A specialized landing craft fires a barrage of rockets.
Landing craft head for a beach as an American dive bomber flies overhead.
A second wave of LSTs heads for the assault.
Pinned down by incoming fire.
Troops wading ashore.
Taking cover as a flamethrower operator (far left) attacks a bunker.
A Marine with a .45 moves in to check a bunker while a buddy covers the entrance.
The bunker has been cleared and the body dragged out.
A squad of Marines forms in the background, paying no attention to piles of dead Japanese nearby.
A Marine with a newly captured Samurai sword looks over two dead Japanese machine gunners. Note the wrecked aircraft in the background.
Marines advance behind an M4 Sherman.
Destroyed Japanese tank.
Swamped American M5 Stuart tanks surrounded by dead Japanese soldiers.
A Sherman tank drives past a knocked out blockhouse.
Prisoners are marched back along the beach.
TARAWA
After the smoke of the bloody battle that preceded the American invasion of Tarawa cleared,this photo was taken. Marines kneel in tribute to their fallen comrades. Father C. C. Reidel, USMC, of Chicago, says mass. Father Henry Jolivelm, (kneeling), a French priest who escaped from the Japs on Tarawa, acts as an altar boy. The altar is made up of a gun carriage.
KWAJALEIN
Securing a blockhouse, Namur Island.
Army troops with a heavy machine gun fight on a Kwajalein beach. Note the checkered ID panel on the back of the soldier at far left.
Army troops at Kwajalein. The amphtank in rear appears to have been set afire and had its ammunition supply explode.
Army troops with a heavy machine gun fight on a Kwajalein beach. Note the checkered ID panel on the back of the soldier at far left.
SAIPAN
"Land the landing craft..."
The invasion force heads for Saipan.
Smiling Marines in their landing craft; the jubilant mood will soon be erased.
Heading for the Saipan beaches.
Mass confusion on the landing beach.
Marine casualties.
Waiting for the order to advance.
Destroyed Japanese tanks.
Members of the Second Marine Division on patrol near Garapan.
A patrol witnesses a distant explosion.
Ducking an explosion. Note that this Marine has the grenade launcher attached to his M1 carbine.
Throwing a smoke grenade into an enemy emplacement.
As Marines gather near M8 gun carriage in the background, one of their number observes bodies of Japanese infiltrators who tried to overrun their camp. Note disembodied head at left of photograph.
The wounded are evacuated by jeep; a tank provides a welcome escort. Photo by W. E. Smith.
Even the holy places became scenes of death.
Tankers load their wounded onto a stretcher.
Destroyed town on Saipan.
Conquering.
Conquered.
The Japanese resisted to the death.
Note wounds on the Japanese soldiers: the one in the foreground has taken a shrapnel wound to the abdomen, the one in the back was hit in the head.
This Japanese soldier ran afoul of a flamethrower.
Destroyed gun emplacement.
Marines caught this Japanese soldier before he could detonate himself in their midst. Note the unexploded grenade in his right hand; probably this soldier was posing as a corpse in hopes that unwary Americans would get close enough to die with him.
Japanese corpses gathered for burial. Note body cut in half in extreme foreground, and severed head immediately behind. The Pacific war was an ugly animal. Marines in background appear unconcerned.
When the battle is over....
GUAM
US 3rd Marine Division leathernecks disembark on the beach from an LVT-1 of the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion during training for the invasion of Guam on Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal during the week of May 12, 1944.
(JULY 29) BULLDOZER PLOWS OUT ROAD FOR YANKS INVADING GUAM – A bulldozer plows out a road on the beach of Guam to facilitate landing operations as U.S. Marines invaded the Jap-held American island in a drive to recapture it. Part of the landing flotilla is in the background.d.
PELELIEU
Watching the landings from offshore.
Famed photographer Joe Rosenthal took the following pictures of the First Marine Division approaching Pelelieu, September 15 1944. Note American aircraft overhead.
Watching the landings from offshore.
Famed photographer Joe Rosenthal took the following pictures of the First Marine Division approaching Pelelieu, September 15 1944. Note American aircraft overhead.
The First Marine Division goes ashore, September 15, 1944. Note smoke in rear center of photograph - apparently a demolitions team (possibly the running men) has just detonated a Japanese position.
Bringing a stretcher case back to the beach.
Marines search the bodies of dead comrades for personal effects or identification.
As the invasion of Peleliu gets underway, U.S. Marines unload war supplies and ammunition boxes onto the beach of the island in the Palau group, in September 1944. Note injured Marine on a stretcher at left center. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal)
Passing the dead on the way to the front. Note the two Marines carrying Thompson SMGs.
Giving a wounded Marine a drink of water... 115 degrees in the shade!
Waiting for the next attack.
While one watches the line, another takes time for a much needed drink of water.
3 comments:
Worth every penny. What a treasure.
On the photo with the comment "ducking an explosion", is there any id on this photo? I have a copy of this same photo and was told that it was my grandfather, George M Lowry, as he was being shot on Tinian Island. Is there any way to verify this? I have many of his records on hand, including a service record written in his hand, listing his serial number, enrollment date and brief info on his career, including date and place that he was first under fire...7-20-1942 off Azores Isl.; remarks sighting a German sub at 10:15 AM that day.the record lists his first engagement, when and where he was wounded, when and aboard what ships he was on. I am the oldest of 15 grandchildren of George and was 10 when he died. Many of my cousins never met him and I would love to be able to share true details with them. Thank you for putting this site together. It is very interesting and informative.
By the way, I noticed your disclaimer on accuracy of informaion and wanted to let you know that on George Lowry's bio page, his wife is Hattie Louise Davis, not Hattie Mae Davis. Thanks again.
Hi Donna! Nice to hear from you.
Unfortunately, there is no ID on the back of this photo. It was an official USMC photograph produced by a combat correspondent (as were all in this series), and was evidently available for souvenir purchase after the war - sets of them crop up on eBay from time to time. Since he is facing away from the camera and the image is blurred, a 100% positive ID would be next to impossible. I believe I read somewhere that the Marine in this picture was killed by a mortar round, and the photographer wounded, but of course that may be inaccurate as well.
So! There is a chance that it is your grandfather, but probably no way to be completely sure. Even some of the most famous photos of the war are the subject of debate as to who is in them. (I search for my ancestors in every photograph I come across!)
Have you seen the 1943 movie Guadalcanal Diary? 1/24 were used as extras in the combat scenes, particularly during the landing, so if you look closely you might see George Lowry running across the silver screen.
I'd be more than happy to look at the records you have - every bit of information helps - and add anything you like to the website. I'll correct his wife's name when I get home tonight.
Thank you again!
Geoff
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