Battle of Guam (1944)

Second Battle of Guam
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Marine Captains Paul O'Neal (left) and Milton Thompson (right) plant the American flag eight minutes after U.S. Marine and Army troops landed on Guam.
Date 21 July – 10 August 1944 Location Guam, Mariana Islands Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Roy Geiger Richmond K. Turner Holland Smith Allen H. Turnage Andrew D. Bruce	Takeshi Takashina † Hideyoshi Obata †
Units involved
III Amphibious Corps 3rd Marine Division 77th Infantry Division 1st Provisional Marine Brigade Supported by elements of: United States Navy	31st Army 29th Infantry Division 18th Inf. Regiment 38th Inf. Regiment 1st Tank Division 9th Tank Regiment 48th Ind. Brigade 10th Ind. Mixed Reg. 319th, 321st, 322nd, 820th Independent Infantry Battalions Navy Land Units Navy Air Service Additional air defense, engineer, signals, etc, support elements
Strength
59,401	18,657 40 tanks
Casualties and losses
1,747 killed, 6,053 wounded	18,337 killed, 1,250 POWs

III Amphibious Corps

Supported by elements of:

31st Army

Navy Land Units
Navy Air Service

The Second Battle of Guam (21 July – 10 August 1944) was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the U.S. in the 1941 First Battle of Guam during the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Guam, at 212 square miles (341.18 square kilometers), is the largest island of the Marianas, with a length of 32 miles (52 km) and a width ranging from 12 miles (19.31 km) to 4 miles (6.44 km) at different points of the island. It had been a United States possession since its capture from Spain in 1898 until it was captured by the Japanese on 10 December 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not as heavily fortified as the other Mariana Islands such as Saipan that had been Japanese possessions since the end of World War I, but by 1944, Saipan had a large Japanese garrison.

The Allied plan for the invasion of the Marianas, Operation Forager, called for heavy preliminary bombardment, first by carrier aircraft and planes based in the Marshall Islands to the east, then once air superiority was gained, close bombardment by battleships. Saipan, Tinian, and Guam were chosen as targets due to their size, their suitability as a base for supporting the next stage of operations toward the Philippines, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands; the deep-water harbor at Apra was suitable for the largest ships; and airfields for Boeing B-29 Superfortresses could be built from which to bomb Japan.

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