This film is about the battle for Saipan in the Mariana Islands campaign during WWII. The Mariana Islands were a strategic location as American capture of the area severed the Japanese supply line with the Caroline Island territories and opened Japanese homeland for aerial assault. It opens with a map pointing to New Guinea, Tokyo and the Mariana Islands (:16). After the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces occupied islands as far south as New Guinea in 1942 (:20). The plan to recapture these areas was set into motion in 1944 (:31). Saipan was the administrative center of the Maraiana Islands and was the first objective (:49) invaded on June 15th. Footage of carrier planes of task force 58 taking off for softening up attacks on February 22nd (:56) and of the first wave of attacks which hit 70 Japanese aircrafts (1:09) follows. The 27th infantry division in Hawaii is seen preparing to sail to Saipan (1:59) with Major General Smith in command (2:04). The 2nd and 4th Marine divisions headed to make the first landings on the island (2:19). Convoys also began moving towards Saipan (2:28) and soldiers aboard ship are seen doing physical trainings to prepare for combat (2:33). Garapan is pointed to on the map (2:47) as well as the second biggest city in which air strips and air fields would be targeted, which was Chalan Kanoa. Footage of D-Day follows with the 2nd and 4th Divisions loading into Higgins Boats (3:39) and then into Alligator Boats, awaiting the start signal (3:43) arriving onto the beaches (4:14) and the fighter planes swooping in to hit along the shoreline (4:17). Once they landed, soldiers waited for enemy fire to quiet down (4:59) and began to push inward. The next target was to be Aslito which is Saipan’s airfield (8:29). The 27th division is then seen landing onto the beaches at Chalan Kanoa holding their weapons above water (5:38). The 27th set up and established contact with the Marines in order to coordinate the attack on Aslito (6:11) and infantry tank teams are seen moving towards the airfield with mortar and artillery fire to support them (6:28). On the third day, Aslito was captured (6:46). What was not destroyed in the battle (6:52), was shipped back to the US for study. Army engineers quickly set to reconstructing the runway (7:14). Footage of natives moving through safety zones to internment camps follow (7:18). Japanese task forces set to target the 5th fleet near Saipan (7:38). Their forces, as well as US carrier planes and anti-aircraft battery sections are seen in combat (8:02). The following day the US forces sought out Japanese planes (8:59) and once located, an all-out air strike was ordered by the Admiral Commander (9:12). The Japanese fleet was decimated and they moved up towards the Philippians (9:39). Mount Tapochau is pictured and it was the highest point on the island making it a good vantage point for Japanese forces (10:36). The US Army used white phosphorus as smoke screens (10:39) and set fires to cane fields (10:59). Flamethrowers were used to drive or kill the remaining Japanese forces out from hidden locations (11:23). On June 25th, the summit was reached (11:32) and US forces began to fire at the capital (11:47). From the Aslto airfield, P-47 Thunderbolts are seen joining the action (12:20). Footage of Navy dive bombers in the sky follow (12:25). The span of rubble that was Garapan is shown after the city fell to US forces (14:15). The next objective was to pocket the enemy troops up to Marpi airfield at Inagasa Point (14:59) and equipment was moved up difficult terrain for this maneuver (15:16). This was to be the largest launch in the Pacific (15:22) and by the end of the bloody battle, US forces are seen holding fire waiting for surrender to which mostly civilians (few soldiers) respond to (16:17). One final bombardment of Garapan took place on the 13th of July (16:54). From this battle, footage is provided of at least one Japanese soldier surrendering (17:33) and another committing suicide (17:50) as well as of children that were caught in the water being scooped up by US forces to be sent to internment camps (18:37). The Japanese fallen soldiers (18:54) as well as US’s fallen soldiers (19:09) are shown. This film concludes with the information that Saipan had now become the US’s springboard for the continued attack on Japan (20:31).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
23 июл 2020
