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June 10, 2024 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kamehameha Statue Error

There are now four different statues of similar design of Kamehameha; there is an error in the Statues:

The first replica stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu
The initial (repaired) casting of the statue is at Kapaʻau, North Kohala
Another replica is in US Capitol’s visitor center in Washington DC
Another statue is at the Wailoa River State Recreation Area in Hilo

“When the Kamehameha had been modeled by Gould, the attention of the Hawaiian Club of Boston … was called to the completed model and it was noticed that the great Moi was represented wearing a sort of apron”.

“(T)he sculptor was informed that this was by no means a correct costume of the time of Kamehameha and would appear ridiculous to the modern Hawaiian.”

It turns out, when the statue was being prepared, King Kalakaua had recently acquired “Malo of Kaumualiʻi” and he selected that to be photographed for the sculptor’s use, providing the model with an ordinary malo at the same time.

William Tufts Brigham – the first director of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum – had written a book on Hawaiian featherwork; he had also been Hawaiian Club president for ten years.

His initial reaction about the “Malo of Kaumualiʻi” was, “how could a band four yards long, made as this is with feathers on both sides be disposed on the wearer? The term malo is certainly misleading”. He suggested it was rather a cordon or sash.

“In the statue the cordon passes from the pendent end up behind the portion used as a waist-band, over the left shoulder, outside the cloak, instead of returning down the back to form the belt as it should have done with the end tucked in to tighten the band, it leaves this belt as an independent member and passes down over the cloak to trail on the ground!” (Brigham)

“The ordinary malo is shown on the statue, a proof that the cordon was not used as a malo, an impossible feat. Perhaps no competent critic saw the model after the cordon was added, or it was thought best not to remove the band after the cast was made.”

“As there was no living Hawaiian who had seen such a cordon worn either by Kamehameha or Kaumualiʻi, the absence of criticism may be understood.” (Brigham)

It turns out Brigham found out it was not the sculptor’s fault, but, rather, the photographer who sent the statue maker photos of what was to be designed (Gould simply sculpted what the photographer provided.)

“The ungraceful position of the left hand was changed by the artist but he could not have been expected to be versed in the peculiarities of ancient Hawaiian adornment. In the photograph sent not only was the cordon placed over the cloak but the main ornament, the terminal set with teeth was not visible in front!”

“I can only suppose that King Kalakaua in his apprenticeship to royalty as assistant chamberlain to Kamehameha V, never saw such a cordon adorning his royal master who was greatly averse to personal display as I was convinced by my acquaintance with that monarch, who probably never saw the cordon in question.” (Brigham)

“The final arrangement must be based on esthetic rather than historical grounds. In fact, the decorated end of the sash drags on the ground behind the figure. The other end has had to be supplemented with a fictitious terminal band to be presentable in front.”

“If you look closely, the final arrangement is impossible without two sashes: a long one from malo front over the shoulder and down to the ground, and a short, separate belt.” (Later noted by Charlot.)

Traditionally, a sash is worn by first draping the sash over the left shoulder to where it falls between the knees. Then the remaining length is wrapped around the waist and over the front flap of the sash to around the back, fed behind the part over the shoulder, and the remaining hangs down in the back (at knee length.) (San Nicolas) After that, you put the cape on over it all.

As attention is drawn to the Kamehameha Statue, with lei draping and anticipation of Kamehameha Day, folks might now all look at the Kamehameha Statue a little closer now. (The painting pattern of the sash on the Kapaʻau Statue illustrates the error best, but it is evident on each.)

Most of the attention has been to the front of the statue; but we have overlooked a little bit of history without looking at the sash as it simply flows from the front over the shoulder (over the cape) to a pile in the back (rather than in the traditional wearing of the sash (wrapped before the cape is worn; under the cape around the waist and looped down.))

Somehow, the subsequent statues of Kamehameha copied the error, rather than fix it.

