Evening star., 1944-10-29
BY WILLIAM L. WORDEN,


says Mr.. Worden, ,Dho ioaS there.)
BY WILLIAM L. WORDEN,
Associated Press FOREIGN Writer.
On the morning of July 7 tn,
remnants of the japanese garrison
on Saipan were in hopeless posi-
ton. They had lost the town o
Garapan, been driven off thu
heights Of Mount Tapotchau, hae
no air force and had lost all hope
Of aid from the japanese fleet
which had been sent running fol
home, crippled and planeless.
Two thousand Japanese, COM
pressed into small corner of the
island which reeked from theil
unburied dead in the heat, ham.
pered by thousands of terrified
civilians, faced at least 10000 Amer
leans. Preferring to die ther
rather than wait, they launched q
counterattack.
A railroad runs along the entire
western side of Saipan, connecting
Charan-Kanoa and Garapan, and
extending northward from Garapar
to tap cane fields on the coastal
fiat and to supply an airfield al
Marpi Point. 1t is from 100 to 30C
yards from the beach, and consists
of high right of way between
low-lying fields. For part of its
length, it is roughly paralleled by a
highway. A few hundred yards
east OF the railroad the ground rises
into the foothills of Mount Tapot-
chau and adjacent peaks.
9th Infantry Advanced.
During the afternoon of July 6
the 9th Infantry Division, holding
the left end of the American line,
had moved forward rapidly for 300
to 500 yards, reaching its objectives
just before dusk. The American
line was about 100 yards from a
rough japanese defense line of pill
boxes and strong points. Open
fields were between.
Two regiments of the 9th Di-
vision were in the line-the 165th
on the right, the 105th on the left.
The advance had left an odd sit
uation. Darkness had prevented re-
serves from moving up as close as is
customary. There was no one di-
rectly behind the 105th for nearly
1000 yards to point where Ma
rine 10th Field Artillery Battalion
had set up its 105- -millimeter guns
This unit had not brought up all its
components-notably machine guns,
for its defensive perimeter.
The 106th Infantry, third unit of
the 9th Division, was resting far IN
the rear, The 9Th Marine Regi-
ment, a unit of the I'd Division, was
in Garapan.
The Japanese mustered, in a mar
row section of their line at the rail-
road, a striking force of 1000 SOL
diers and sailors, armed with any,
thing from bayonets on sticks to
knives and machine guns. The mus
ter point was, by design or accident,
opposite the juncture between two
infantry battalions.
Because of the proximity of the
opposing forces, no American pa
trolls were in the narrow no-man's-
land. The Americans, however, were
alerted and dug in.
The Japanese charged at dawn.
The attack was IN such force
roughly 1000 men hitting line i'm
mediately defended by four or five
hundred-that the Japanese broke
through along the railroad.
Temporarily Unopposed.
Once through that line, they were
temporarily unopposed in the area
left vacant the previous night. I'M
mediately, one arm of the Japanese
force swung toward the west and
reached the virtually undefended
beach. The main body continued
straight south along the railroad.
ignoring its own left flank.
The movement west completed en-
circlement of what was left of one
battalion. The strike down the rail-
road carried to the thin perimeter
of the marine artillery. There it
overran the headquarters and serv-
ice battery (Which had no artillery
pieces and very light defensive arma-
and smashed through other batter
les on the opposite side of the
tracks, capturing at least eight 105-
nm. guns, after they had been made
useless, and some ammunition.
The marines retreated and formed
defensive perimeters around their
remaining weapons on small hill
to the east of the track. The bat
talon found it impossible to use it's
heavy Q05D weapons, for fear of
firing into their own front lines.
The Japanese did not drive the
l05th Infantry directly in front of
them. Rather, they opened a hole
and poured through. Those on the
east fell back against their own
f1anking troops and held, Those on
the west were in much worse shape
The Japs, having encircled the bat
talon, pinning it against the beach,
then drove spearhead through it,
isolating more than 100 Americans
at the north end. These were sub
jected to mortar and machine-gun
fire and vicious assault by superior
numbers.
The cutoff 100 faced certain death
and we're doing no good. They re-
treated into the water and swan or
waded out to the reef, where they
we're able to stand, partially sub
merged, for several hours until res
cued
The southern section of the cut
off battalion managed to form a
perimeter strong enough to hold
temporarily, although hampered by
dozens of seriously wounded men.
This perimeter finally seemed so
secure that about 100 men were
ordered to break through the jap
anese encirclement and go after re-
Inducements. They succeeded, and
made a juncture with hurriedly-
summoned reserves. The remainder
of the battalion maintained the
perimeter against vicious Japanese
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