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AW1Steve -> RE: Guam Insular Force (8/8/2011 2:21:57 PM)
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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake
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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
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ORIGINAL: el cid again
The defense of Guam seems to be nil.
This is ahistorical - a USN base force was present with a small element of Marines -
these reinforced by Guamanian militia led and trained by the militia.
It is similar to the leaving out of the 6 inch guns at Rabaul and the Indian Ocean
nitrate islands - significant if minor well known assets have been left out.
When I find the data I will post the number and types of squads for Guam.
I spent two years there , working in the Marianas Military museum. We had extensive data on the Insular force. There were less than 200 members (at full strenght, which they never were) armed with Springfields and two Lewis guns (one of which was always broken). They had no artillery,mprtars or even hand grenades. In essense, they were an auxilary unit of the "police force". The "police force"? That was less than 100 US Marines, who were armed in a similar nature. On invasion day , the insular force put up a spirited fight for the Govenors house. They lost two members , and surrendered half an hour later (pretty much out of ammo). The USMC forces had even less, and didn't last much longer.
300 men, don't stand much of a chance against over 5,000. Especially when there was no ships (Except for the Minesweeper USS Peguin , that survived less than 30 minutes) no aircraft ,no artillery, or armor. The guns and planes were removed to comply with the Washington Naval treat that said no fortifications west of PH, except for the PI.
Frankly, I can't see bothering to model this force , unless you want to list EVERY policeman and boyscout in the Pacific. It just isn't worth while. [:(]
Santa Maria! The amount of trivia that members of this forum can pull up off the cuff is simply astounding.
I wonder how many of those sailors and marines survived the war?
Why were they even there? Political decision, I guess.
Quite a few survived (I was able to meet and interview a few of the Chomorrans in the Insular guard.Most of the USMC went home to the US mainland).
As far as why they were there? Up until the early 1960's Guam was managed by the USN. It's Govenor was a USN Captain. In the late 1930's a delegation went to DC to speak with Roosevelt about some upgrade in status , or perhaps a quasi independance. FDR said he'd be happy to transfer Guam to the department of the Interior ("and oh by the way have you recently visited a American Indian reservation?"). FDR was a capable negoitiator (and pretty good at playing "dirty" when he wanted to). The delegation decided that they were VERY happy with the USN running things.
The USN also ran American Samoa the same way. They provided Marines as police, USN as firefighters , hired teachers and ran schools, and USN medical personal handled much of the Islands Medical needs. Guam then , as now , had a Senate (ran along the lines of the US Senate, with two Senator from each village). But at the time, the population was so small (and about to get a whole lot smaller) that it was difficult, if not impossible , to provide those services.
From most of the Chomorrans that I interviewed who recalled the pre war period, it was a pretty good arrangement, with the USN being a pretty good nieghbor , helping when needed and butting out the rest of the time. One gentleman who served in the USN told me that the Navy got along a lot better with the Chomorrans then they did with city governments in the US mainland (like Norfolk Virginia, location of the famous "Dog and sailors keep off the grass" signs!). [:D]
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