King Kamehameha I statue and Aliiolani Hale building, in downtown Honolulu

The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau, North Kohala. Sculptor-Thomas Ridgeway Gould

Kamehameha_Statue-Kapaau_front_and_back

Kamehameha Statue-Kapaau-front

Kamehameha Statue-Kapaau-back

Kamehameha Statue-Honolulu-front

Kamehameha_Statue-Honolulu-front_and_back

Kamehameha Statue_Honolulu_back

Kamehameha Statue-Honolulu_back

Statue of Kamehameha I, located in the Wailoa River recreation area of Hilo

Kamehameha statue on display in the US Capitol Visitors Center, Washington DC

King_Kamehameha-with correct sash-(HerbKane)

Traditional Wrapping of a Sash-under Cape (San Nicolas)

Traditional Wrapping of a Sash (San Nicolas)

June 9, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Nāwiliwili

A pua ka wiliwili,
A nanahu ka mano;
A pua ka wahine uʻi,
A nanahu ke kanawai.

When flowers the wiliwili,
Then bites the shark;
When flowers a young woman.
Then bites the law. (Emerson)

Most sources suggest Nāwiliwili, Kauai takes its name from the wiliwili tree (nā is the plural article, as in “the wiliwili trees” or “place of the wiliwili trees.”) A native tree, its flowers and pods are used for lei, and its light wood was once used for surfboards, outriggers and net floats …”

“… somewhat as Honolulu was originally called Ke Awa o Kou, or Kou Landing, from the groves of that seaside tree known there in primitive times, so not only this southeasterly bay of Kauai, together with the stream emptying into … took their name from the blossoms of the wiliwili trees which grew in great numbers on the rocky slopes above the bay.” (Damon)

One of the first things that William Hyde Rice saw on landing in this bay in 1854, as a boy of eight, was the orange-red flash of wiliwili blossoms on trees clinging to the cliff above the beach. And one of the last things he did for his beloved home-island was to plant young wiliwili trees above the bay that the significance of its name might be kept in fresh remembrance. (Damon)

Handy suggests a kaona (hidden meaning) for the name Nāwiliwili based on a reduplication of the word wili, which means “twisted,” as in the meandering Nāwiliwili Stream. (Cultural Surveys)

The ahupuaʻa of Nāwiliwili and the surrounding area was permanently inhabited and intensively used in pre-Contact times. The coastal areas were the focus of permanent house sites and temporary shelters, heiau, including koʻa and kūʻula (both types of relatively small shrines dedicated to fishing gods) and numerous trails.

There were fishponds and numerous house sites and intensive cultivation areas within the valley bottoms of Nāwiliwili Stream. The dryland areas (kula) contained native forests and were cultivated with crops of wauke (paper mulberry,) ‘ʻuala (sweet potatoes) and ipu (bottle gourd.)

The archaeological record of early Hawaiian occupation in the area indicates a date range of about 1100 to 1650 AD for pre-contact Hawaiian habitations. A land use pattern that may be unique to this part of the island, or to Kauai, in general, in which lo‘i (irrigated terraced gardens) and kula lands in same ʻāpana (portion of land,) with houselots in a separate portion. (Cultural Surveys)

Hiram Bingham, walking from Waimea toward Hanalei in 1824 noted, “a country of good land, mostly open, unoccupied and covered with grass, sprinkled with trees, and watered with lively streams that descend from the forest-covered mountains and wind their way along ravines to the sea, – a much finer country than the western part of the island”.

In the 1830s, Governor Kaikioʻewa founded a village at Nāwiliwili that eventually developed into Līhuʻe. The name Līhuʻe was not consistently used until the establishment of commercial sugar cane agriculture in the middle 19th century; and from the 1830s to the Māhele, the names Nāwiliwili and Līhuʻe were used interchangeably to refer to this area. (McMahon)

Līhuʻe (literally translated as ‘cold chill’) dates to when Kaikioʻewa moved his home from the traditional seat of government, Waimea, to the hilly lands overlooking Nāwiliwili Bay on the southeastern side of Kauai.

He named this area Līhuʻe, in memory of his earlier home on Oʻahu. The name, Līhuʻe, was unknown on Kauai before then; the ancient name for this area was Kalaʻiamea, “calm reddish brown place.” (Līhuʻe on Oʻahu is in the uplands on the Waianae side of Wahiawa; Kūkaniloko is situated in Līhuʻe.) (Fornander)

In early sailing ship history, Nāwiliwili Bay was deemed to be virtually the only natural harbor on Kauai. However, since the bay opened directly to the tradewinds, other protected anchorages at Kōloa and Waimea Bay, on the west side of the island, were used.

