The Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign
The History of the Allied Victory That Preceded the Invasion of the Philippines
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Narrated by:
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Mark Norman
About this listen
The powerful forces of the United States Navy (USN), Marine Corps, and Army advanced inexorably against Imperial Japan in 1944. Following massive interdiction of Japanese merchant shipping by American submarines and multiple naval victories, the Americans stood poised to liberate the Philippines, then move on to locations closer to the Japanese home islands.
In early 1944, arguments raged over the best approach to the "strategic triangle" created by Formosa, Luzon, and China. Finally, on March 12th, the Joint Chiefs of Staff - consisting of Admirals William D. Leahy and Ernest J. King, and Generals George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold - issued a directive picking the next target: "[T]he most feasible approach to the Formosa-Luzon-China area is by way of Marianas-Carolines-Palau-Mindanao area, and that the control of the Marianas-Carolines-Palau area is essential to the projection of our forces into the former area, and their subsequent effective employment therefrom." The Americans' plans focused on three islands near the southern end of a 15-island, north to south aligned island chain: Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. These islands, relatively large, offered space for the construction of large air bases within strategic bomber range of Japan itself, as well as closer targets.
The Japanese also recognized the strategic importance of the Mariana Islands, and Saipan in particular, given its location just 1,272 miles from Tokyo itself. This would place the Japanese capital well within the 3,250 mile range of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. With these facts in their possession and the Marianas as one of the Americans' most logical next choices, the Japanese worked to move both reinforcements and materials for new fortifications to the southern Marianas in early 1944.
Nevertheless, deadly USN submarines with determined crews seriously hampered these efforts. On February 29th, the USS Trout (SS-202), a Tambor-class submarine skippered by Lieutenant Commander Albert Clark, sank the transport Sakito Maru on its way to Saipan. This killed 2,420 men on board the ship, including a considerable portion of the IJA 18th Infantry Regiment. The Trout itself perished with all hands, either to depth charges from the destroyer Asashimo or from one of its own Mark XVIII torpedoes running in a circle and hitting it.
Many other transports full of vital war materials went to the bottom as the USN submarines interdicted Japanese ship traffic to the Marianas. Major General Ikeda Keiji complained, "We cannot strengthen the fortifications [...] unless we can get materials suitable for permanent construction. Specifically, unless the units are supplied with cement, steel reinforcements for cement, barbed wire, lumber, etc., [...] no matter how many solders there they can do nothing [...] but sit around with their arms folded, and the situation is unbearable." (Denfeld, 1997, 17).
The USN thus used its submarine superiority, to which the Japanese had no effective counter, to greatly hamper efforts to fortify and reinforce the Marianas. With that, the stage was set for the kind of deadly amphibious operations that would take place not only on the Mariana and Palau Islands but also Iwo Jima and Okinawa after it. As a result, the campaign helped persuade President Truman to use the atomic bombs against Japan, and the planes that delivered them to Hiroshima and Nagasaki would end up taking off from airfields constructed by the victorious Americans in the wake of their success in the Marianas.
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- The Soldiers' Battle
- By: Nathan N. Prefer
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organize a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself.
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Very well Researched..
- By jbnimble on 04-19-14
By: Nathan N. Prefer
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Utmost Savagery
- The Three Days of Tarawa
- By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On November 20, 1943, in the first trial by fire of America’s fledgling amphibious assault doctrine, 5,000 men stormed the beaches of Tarawa, a seemingly invincible Japanese island fortress barely the size of the 300-acre Pentagon parking lots. Before the first day ended, one-third of the marines who had crossed Tarawa’s deadly reef under murderous fire were killed, wounded, or missing. In three days of fighting, four Americans would win the Medal of Honor and six thousand combatants would die.
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The Definitive Battle History of Tarawa
- By Iain on 02-23-11
By: Colonel Joseph H. Alexander United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
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The Tank Killers
- A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force
- By: Harry Yeide
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The Tank Killers follows the men who fought in the tank destroyers from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of the American Tank Destroyer Force in North Africa, Italy, and the European Theater during World War II, and of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affairs.
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Dry and without detail
- By Vernon D. Burt on 08-06-18
By: Harry Yeide
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Dünkirchen 1940
- The German View of Dunkirk
- By: Robert Kershaw
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Dünkirchen 1940 is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander, Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk – the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape – they came to a shuddering stop. Only a detailed interpretation of the German perspective – historically lacking to date – can provide answers as to why.
