US Marines supported by armoured landing vehicles on the beach at Saipan, June 1944

Photograph, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945), 1944.

The Americans landed on Saipan in the Marianas Islands on 15 June 1944 and spent more than three weeks engaged in heavy close-quarter fighting to secure the island from the Japanese. The battle cost the Americans over 3,400 killed and 10,300 wounded, whereas of the estimated 30,000 Japanese defenders, only around 900 were taken prisoner. The rest had fought to the last.

From a collection of 650 photographs compiled by the Commando Association.