“It is doubtful that anywhere on earth, in a supposedly usable landing place, have ladies and children – and even men – been subjected to so much nerve-wrecking hardship and danger as they have met with here during and immediately following the holiday season. It has been necessary to toss passengers from gangways into small boats (hit or miss) as the waves surged; and to take them aboard in the same dangerous fashion.”

“Baggage and valuables have been overturned into the bay, and have been lost. It seems like a miracle that, not a few, but many, lives have not been sacrificed; and this can only be accounted for, perhaps, by the fact that the sailors of the ships are expert in manipulating their landing boats and handling passengers in turbulent waters.”

“In the winter months passenger traffic at Nāwiliwili is paralyzed and there is no such thing as freight business on account of the exposed condition of one of the most beautiful and serviceable harbor prospects of which we have knowledge. The great sugar industry has to draw away from its largest, most natural and most convenient port, and carry on its shipping in a “catch-as-catch-can” sort of fashion, in small bays.” (The Garden Island, January 9, 1917)

“Nāwiliwili Bay, situated on the south eastern coast of the island of Kauai, is divided naturally into an outer and inner harbor by a reef extending north and south. Inside of the reef is a basin of considerable area, which consists of several deep water channels with shoals between, but is not accessible to vessels under present conditions, as harbor improvements have never been undertaken.”

“The present anchorage, which has been used for many years, is in the outer harbor, about a mile from the landing, which is the passenger traffic terminal of the island, in former years this also was the shipping point of Lihue and Grove Farm plantations, also of the merchants and farmers of the surrounding country.”

“Owing to the difficulties and delays encountered through the necessity of vessels lying at such a great distance from the landing, Nāwiliwili was abandoned as a shipping point by the plantations.” (Forbes; The Garden Island, December 7, 1915)

Then, in the early 1920s, (largely financed and directed by GN Wilcox) a breakwater was built making for a safer passage. Later, a seawall was built and wooden landing jutted out into the Bay.

After agriculture became an important industry with the growing of sugar cane at Līhuʻe Plantation, the development of a modern harbor facility at Nāwiliwili began. Congress approved funds for a breakwater and dredging of a turning basin and on July 22, 1930, thousands celebrated the arrival of the “Hualālai” to the new facilities at Nāwiliwili.

Other improvements by the Territorial government were subsequently carried out. After Statehood, the State government continued to make additional improvements. (Okubo)

June 8, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marston Mats

Before and during WWII, logistics and flexibility of options to deal with men and equipment guided technology. With the expanded use of air power, addressing the logistical needs of aircraft became imperative.

“The most recent information from operations now in progress abroad indicates that permanent runways are out of the question in modern warfare (causing) the development of landing and take-off mats to assume the highest possible priority.” (Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Air Corps)

Runways for bombers based in rear areas could be built like standard highways. These plans for simple construction were almost obsolete as soon as made, for the Air Corps was even then designing heavier planes which called for runways of greater bearing capacity.

Constructing runways at the front and more elaborate ones farther back, as the planes being contemplated in 1939 dictated, would take a long time—long enough to interfere seriously with the striking power of the air arm.

The Air Corps expressed immediate interest in news that the British and French were laying down portable steel mats as a substitute for hard-surfaced runways.

In December 1939, the Air Corps asked the Engineers to develop a similar landing mat. Since practically nothing was known about the subject, the two services agreed that the Engineers would attempt to get more information from abroad, would canvass the American market for likely materials, and, after conducting field tests with loaded trucks, choose the most promising types for service tests with planes.

The military command noted, “The requirements may be divided into two separate categories: First, pursuit and observation, ie, light weight types; Second, bombardment, ie, heavy load types.” It seemed possible that “if no delays are incurred and if this project is pushed that some concrete decision can be arrived at by the first of the Fiscal Year 1941.”