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Finally, Dunkirk makes sense!
- By MortonC on 06-15-24
By: Robert Kershaw
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Where the Iron Crosses Grow
- The Crimea 1941-44
- By: Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The Crimea was one of the crucibles of the war on the Eastern Front, where first a Soviet and then a German army were surrounded, fought desperate battles, and were eventually destroyed. The fighting in the region was unusual for the Eastern Front in many ways, in that naval supply, amphibious landings, and naval evacuation played major roles, while both sides were also conducting ethnic cleansing as part of their strategy - the Germans eliminating the Jews and the Soviets purging the region of Tartars.
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names, places,troop strength and commanders
- By richard on 02-19-15
By: Robert Forczyk
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The Lions of Iwo Jima
- The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History
- By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), James A. Warren
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the bloodiest battle in Marine Corps history, claiming a third of all marines killed in World War II. The relentless fighting on Iwo Jima lasted for 36 days, but most of us only know the iconic photo of five soldiers raising the American flag on Mount Surabachi. For Fred Haynes, a young captain in Combat Team 28, Surabachi was one marker in a ferocious blood-letting against an enemy of 22,000 warriors who were dug into caves and tunnels.
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Excellent Account of the Battle
- By Jesse on 11-25-11
By: Major General Fred Haynes (USMC-Ret.), and others
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South Pacific Cauldron
- World War II's Great Forgotten Battlegrounds
- By: Alan Rems
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Unlike most other World War II accounts, this work covers the South Pacific operations in detail. The audiobook includes many now-forgotten operations that deserve to be well remembered. Significantly, the official Australian history of World War II correctly observed that Australia's part in the Pacific war is barely mentioned in American histories. This volume finally brings the major Australian contribution to the fore.
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A little dry but informative
- By Damien on 02-20-15
By: Alan Rems
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Landing on the Edge of Eternity
- Twenty-Four Hours at Omaha Beach
- By: Robert Kershaw
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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When Company A of the US 116th Regiment landed on Omaha Beach in D-Day's first wave on June 6, 1944, it lost 96 percent of its effective strength. Sixteen teams of US engineers arriving in the second wave were unable to blow the beach obstacles, as first wave survivors were still sheltering behind them. This was the beginning of the historic day that Landing on the Edge of Eternity narrates hour by hour.
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Good introduction to first hours of D-Day.
- By Barry Davis on 10-19-24
By: Robert Kershaw
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Strong Men Armed
- The United States Marines Against Japan
- By: Robert Leckie
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Written by Robert Leckie, whose wartime exploits are featured in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg HBO miniseries The Pacific, Strong Men Armed is the perennial bestselling classic account of the U.S. Marines' relentless drive through the Pacific during World War II.
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The best book on the subject
- By j on 12-10-13
By: Robert Leckie
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War at the End of the World
- Douglas MacArthur and the Forgotten Fight for New Guinea 1942-1945
- By: James P. Duffy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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One American soldier called it "a green hell on Earth". Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps - New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the empire's strategy to knock Australia out of the war.
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The WW2 New Guinea Campaign
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 09-26-18
By: James P. Duffy
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The Fleet at Flood Tide
- America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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With its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender—and that forever changed the art of modern war.
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Hornfischer's Philosophical Summary Up to VJ Day
- By Hollywood Dave on 01-08-17
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The Unknowns
- The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Brilliantly researched and vividly told, The Unknowns is a timeless tale of heeding the calls of duty and brotherhood and humanizes the most consequential event of the 20th century, which still casts a shadow a century later. Celebrated military historian and best-selling author Patrick O'Donnell illuminates the saga behind the creation of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and recreates the moving ceremony during which it was consecrated.
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The Unknowns
- By Logophile on 05-09-19
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Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
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When To Throw The Book At Someone
- By Nicholas Robinson on 05-12-23
By: Mark Zuehlke
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D-Day
- The Battle for Normandy
- By: Antony Beevor
- Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Renowned historian Antony Beevor, the man who "single-handedly transformed the reputation of military history" (The Guardian) presents the first major account in more than 20 years of the Normandy invasion and the liberation of Paris. This is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting.
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A commendable book
- By Michael on 01-19-10
By: Antony Beevor
What listeners say about The Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michael Johnson
- 07-13-19
Short and not comprehensive. Palau is totally skipped
If you are looking for a full view of this campaign, do not buy this book
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