Battle of Guam (1941)

Guam is the southernmost part of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest of the islands, with an area of 225 square miles. Guam's interior is rugged, with heavy tropical forests in the north of the island and wooded hills in the south. Much of the island's coastline is edged with coral reefs and cliffs, though beaches suitable for landing troops exist in the center of the west coast. Guam has a tropical climate, though December forms part of the dry season. The United States captured Guam from the Kingdom of Spain on 21 June 1898 during the Spanish–American War. The next year Spain sold the other islands in the Marianas chain to Germany. The United States Navy established a facility near the village of Piti in 1899, and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) opened a barracks at Sumay in 1901. A naval coaling station was established on the island in 1905, and a battery of six guns was emplaced to strengthen Guam's defenses in 1909. A U.S. Navy captain served as both governor of Guam and commander of the naval base from 1899 onwards, though there were some elements of a civilian government on the island. During World War I, Japanese forces captured the German-controlled islands in the Marianas during October 1914 and established a garrison which was designated the South Seas Defense Force. Japan gained a mandate over the islands from the League of Nations in December 1920, and they were administered by the South Seas Bureau which formed part of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs. Japanese colonists were permitted to settle in the Marianas, and by the late-1930s there were more colonists than natives in the islands. In 1935 the Japanese Government banned Westerners from entering its mandated islands in the Pacific and in 1939 established the 4th Fleet to defend the region. While the United States considered increasing Guam's defenses during and after World War I, no action was taken other than to deploy a USMC seaplane unit to the island in 1921. The outcomes of the 1922 Washington Naval Conference included an agreement by both the United States and Japanese governments that they would not further fortify the islands they administered in the western Pacific, including the Marianas. As a result, no improvements were made to Guam's defenses during the 1920s and 1930s, the island's coastal artillery battery was removed by 1930, and the USMC seaplane unit departed in 1931. The U.S. Navy sought permission to build fortifications on the island in 1938, but this proposal was rejected. In 1941 Guam had a population of 23,394, most of whom lived in or within of the island's capital of Agana. The island had about of improved roads, and Apra Harbor was considered the best in the Marianas, but the island did not have an airfield. ==Prelude==

Japanese plans for the Pacific War included capturing Guam in the war's early days. From March 1941, Japanese aircraft flew photo reconnaissance sorties over the island. The United States government did not believe that it would be possible or practical to defend Guam if it was attacked. The island was not seen as being useful in efforts to reinforce the Philippines, though it served as a refueling point for Pan Am flying boats and was one of the relay points for the Pacific Cable Company's telegraph cable which linked the Philippines to the US West Coast. In 1941, the island was given a "Category F" defense rating; this ruled out the construction of new defenses and meant that, if war broke out, Guam's defenders were to destroy all facilities of military value and withdraw. Despite the low priority accorded to Guam, some minor steps were taken by other commands to improve Guam's defenses before war broke out. A contract for minor improvements to the military facilities on Guam was issued in April 1941, and work began the next month. At the outbreak of war on 8 December 1941 (local time), Guam was defended by small US Navy and USMC units as well as the Insular Force Guard. Captain George McMillin, who was the island's governor and the overall commander of the garrison, was in charge of naval forces, Guam, which amounted to 271 personnel and four nurses. This force was a subordinate unit of the Asiatic Fleet, and most of its personnel were unarmed. Guam's guard ship, the , had sailed to the Philippines to pick up supplies and enable the crew to buy Christmas presents and was directed to remain there. Marine barracks, Sumay, had a strength of 145 men who were organised into a company armed with rifles and a small number of machine guns. The Insular Force Guard included 246 men, most of whom had received little training. The Marines and Insular Force Guard were equipped with 170 M1903 Springfield rifles, 13 Lewis guns, and 15 Browning Automatic Rifles. The defenders did not have any mortars or artillery other than the guns on board Penguin. In addition to these military units, Guam's police force (the Guam Insular Patrol) had a strength of 80 men, who were armed only with pistols. ==Battle==

At 04:44 on 8 December McMillin was informed of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At 08:27 Japanese land-based aircraft from Saipan attacked the Marine barracks, Piti Navy Yard, Libugon radio station, Standard Oil Company, and the Pan American Hotel. During the air attack, the USS Penguin was sunk after shooting down at least one Japanese airplane. One officer was killed and several men wounded. The air raids all over Guam continued into the morning and afternoon before subsiding at 17:00. At 08:30 on 9 December Japanese air attacks resumed, with no more than nine aircraft attacking at a time. The same targets as the previous day were attacked, and also the Government House in Agana and several villages. That evening, a Japanese invasion fleet of four heavy cruisers, four destroyers, two gunboats, six submarine chasers, two minesweepers, two destroyer tenders, left Saipan for Guam. A mistake in their intelligence-gathering had caused the Japanese to overcommit resources and attack Guam with disproportionate force. (bottom row, 2nd from the right) The Japanese landed about 400 troops of the 5th Defence Force from Saipan on Guam in the early morning of 10 December 1941 at Dungcas Beach, north of Agana.). The US Navy lost eight killed, and four of the Guam Insular Force Guards were killed and 22 others wounded. One Japanese naval soldier was killed Thirteen American civilians were killed by the Japanese during the battle. Six US Navy seamen evaded capture by the Japanese; five were eventually taken by the Japanese and beheaded, while Radioman First Class George Ray Tweed survived with the help of local Chamorros. They moved him from village to village, sometimes endangering their own families for his protection. The Japanese knew that an unknown American could not hide without some form of help. Consequently, Chamorro suspects were questioned, tortured, and beheaded. Despite the abuses, Chamorros loyal to the United States protected Tweed, who managed to evade the Japanese during their occupation of Guam for two years and seven months until he was rescued prior to the Second Battle of Guam. ==Notes==