. Allied casualties on the first day were around 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans suffered between 4,000–9,000 casualties (estimates vary widely) including those killed, wounded, missing, or captured.

The Other D-Day — “Operation Forager” — The Invasion of Saipan (June 15, 1944)

As gigantic as the Normandy invasion was, it is nearly forgotten that the United States pulled off another invasion of staggering size and proportion just over a week later on the opposite side of the world. Operation Forager involved the invasion of Saipan in the Mariana Islands on June 15, 1944. Saipan was a significant part of the outer defense ring of the Japanese home islands. Once airbases were established there (as well as on the neighboring Islands of Guam and Tinian) the newly deployed B-29 bombers could begin sustained bombing of the Japanese homeland—a game changer in the Pacific War.

Like D-Day in Normandy, the size of the invasion force headed for Saipan and neighboring islands was massive and consisted of over 500 ships and 300,000 men (Marines and Army). The invasion force and its support vessels was divided into three main “Task Forces” which got underway from a number of Pacific bases in late May, 1944, just days before the Allied forces invaded France in Operation Overlord on June 6. While the Normandy beaches could be re-supplied, the wounded evacuated, and additional men and vehicles sent across the channel directly from England, Saipan was some 1,900 miles from Hawaii and much further yet from the American west coast. The massive amount of men and material needed for the operation had to be staged from the Hawaiian Islands, largely through the coral atolls of Eniwetok and Kwajalein (in the Marshall Islands) about mid-way between Saipan and Hawaii. These islands had been recently captured from the Japanese in February of 1944 and were quickly transformed by the Seabees into major supply bases—that in itself is a huge and forgotten operation.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea — June 19-20, 1944

The so-called “Battle of the Philippine Sea” raged to the West of Saipan on June 19-20, just after the American invasion had forces landed on the island and were engaged with the Japanese defenders in very fierce combat. The American naval combat fleet that sailed in support of the invasion force took out more than five hundred Japanese aircraft (390 alone in one day during the so-called Marianas’ “Turkey Shoot”) after the Japanese sent a massive fleet of nine aircraft carriers (with more than 500 aircraft—both sea and land based—available), and five battleships (including the twin “super battleships” the Yamato and Mushasi) intent upon disrupting the Saipan landings. One of the largest fleets ever to sail, it was nevertheless greatly outnumbered by an American fleet with sixteen aircraft carriers, seven battleships, and almost 1,000 carrier airplanes—all of which were now superior to Japanese aircraft (especially the F6F Hellcat). The Japanese losses were staggering–500 planes (carrier and land based) with almost all their pilots and crew leaving their carrier forces down to only thirty-five operable aircraft. The Americans lost about 130 planes and seventy-six of their flight crew. Aircraft also sank one Japanese carrier, while US submarines sank two others, including the brand new carrier Taiho, the fleet commander’s flagship. Never again would Japanese aircraft carriers be a threat to the American invasion fleets during the ongoing the Saipan invasion, and in the invasion of the Philippines yet to come.

The Mind-Boggling Logistics

The logistics of Operation Forager were ongoing even as the Normandy invasion was underway, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt former Marine commandant Robert Barrow’s assertion “amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.” Neither of the D-Day invasions (Normandy and Saipan) could have succeeded without the bravery, skill, and heroics of the fighting men. But the fighting men cannot fight properly without the necessary implements of war. That both invasions succeeded simultaneously was because professionals planned the logistics for two massive assaults at the same time on opposite sides of the world. The sheer amount of men and supplies moved from bases hundreds of miles away to launch a series of amphibious landings on a well-defended island is hard to conceive and sadly forgotten. And lest we forget, yet another huge allied campaign with its supply and equipment needs was then raging in Italy, with Rome being re-taken by the allied armies on June 3, 1944. There was also the Burma-Chinese theater with its very complicated supply issues.

Yet, American service men in all of these far flung operations received regular mail (and packages) from home, usually could buy beer and cigarettes, and watch movies still showing in theaters back home. America’s ability to do such things reveals an industrial base and transportation network far beyond anything the world had ever seen before.

Like the Normandy D-Day, Saipan Too Was a Turning Point in the War

The Saipan invasion and subsequent land operations was wrapped up by July 9, 1944. It was a difficult battle, the details of which can be found here. America lost nearly 3,500 Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen, with another 13,000 wounded. The Japanese defenders (about 34,000 strong, with about half that number being Korean laborers) paid dearly. It is thought that over 25,000 of them sacrificed themselves for their emperor with a paltry 1,800 taken prisoner. As many as 10,000 of the Saipan islanders (Chamorros) also died as a tragic consequence of the fighting. If you’ve seen the videos of the nearly 1,000 Chamorros committing suicide by jumping off “Suicide Hill” into the rocks and ocean below, you’ll never forget it.

On November 24, 1944, the first raid of 111 B-29s took off from Saipan to bomb Japan, a round trip of more than 1,600 miles. Japan’s fate was sealed by the D-Day in the Pacific, as was Germany’s on the beaches of Normandy.

There will not be an official return to Saipan for those who participated in Operation Forager, but we will not forget you and what you accomplished, under very difficult circumstances.