Pagan: the archaeology of a WWII battle never fought in the Northern Mariana Islands. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dixon, Boyd; Lash, Erik; Schaefer, Richard
• Is Part Of: Journal of conflict archaeology. Volume 13:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 37
• Page End: 58
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: World War II -- planning -- Pagan -- Mariana Islands; Battlefields -- History -- Periodicals; Excavations (Archaeology) -- Periodicals; Military history -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1080/15740773.2018.1533667
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1574-0773

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Archaeological and historical investigation of WWII battles fought in the Micronesian archipelago of the Mariana Islands has generally concentrated on the fierce struggles for Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. Smaller islands that were neutralised during the U.S. thrust to establish air bases for the bombing campaign over Japan beginning in 1944 have received less attention, but were a strategic link in the Absolute National Defence Sphere. This paper examines the archaeological evidence of Japanese military planning for the defence of the island of Pagan situated north of Saipan, a battle that was never fought. The strategy based on an analysis of fixed weaponry emplacement appears to have been conceived in terms of engagement evolving from a 'defence-at-the-waters-edge' tactic in the southern Mariana Islands towards a 'defence-in-depth' posture faced in Iwo Jima and Okinawa.