The most decisive operations of World War II -- Forager and Overlord -- occurred only nine days apart in June 1944. But while Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, is justly famous, few recognize the name Forager. 

Forager, the assault on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in the Marianas, was "the most important battle in the middle period of the Pacific War," writes author "Hell is upon us" Brooks.  A period, he continues, when "the tide of war swung irrevocably in favor of the United States." The Marianas campaign was critical for many reasons: it represented the first Allied advance inside Japan's inner perimeter -- its so-called Absolute Defense Line; the islands' capture would rupture Japan's lines of communications in the Pacific; and the new B-29 Superfortress bombers would be able to reach Japan's cities from air bases in the Marianas.

The Navy's boss, Admiral Ernest J. King, believed that "the Marianas was the key to the Pacific War" and convinced the Joint Chiefs and the President to support his plan to seize them over the objection of General Douglas MacArthur who wanted to keep the focus on the liberation of the Philippines. The Japanese also understood the significance of the islands and ordered their commanders to resist until the end. In fact, Admiral Shigryoshi Miwa, a trusted confidant, pointedly advised Emperor Hirohito that the loss of the Marianas would open the Japanese mainland to massive bombing. If that comes to pass, he warned "'Hell is upon us.'"

As it unfolded Operation Forager included amphibious invasions of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam and the naval Battle of the Philippine Sea. The island campaigns were typically brutal, bloody affairs with fanatical Japanese resistance. Saipan also witnessed the mass suicide of embattled soldiers and civilians who jumped to their deaths from Marpi Point rather than surrender.  In all, 65,000 Japanese troops died defending the three islands.  Some 8,000 Marines (from the Second, Third, and Fourth Marine Divisions) and soldiers (from the 27th and 77th Infantry Divisions) perished in the fight.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the "largest carrier battle in history" and ended with the virtual annihilation of the Japanese fleet. The Japanese would fight one more major naval engagement (Leyte Gulf), but their crippled carrier fleet would be deployed only as a decoy.

Once Guam was liberated and the Marianas chain was safety in U.S. hands, the B-29s began their incessant bombing of Japan. Finally, in August 1945, as the Allies reluctantly prepared to invade the Japanese mainland, the B-29 Enola Gay, laden with its nuclear cargo, took off from an airfield on Tinian bound for Hiroshima. Hell was, indeed, upon them, and it originated from the Marianas.