A pierced steel plank was developed at Waterways Experiment Station, an Army Corps of Engineers research facility in Mississippi. The 21st Engineers, under the command of Col Dwight Frederick Johns, was assigned the task of investigating techniques for the rapid construction of air bases.

In November 1941, the first major aerial operation experiments took place at Marston, North Carolina. The 21st Engineering Regiment (Aviation) constructed a 3,000-foot runway on virgin ground for use by the 1st Air Support Command. The job took 11-days and used 18-railroad carloads of a new product known as pierced steel planking. (Gabel)

It met expectations; and early in February 1942, the Engineers and Aviation groups agreed on a minimum of 15,000,000 square feet of mats. Thereafter demands increased rapidly.

By midsummer, the total required production of pierced plank mat was at 180,000,000 square feet—an amount that would consume from 70,000 to 100,000 tons of steel per month (about one third of the nation’s sheet capacity.)

While the Corps called it ”pierced (or perforated) steel planks (PSP,)” it adopted a name associated where it was initially tested – Marston Mats (named for the North Carolina City.)

The standardized, perforated steel matting was pierced with 87 holes to allow drainage; it was 10-feet long by 15-inches wide and weighed 66-pounds; a later aluminum version came in at 32 pounds.

The mats were often laid over the local vegetation, which varied depending on the location from loose straw to palm fronds. The sandwich of steel and vegetation absorbed moisture and cut the dust kicked up by heavy aircraft.

While the first planked airstrip took 11-days to install, by the end of World War II an airfield could be carried across the Pacific within a single cargo hold of a Liberty ship, and could be ready for aircraft to land 72 hours after unloading. (AirSpaceMag)

During raids, sometimes the mats were hit/damaged. The Seabees constructed “repair stations” along the runway, each with foxholes for the repair crews and packages of 1600 square feet of Marston mat, the amount that experience showed was necessary to repair the damage from a 500-pound bomb.

Trucks were preloaded with sand and gravel and concealed around the runway. Following a hit on the runway, the repair crews would clear away the damaged Marston mat as the trucks were brought out to dump their loads in the crater.

100 Seabees could repair the damage of a 500-pound bomb hit on an airstrip in forty minutes. In other words, forty minutes after that bomb exploded, you couldn’t tell that the airstrip had ever been hit. (Budge)

At first the US had Marston Mats to itself, but eventually the invention was shared with its Allies, including Russia under the Lend-Lease program.

Two-million tons of temporary runway were produced in WWII to bring American airfields to each island captured from the Japanese. Marston Mats have been used in every war since. (AirSpaceMag)

The pierced plank mat continued to be the type requested by theater commanders. The Engineers admitted that the pierced plank mat “turned in a creditable performance through-out the world.” (The Corps of Engineers)

Among other places, Marston Mats formed the 6,000-foot temporary runway at Morse Field – South Point, Hawaiʻi. Likewise, the Kualoa Airfield at Kāneʻohe Bay had a Marston Mat ramp. Kahuku Army Air Base started as a Marston Mat runway that was later paved.

In the later ‘reuse’ category, my mother found that aluminum Marston mats made great benches and re-potting surfaces for her orchids.

June 7, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Buried at Sea

“Directly in front of the Archives building in Palace square, Honolulu, is a circular, grassy mound hedged with hibiscus. At or near that mound was situated the royal tomb of the Kamehamehas from about 1825 to 1865.”

“… in that tomb were placed the remains of many famous persons. Here it was that Dr GP Judd concealed the national archives from Lord George Paulet in 1843. It is an historic spot and the visitor to our fair city should be helped in some way to recognize it and know its story.” (McClellan, Advertiser January 26, 1927)

Reportedly, in 1858, Kamehameha IV brought over the ancestral remains of other Aliʻi – coffins and even earlier grave material – out of their original burial caves, and they are buried in Pohukaina.

During the reign of Kamehameha IV, there was talk of building a new royal mausoleum (at the time, Hawaiʻi’s ruling chiefs were buried in the crypt enclosure on the ʻIolani Palace grounds, known as Pohukaina, sometimes called ‘the mound’.)

