What happens
This episode of The Pacific Story, broadcast on February 11, 1945, follows the American assault on Saipan in the Mariana Islands during World War II. A narrator and correspondents describe the naval bombardment before the landing in June, the three-and-a-half-week fight for the island, and the island's Japanese-era history, including its civilian population and the airfields the Japanese had built. The program then turns to the arrival of the B-29 bombers of the 20th Air Force, the supplies unloaded at Saipan's harbors, and the bombing raids on Japanese industrial targets such as Tokyo and Nagoya. Brigadier General Loris Norstad, Chief of Staff of the 20th Air Force, closes with commentary on the bombers' role. The program is presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations.
Saipan in the Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean, 1944-1945
Characters: Brigadier General Loris Norstad, Dr. Sanchez, Stuart Wirth, Mr. Yokuse
Listen for: The description of the American landing on Saipan and the B-29 bombers arriving on the island.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.