'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The author discussed the sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier Taibo which was ultimately destroyed by a single torpedo hit from the American submarine Albacore.

IJN Taiho:
https://www.armouredcarriers.com/japa...

Sinking of the aircraft carrier Taiho caused by one hit of a torpedo:
https://www.shippai.org/fkd/en/cfen/C...

I reckon so as well MR9!

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The stark horrors of the Saipan battlefield:

"Over in the 4th Division area, Col. Justice Chambers was heading back by jeep for a conference at regimental headquarters. It was dark and the jeep was blacked out. 'Somewhere along the way, we started running over dead bodies,' he recalled. 'As we rolled across them, they would burst. All of us were vomiting, and we had maybe 300 yards of bodies to go across. By the time we got back to the CP [Command Post], no one there would let us, or our jeep, anywhere near them'."

Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II by James H. Hallas

Should be an interesting account! Thanks for posting the details, Jerome.

He certainly did MR9!

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The author provided a chapter on the massed Japanese tank attack that took place on Saipan:

Tank Attack on Saipan! by M/Sgt Jeff Dacus, USMCR (Ret):
https://www.mca-marines.org/leatherne...

Youtube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLJ-Y...

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - Sherman tanks have made an appearance on the beachhead to support the Marines, a number being knocked out at close quarters by the Japanese defenders, like this Sherman tank:

"The loader, gunner, and driver squeezed out through the hatches and ran back towards the crest. The bow gunner was shot and killed as he crawled out the bottom escape hatch. Dankworth squirmed out the bottom hatch and crawled out from under the tank to find another crewman who had been hit in the legs. He grabbed the wounded man and they stumbled toward the rear. 'It seemed like from here to forever,' recalled Dankworth. 'I was hit too, but I didn't know it. I got shot through the leg, but it was the fleshy part of the leg, but I never did know it.'

McCard made no effort to follow his crew. As Japanese infantry closed on the disabled Sherman, he remained in the open turret, lobbing fragmentation and smoke grenades, buying time for his people to get clear. His body was later found slumped in the turret. Sixteen dead Japanese lay around the derelict tank."

Robert Howard McCard:
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/robe...

https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine...

Mike wrote: "Started on my selection for this theme. The Battle of Saipan paired with the battle for racial integration in the armed forces:

[bookcover:The Color of War: How One Battle Broke Japan and Another..."

I hope you enjoy the book, Mike. I have an unread copy so I will be keen to hear your final thoughts.

I was not aware of that incident either. Thanks for posting the link, Liz.

Saul David's book should be a good one!

Some interesting books there Jerome! Thanks for posting the details.

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The Marines are still fighting on the beachhead:

"Some indication of the lethality of the Saipan beachhead could be seen in the casualty rate among higher-ranking officers. June 15, 1944, turned out to be the roughest day in Marine Corps history for majors and lieutenant-colonels. All four commanders of the 2nd Marine Division's initial assault battalions were wounded on D-day, including the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, Col. John C. Millet, who was wounded by shell fragments while still in his amtrac and then again on the beach when a Japanese grenade exploded between his feet and stripped much of the flesh from his legs. In two hours, the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines alone went through four commanders."

Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II by James H. Hallas

Sounds like another pretty interesting book Carl!

Thanks for that link, Mike!

More good books being highlighted, nice finds Mike and Carl!

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The Marines have hit the beach at Saipan:

"PFC William A. Griffin's squad was pinned down by shattering automatic and small arms fire from a network of trenches just inland from Blue 2. Griffin, a twenty-one-year-old BAR man from Brooklyn, New York, got up out of the sand and pressed forward over open ground toward the nearest trench, firing bursts from his automatic rifle. Reaching the edge, he jumped in among the Japanese. In the melee that followed, Griffin was mortally wounded, but managed to kill every Japanese in his immediate vicinity - about fifteen in all - allowing his squad to break fee."

Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II by James H. Hallas

BA wrote: "For the December 2024 group read, I'll try this one:

[book:Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58 and the Central Paci..."

Should be a good book, keep us posted BA!

I had a chance to visit Bovington back in 1995. I'd like to go back as its changed quite a lot since then!

Thanks for those links, Liz, both very interesting!

"Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II" - The pre-invasion naval bombardment:

"By late in the day, thousands of shells had been directed at the island. The USS Washington alone fired 360 rounds of high-capacity 16-inch and 2,164 5-inch shells. 'We in the Supply Office figured that every time a 16-inch shell was fired it was just about the price of a good new car,' observed Storekeeper Gerard Thibodeau. Aboard the light cruiser Montpelier, bluejacket James J. Fahey noted in his diary, 'Thick smoke miles high was all over the island. I never saw anything like it before, it was like the great Chicago fire'."

Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II by James H. Hallas