“When the new Royal Mausoleum at Nuʻuanu Valley was completed in 1865 the remains of all the Kings, Princes and Princesses were removed there ….” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

In 1865, the remains of 21-Ali‘i were removed from Pohukaina and transferred in a torchlight procession at night to Mauna ‘Ala, a new Royal Mausoleum in Nuʻuanu Valley.

“Doubtless the memory is yet green of that never-to-be-forgotten night when the remains of the departed chiefs were removed to the Royal Mausoleum in the valley.”

“Perhaps the world had never witnessed a procession more weird and solemn than that which conveyed the bodies of the chiefs through our streets, accompanied on each side by thousands of people until the mausoleum was reached …”

“… the entire scene and procession being lighted by large kukui torches, while the midnight darkness brought in striking relief the coffins on their biers.” (Kapena, Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 3, 1880)

“Earth has not seen a more solemn procession what when, in the darkness of the night, the bodies of these chieftains were carried through the streets, which were lined with thousands of people on either side along the whole march ….”

“Not a sound was heard. The flaming torches, made of kukui nuts and of gigantic size, on either side of the procession, made the darkness beyond impenetrable and centred all light upon the procession”. (Harris, Hawaiian Gazette, January 14, 1880)

“(T)he remains of all the kings, princes and princesses were removed there excepting that of Princess Kekāuluohi, mother of Lunalilo.”

“This act of disrespect of Kamehameha V to the remains of his mother made Lunalilo sorely indignant, and he swore that he would not have his remains buried at the Royal Mausoleum.”

“He kept his word. As there was no proper place for the burial of his mother (she died June 7, 1845, at the age of 50,) he ordered his native servants to take the bones of his mother and bury them in the bosom of the deep, where no mortal could disturb them.”

“At the dead of night, the canoe bearing the remains of Kekāuluohi, manned by a crew of native kahu (attendants) left Waikiki. They went to a point many miles off Diamond Head. When they reached the place, prayers (kanaenae) were offered according to the ancient rites of burial.”

“When the ceremony was over, the bones of Kekāuluohi, carefully wrapped up in white clothes, were consigned to the deep. One of the crew … testified that when they threw the royal remains into the ocean, phosphorescent light illuminated the spot, and they could distinctly see the remains descending slowly towards the bottom. …”

“The crew returned from their solemn mission, but they were in honor bound not to reveal the exact position where they buried Kekāuluohi.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 22, 1892)

“Before he died … (Lunalilo) willed … that he be buried in the Cemetery (Kawaiahaʻo) with the People who elected him … rather than in the Royal Mausoleum.” (Lunalilo died February 3, 1874 at the age of 39.)

“His Tomb in Kawaiahaʻo Church Yard, not being ready, his remains were temporarily deposited in the Royal Mausoleum … So, Lunalilo had two funerals.”

“The first when he was interred in the Royal Mausoleum (in 1874) and the second on November 23, 1875, when he was removed from there to where his earthly remains rest today.” (Webb; McClellan)

“When the casket of Lunalilo was being carried out of the Royal Mausoleum on November 23, 1875 … a glaring flash of lightning and an earsplitting peal of thunder welcomed it.”

“Volley after volley resounded through the Heavens, and continued until the Royal Burden was safely and reverently placed within the final tomb”.

“When the procession arrived at Kawaiahaʻo Church and just as the casket was entering the tomb, a most terrific clap of thunder burst from a heavy cloud. “

“According to the count of many Hawaiians this was the twenty-first of these thunder-peals and the last was the most thunderous. It sounded as if the whole city of Honolulu had been dashed to ruins and it startled the whole population.”

“We all believed that it was a heavenly recognition of the high rank of our Ali‘i – a discharge from the artillery-of-the-clouds, a royal salute sent from Heaven to honor our beloved sovereign.” (Webb; Galuteria)

Kawaiahao_Church-Lunalilo_Tomb-PP-15-12-023-00001

Kekauluohi-WC

The young Prince William Charles Lunalilo in his teens

Lunalilo Mausoleum-PP-50-11-004-00001

King_Lunalilo

Lunalilo’s_Tomb-(DMYoung)

Mauna Ala Entrance

The_chapel_at_Mauna_‘Ala,_the_Royal_Mausoleum

Mauna_Ala-(DMYoung)

Illustrated_London_News_on_the_Funeral_of_the_King_Lunalilo-1874

Chapel_at_Mauna_‘Ala-interior

June 6, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Operation Overlord – Operation Neptune – Operation Forager

June 6, 1944 was the beginning of the end of WWII in Europe; France at the time was occupied by the armies of Nazi Germany and the combined land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies led to the liberation of France and the later defeat of the Germans.

