Interesting Garand with ties to Saipan

[T38Carbine]

Outstanding as is!!

[JoeQ]

Very Nice

[navyrifleman]

I am wondering just how any particular M1 Garand can be proven to have been in the fighting on Saipan?

Saipan was under Japanese control - and a headquarters island for them. When it was taken by the US in July 1944, it was turned into a US base of operations (along with Guam and Tinian) for B-29 flights to Japan.

Saipan became headquarters for the UN Trust Territories of the Pacific (under US administration) and later (in 1987) became the capitol of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas. The new Commonwealth Constitution did not allow for a military or privately owned firearms.

To my knowledge, there were never any M1 Garands on Saipan, except in the hands of the US military.

When the Commissioner of the Trust Territories turned its Office building on Saipan over to the new government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, a cache of over 400 Japanese Arisakas were found in a storage room. These had been captured by the US Navy from the Japanese garrison on Truk in 1945 and at some point stored on Saipan. Being US owned "prizes of war", they had to be removed from Saipan as they could NOT legally be transferred to the Commonwealth.

Those Arisaka rifles were inventoried and transported to Guam for storage and eventual disposition. There were no other types of rifles inventoried on or removed from Saipan at that time (1987).

[Caesar1]

I’m not sure but the letter says they were in US custody but some were given to the local police (not military and of civilian). As for the Arisakas , they were war trophies.

[DougS]

So, if these rifles were U.S. property, shouldn't they have been returned to the U.S. Army and subsequently to the CMP?

[Caesar1]

Not sure, why were the Guam garands not turned back over to the US? Strange that there is also a Thompson sub machine gun listed

[navyrifleman]

Guam is located just south of Saipan and Tinian.

Although Guam was liberated from Japan by the US military on 21 July 1944, and declared secure on 10 August, efforts continued until 1948 to ferret out Japanese troops who were in hiding.

These "stragglers" - as they were called - remained in caves and remote areas on Guam and presented a threat to security, as they were armed and refused to surrender. The US Navy Officer assigned as Police Chief organized the Guam Combat Patrol of Guamanian men and armed them with M1 Garands and M1 Carbines.

The Guam Combat Patrol searched for Japanese stragglers, killing 117 and capturing only 5. Stragglers continued to be captured by the US military, Guamanian civilians and police thru the 1950's and 60's. The last Japanese straggler on Guam, Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, finally surrendered in 1972.

If you type "Guampedia Guam Combat Patrol" into your search engine, you can see photos of the Guam Combat Patrol with their weapons.

It is possible that similar armed groups were formed on other islands as well.

* Note: There are some other interesting articles about Guam and WW II at the web site also.

[Rock]

[navyrifleman]

Here is an interesting story about the Saipan based "Marine Scouts". They were local Saipan men recruited and trained in 1944 by the US Marine Corps to assist in mopping up services and combat actions on Saipan and other Marianas Islands up thru 1945 when the War with Japan ended. They were recognized by the United States as US Veterans many years later.

It is possible that M1 rifles recently identified as Saipan returns came from weapons issued to this group.

https://www.saipantribune.com/index....-250bc8c9958e/

[Caesar1]

Originally Posted by navyrifleman

Here is an interesting story about the Saipan based "Marine Scouts". They were local Saipan men recruited and trained in 1944 by the US Marine Corps to assist in mopping up services and combat actions on Saipan and other Marianas Islands up thru 1945 when the War with Japan ended. They were recognized by the United States as US Veterans many years later.

It is possible that M1 rifles recently identified as Saipan returns came from weapons issued to this group.

https://www.saipantribune.com/index....-250bc8c9958e/

Interesting read. Thanks for posting