Cheap Howlin' Mad Vs. the Army : Conflict in Command, Saipan 1944 (Book) (Harry A. Gailey) Price

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THE TRUTH AT LAST
Harry Gailey has authored an articulate expose, really, which peels away the years of distrotion and myth that have grown out of this unfortunate incident (the Smith vs Smith controversy, in which Marine Lt General Holland Smith relieved his subordinate, Major General Ralph Smith, USA, of command at Saipan). Orignially Gailey had heard from Edmund Love, the 27th Infantry Division historian, that it was common knowledge amongst those of the 27th that MG Ralph Smith was unjustly relieved (the 27th ID was Ralph Smith's division). Without going into detail about the how's and why's of the book, suffice it to say that this book gives a revealing critique of the marine General, the events leading up to Saipan which shaped his opinions, and a systematic demolition of the rumor that the 27th troops were cowardly and inept. It also provides the day-to-day history of the fighting, the heaviest of which fell on the 27th. This is a true story of interservice hatreds and should be back in print.

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The Dismissal at Saipan Revisited.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith, Commander of V Amphibious Corps on June 15, 1944 lead the assault against Saipan in the Marianas. Ashore was the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions, who suffered sufficiently heavy initial casualties to commit the Army 27th Division. The three divisions advanced eastward across the waist of the island. Leaving only two battalions of the 27th (one said to be under strength) to destroy the enemy in the southeastern part of the island, H.M. Smith pivoted the two Marine Divisions and the bulk of the 27th in a line advancing north. The 27th was now assigned the center of the line facing the central highlands. By the eighth day of the battle for Saipan, the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions had advanced rapidly on each side of the island. The 27th lagged far behind, creating a "U" shaped front and the threat of open flanks for both Marine Divisions. The elements of the 27th left in the southeast were likewise making little progress. Whether these developments were due to the Army facing the enemy on far more difficult terrain and defended by greater numbers, is the subject matter of Gailey's book. On June 24, H.M. Smith, without any reconnaissance by members of Corps staff, relieved his subordinate, Maj. Gen. Ralph Smith. The resulting furor in the media caused a firestorm and increased the inter-services resentment.

Tracing H.M. Smith's bitterness to his earlier experience with the 27th on Makin, Gailey skillfully builds a case against Howlin Mad. In fairness, this book should be read together with H.M. Smith's "Coral and Brass". That autobiographical work was written largely as an explanation of the dismissal. It is beyond the scope of this review to compare the two divergent views but, by and large, one is left with the conviction that the accepted historical view is based more upon the preconceptions of the Hearst Newspapers and Time Magazine and not fact. Like MacArthur, it would appear that Howlin' enjoyed the favor of the press.

H.M. Smith was a genius at training, tactics and logistics. His service to his country and the Corps can not be overstated. His ability as a field commander is not as clear. Gailey has done much to restore the name of Ralph Smith and the men of the 27th Division who subsequently had to carry the stigma of cowards when they later fought on Okinawa.