While we focus on the coast of France, we sometimes overlook events on the other side of the world. That same day, June 6, 1944, a huge attack force cleared Pearl Harbor on its way to invade Japanese positions in the Mariana Islands. (NPR)

The WWII began when Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 15, 1939, following Germany’s invasion of Poland. Then in May 1940, Germany invaded France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Denmark. A year later, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, leading the US top declare war on Japan. Germany, in turn, declared war on the US, bringing America into the war in Europe. WWII was being fought in the Pacific and Atlantic.

For years, Allied leaders and military planners had debated about when, where, and how to land troops in northern Europe. Although plans for such an action had been in the works for years, it was not until December 1943, when General Dwight D Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, that preparations for the future operation, code named Overlord, intensified.

Although the invasion was delayed with no definite timeline, American troops began arriving in Great Britain in record numbers in 1943. By the end of May 1944, there were more than 1.5 million US Army personnel in the United Kingdom to either participate in or support the cross-Channel action.

For several months prior to the invasion, several thousand Allied bombers and fighters attacked targets from the Pas de Calais to the north to the French port of Cherbourg to the west and more than a hundred miles inland to isolate the Normandy area of operations and hamper the ability of German commanders to reinforce their forces in Normandy once the invasion began.

German High Command had bought into the deceptions of the operation, and fully expected a landing at the Pas de Calais. Planners instead had selected a 50-mile stretch of coastline in Normandy.

The Normandy beaches were chosen by planners because they lay within range of air cover and were less heavily defended than the obvious objective of the Pas de Calais, the shortest distance between Great Britain and the Continent.

The action was planned in two parts. Neptune, the naval component and assault phase, involved moving tens of thousands of Allied troops across the Channel and landing them on the beaches while providing gunfire support. Overlord was pivotal point of the plan – the invasion and the subsequent Battle of Normandy.

Approximately 160,000 Allied soldiers were to land across five beaches code named Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah, while British and American paratroop and glider forces landed inland. Forces landing at each beach would eventually link up, establishing a beachhead from which to further push inland into France.

After numerous delays and major planning changes, D-Day was set for June 5. However, on June 4, as paratroopers prepared to board their aircraft to carry them behind enemy lines, weather conditions deteriorated.

The decision was made to delay 24 hours, requiring part of the naval force bound for Utah beach to return to port. With a small window of opportunity in the weather, Eisenhower made the decision to go – D-Day would be June 6, 1944.

In issuing the Order of the Day, Eisenhower stated, “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark on the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.”

“The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”

“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. …”

“The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

Total Allied troops who landed in Normandy: 156,115 (including 23,400 Allied airborne troops); Soldiers’ home nations: United States, Britain, Canada, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Luxembourg, Greece, Czechoslovakia, New Zealand and Australia (+177 French commandos).

Total Allied aircraft that supported landings: 11,590; Total naval vessels in Operation Neptune: 6,939 (including Naval combat ships: 1,213; Landing ships / craft: 4,126; Ancillary craft: 736; Merchant vessels: 864 – of the 6,939 ships involved in D-Day, 80 percent were British; 16.5 percent, U.S.; and the rest from France, Holland, Norway and Poland.)

By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. Fighting by the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen of the allied forces western front, and Russian forces on the eastern front, led to the defeat of German Nazi forces. On May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender at Reims, France.

“Many explanations have been given for the meaning of D-Day, June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded Normandy from England during World War II. The Army has said that it is ‘simply an alliteration, as in H-Hour.’ Others say the first D in the word also stands for ‘day,’ the term a code designation.”

“The French maintain the D means ‘disembarkation,’ still others say ‘debarkation,’ and the more poetic insist D-Day is short for ‘day of decision.’”

