16-167 Garand Picture of the Day - Saipan

[Mark in Rochester]

105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division - Purple heart ridge

On June 23, the rest of the 27th Division had attacked north through what became known as Death Valley. The nightmarish terrain between Mount Tapotchau and what American soldiers had dubbed Purple Heart Ridge featured sheer cliffs and hills. The valley itself was a plateau of open farmland about three quarters of a mile wide. The Japanese had hidden in the caves along the cliffs. Units of the 27th moving through the valley, including the 106th Infantry Regiment, which had just rejoined the division, were subject to intense enemy fire. The soldiers had to advance through wooded areas at the opening of a plateau onto a flat plain where the Japanese held the high ground on both sides.

The enemy had carefully prepared artillery, mortar and machine-gun positions on the cliffs, which controlled the entire area. One observer compared the Americans’ situation to that of the British Light Brigade, which charged the Russians at Balaclava.The 2nd and 4th Marine divisions moved up the coasts of the island with little or no opposition. The 27th Division’s progress through Death Valley was slowed by the difficult terrain as well as the Japanese opposition.

Without resupply, the battle on Saipan was hopeless for the defenders, but the Japanese were determined to fight to the last man. Saito organized his troops into a line anchored on Mount Tapotchau in the defensible mountainous terrain of central Saipan. The nicknames given by the Americans to the features of the battle — "Hell's Pocket", "Purple Heart Ridge" and "Death Valley" — indicate the severity of the fighting. The Japanese used the many caves in the volcanic landscape to delay the attackers, by hiding during the day and making sorties at night. The Americans gradually developed tactics for clearing the caves by using flamethrower teams supported by artillery and machine guns.

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