New to forum so excuse me for reposting question here. What was the code name for the island of Saipan. I know the operation was Forager but the island would have had a code name too. Betio (Tarawa atol) was Helen so I think it would have been another girls name. By the way are all you Pacific war buffs familiar with Taki's web site? TAKI this guy knows everything about the Imperial Japanese Army.
The 15 islands of the Marianas chain "Gateway", or Japanese...Mariana Shoto. Saipan was "Tattersalls", second largest island. Tinian was "Tearaway", and Guam was "Stevedore".
thanks for that Skunk works, you wouldn't believe how many books I looked in and how many web sites I checked out. Thanks again.
I have a set of handwritten letters written by Marine Lt. Charles James Irwin to his WAC girlfriend Jane Darlington. Irwin was stationed on Saipan in 1945. A few decent letters in the batch. He talks about Captain Oba, who was the last Japanese officer to surrender on Saipan. Captain Oba told the interrogators after the surrender, how he had his men up in the caves in the hills, and he had birdseye views of the Marine patrols. In those last weeks Irwin mentions in his letters about the men getting shot at. When the surrender came over the radio, his commanding officer told him to stay in the field. He cursed out the officer, and brought his patrol into camp, where he explained to the Colonel that he wasnt going to stay in the field and get shot at, when a surrender was reported over the radio. ...and some good stuff in Lt. Irwin's letters about the Admiral who was island commander on Saipan. A real A-hole, who confiscated war souvenirs from his soldiers to give to his friends, and violated his own rules on the island speed limit.
