Guam 1941 & 1944

An extract from ‘The Fall of Guam, December 1941’

‘The Japanese Z Operation was planned to commence on 8 December, west of the International Date Line, with the invasions of Malaya, the Philippines, Borneo, Java, Wake, and Guam. Plans were completed in September 1941. The Guam invasion force was the South Seas Detachment (Nankai Shitai), aka Horii Force, under Major-General Horii Tomitaro, commanding the 55th Infantry Group. This 4,886-man brigade-size force was drawn from the 55th Division 2 and built around the 144th Infantry Regiment. It was assembled in Korea in November, was sent briefly to Japan and then departed for Chichi Jima in late November. The 370-man 5th Company, Maizuri 2nd Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF), based on Saipan, was to be the only unit to engage in combat during the invasion. The Fourth Fleet, responsible for the defense of the Japanese Mandated islands, would provide air support with the 22nd Air Flotilla. The South Seas Detachment departed Chichi Jima on 27 November and put in at Haha Jima the next day. It was held there until departing for Guam on 5 December at which time the troops were told their objective.

At 04.45hrs, 8 December (7 December in Hawaii), the Governor was notified of the Pearl Harbor attack. At 08.27hrs IJN aircraft from Saipan attacked the Marine Barracks, Piti Navy Yard, Libugon radio station, Standard Oil Company tank farm (set ablaze), and Pan American Hotel. The 188-ft USS Penguin (AM-33) (2 x 3in. guns, 2 x machine-guns) was damaged by bombing off Orote Point and scuttled. One officer was killed and several men wounded including the captain. The immobile 254-ft oil depot ship USS Robert L. Barnes (AG-27) was damaged by bombing and strafing. While taking on water, it did not sink and efforts to scuttle it failed. Civilians were evacuated from Agaña and Sumay while some 50 Japanese nationals were arrested and detained in the Agaña jail. The air raids continued all day with the last attack breaking off at 17.00hrs. That night nine Saipan native infiltrators landed by dugout at Ritidian Point on the north end and three were apprehended. Under interrogation they admitted the Japanese were going to land the next morning, but they could only guess where. Captain McMillan suspected that it was a ruse in hopes of the Marines being sent to the island’s north end.

At 08.30hrs, 9 December, air attacks resumed with no more than nine aircraft attacking at a time. Attacks were repeated on the previous day’s targets plus attempts made to bomb the Government House in Agaña and several villages were strafed resulting in civilian casualties. While Japanese aircraft were reported shot down, none were. East of the Marine Barracks on Orote Peninsula 122 marines dug-in at the rifle range along with naval station personnel and some 50 crewmen of the USS Penguin. The Guam Insular Force Guard, led by a few Marines, secured government buildings in Agaña. Scattered across the island with the Guam Insular Patrol were a further 28 marines.

The 370-man 5th Company, Maizuri 2nd SNLF landed on Dungcas Beach on Agaña Bay north of Agaña at 02.15hrs, 10 December, and attacked and captured the Insular Force Guard in Agaña. It then advanced on Piti moving toward Sumay and the Marine Barracks. The South Seas Detachment began landing at the same time. Its I Battalion, 144th Infantry (I/144) landed on the north flank of Tumon Bay on the upper northwest coast, north of Dungcas Beach, and moved south toward Agaña. II/144 landed at Talofofo Bay on the lower east coast and moved northwest. The main force of the South Seas Detachment with III/144 landed on the southwest coast near Merizo and moved north to attack the Marines at Sumay with an element going on to Piti Navy Yard.

The principal engagement took place on Agaña’s Plaza de Espana, beginning at 04.45hrs, between a few marines and Insular Force Guardsmen on one side and the SNLF on the other. After token resistance a ceasefire was called at 05.45hrs and the Governor surrendered at 06.00, 10 December, making Guam the first piece of American territory to fall into Japanese hands. The Governor’s motivation was to prevent needless deaths among civilians and naval personnel facing overwhelming odds. No fighting occurred at the Marine Barracks, but a few scattered skirmishes took place on the island until word of the surrender spread later in the day. Marine losses were five KIA and 13 WIA. The Navy lost eight KIA and four Guam Insular Force Guards were killed with a total of 22 Navy and Guam Insular Force wounded. About 30 civilians were killed by strafing and bombing along with one American public works civilian. Japanese losses were one dead and six wounded. The few remaining American civilians were interned and later exchanged with diplomatic personnel along with four Navy nurses in June 1942. Six sailors fled to northern Guam. Five were hunted down and killed, but Radioman 1st Class George R. Tweed evaded capture until he was picked up by a destroyer just prior to the 1944 invasion enabling him to provide valuable intelligence information. He was aided by Guamanians who were, as a result, abused and in some cases killed by the Japanese. American military prisoners were held on the island and reasonably treated until shipped to Japan on 10 January 1942. They were later sent to Formosa and then Manchuria as forced labor.

Efforts to prevent useful materiel from falling into Japanese hands were only marginally successful. Of the two yard-patrol craft delivered in October, YP-16 was burned, but YP-17 was damaged and captured. The Japanese later made use of the Robert L. Barnes and YP-17. The Marine Barracks’ magazine had been destroyed and the Quartermaster stores warehouse and Navy 5,000-barrel fuel oil tank burned. Some 4,000 barrels of PanAm aviation fuel were captured as the burning Standard Oil tank farm prevented efforts to get to the adjacent PanAm tank. Most military and civilian automobiles and trucks on the island were captured, but the heavy trucks left by the Navy construction contractors had been disabled.

The Guamanians suffered heavily under Japanese rule. In addition to changing Guam’s name to Omiya Jima (Great Shrine Island), the island’s capital of Agaña was renamed Akashi (Bright Red Stone). The Japanese military and civil administration was established at Agaña’s Plaza de Espana. Elements of the Maizuri 2nd SNLF took over occupation duties. Only Japanese was taught in the schools and rationing was introduced. A Japanese firm, South Seas Development Company, took over all Guamanian business enterprises. Many Guamanians died or otherwise suffered from poor food and limited medicines. Group punishment was inflicted when individuals were accused of infractions of the occupation regulations. The Japanese built two small airfields, a 4,500ft (1,372m) strip on Orote Peninsula and a 5,000ft (1,524m) at Tiyan (aka Agaña) 21/2 miles (4km) east of Agaña, which was not quite completed by the time of the 1944 invasion. An airstrip was cleared, but no other work accompanied, at Dededo 3 miles (4.8km) northeast of Tiyan and near Tumon Bay on the west coast. Sumay on Orote Peninsula was off-limits to Guamanians, as was the entire peninsula. Guamanians, including women and children, were forced to help with airfield construction along with building fortifications. The Japanese performed little other military construction on the island, only exploiting its resources. When reinforcements began to arrive on the island in March 1944, the schools and churches were closed, more restrictive rationing imposed, punishments became harsher, and more civilians were impressed into forced labor. Their deliverance was not now long in coming.