Battling for Saipan
by Francis A. O'Brien

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Book Review: Rebuttal to Reader from Texas
Summary: 5 Stars

HM Smith was not one of the great captains of WWII. As Professor Harry Gailey points out in "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", Saipan was the first and only time HM Smith ever had hands on responsibility for troops in battle. He did not conduct a very brilliant campaign. He constantly underestimated the strength of Japanese resistance on the island, made his plans based on his underestimates, and then blamed the Army Division and its Commander, MG Ralph Smith, when his plans did not work.

The 27th Infantry Division was the most unfairly maligned unit of WWII, Its commander, MG Ralph Smith was the most unfairly vilified leader of WWII. This happened because the Marine Corps and its advocates needed to create and maintain the legend that HM Smith was a great captain, needed to explain away HM Smith's less than brilliant performance on Saipan.

This book, while not a thoroughly researched as Edmund Smith's 27th ID's History or Professor Gailey's "Howlin' Mad Versus the Army", it is an honest attempt to tell the correct history, that the 27th ID fought hard and fought well on Saipan.

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