“When someone wrote to General Eisenhower in 1964 asking for an explanation, his executive assistant Brigadier General Robert Schultz answered: ‘General Eisenhower asked me to respond to your letter. Be advised that any amphibious operation has a ‘departed date’; therefore the shortened term ‘D-Day’ is used.”

That response reminds us that the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 was not the only D-Day of World War II. Every amphibious assault – including those in the Pacific, in North Africa, and in Sicily and Italy – had its own D-Day.

While the focus of D-Day is on the coast of France, we sometimes overlook events on the other side of the world. That same day, June 6, 1944, a huge attack force cleared Pearl Harbor on its way to invade Japanese positions in the Mariana Islands. (NPR)

Since the fall of the Marshall Islands to the Americans a few months earlier, both sides began to prepare for an American onslaught against the Marianas and Saipan in particular. The Americans decided that the best course of action was to invade Saipan first, then Tinian and Guam. The Battle of Saipan was under the code name Operation Forager.

The force that headed west across the Pacific may have been smaller in numbers than the armada that gathered off the coast of Normandy, but the US 5th Fleet boasted no fewer than 16 aircraft carriers and more than 900 combat aircraft. The attack group carried two divisions of Marines and one of Army infantry and the stakes of both invasions were similar. (NPR)

In June 1944, Admiral Raymond A Spruance’s 500-ship fleet, carrying about 125,000 Marines and Sailors steamed 1,000 miles from the Western Marshall Islands to the South Mariana Islands. This fleet included most of the Navy’s carriers and battleships, along with many of its transports of the Pacific Fleet.

The Mariana Islands were the last bastion of Japan’s Central Pacific perimeter. Their capture by American Forces severed the Japanese supply lines with the Caroline Islands territories further south and pushed the defense west to the Philippines while opening the Japanese homelands for aerial assaults.

Spruance’s Task Force 58 launched the first of many pre-invasion air sorties on June 11 on Japanese positions, airplanes, and ships. Both fast and escort carriers participated in these attacks that lasted until the capture of Guam on August 10. (Navy)

They set D-day for June 15, when Navy Sailors would deliver Marines and Soldiers to Saipan’s rugged, heavily fortified shores. The Navy’s involvement bookended the operation: naval vessels and personnel ferried Marines and Soldiers to the beaches and then, after ground combat was over, took leading positions in the administration of the occupation.

Japanese resistance proved far greater than anticipated, not least of all because the latest intelligence reports had underestimated troop levels.

In reality, troop levels, in excess of 31,000 men, were as much as double the estimates. For at least a month, Japanese forces had been fortifying the island and bolstering its forces. Although US submarines had managed to sink most of the transports to Saipan from Manchuria, the majority of these troops survived to supplement a full 13,000 men to the 15,000 or so already on site.

“The [Japanese] are coming after us,” Spruance said, and they were bringing with them 28 destroyers, 5 battleships, 11 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 9 carriers (5 fleet, 4 light) with somewhere near 500 aircraft total.

The resulting engagement – the Battle of the Philippine Sea of June 19-20 – resulted in a decisive US victory that nearly eliminated Japan’s ability to wage war in the air.

By June 30, the 27th Infantry Division had swept through the hills and then down the valley where it finally destroyed the enemy. Following fighting on the island, the Americans suffered 26,000 casualties (5,000 of which were deaths). Yet the American victory was decisive.

Japan’s National Defense Zone, demarcated by a line that the Japanese had deemed essential to hold in the effort to stave off US invasion, had been blown open. Japan’s access to scarce resources in Southeast Asia was now compromised.

The cost of this campaign was great: over 16,500 casualties, including almost 3,500 killed. The Marine units suffered close to 13,000 casualties.

Although the price for victory was high, the seizure of Saipan was a highly significant step forward in the advance on the Japanese home islands. The island became the first B-29 base in the Pacific. The war had reached a new turning point.

Some highly-placed Japanese felt that their defeat on Saipan signified the beginning of the end of the Empire. (Marine Corps University) (Lots of information here is from US Army, Navy and Marines, Department of Defense, Eisenhower Library and British Imperial War Museums.)