Site Specific Behaviours During the Battle for Saipan

This chapter explores the diversity of behaviours during the Battle for Saipan. People’s behaviour was not solely motivated by survival and this is evident through an examination of karst defences and related materials. The first section focuses primarily on civilian, and Japanese military experiences, and the social changes that occurred immediately before, during and after the Battle for Saipan. In order to fully understand the battle and how the U.S. military experienced the Battle for Saipan, the second section of this chapter presents a battlefield reconstruction with karst defences at the forefront. The reconstruction identifies site specific actions over the battle’s 25-day period. This chapter shows that war is not an event that suspends social processes, rather it changes them and sometimes at a rapid pace. While behaviours during the battle are varied, death was a grim part of the battle and that reality is acknowledged here.