Battle for Okinawa
Map of Okinawa
| date | April 1 to June 30, 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | Okinawa |
| output | Allied occupation of the island |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 183,000 (beginning) to 600,000 (end) soldiers |
about 119,000 men
|
| losses | |
|
USA : |
74,250-107,500 dead
7400 prisoners |
| 122,000 civilians killed | |
The Battle of Okinawa (Allied code name: Operation Iceberg ) began on April 1, 1945 with the American invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa and ended on June 30, 1945. The battle was part of the Pacific War Campaign during World War II . From the Japanese perspective, Okinawa was the last line of defense to stand in the way of an Allied invasion of the main Japanese islands. Accordingly, the Allies planned to use Okinawa for air support for the planned invasion of the main islands.
With coordinated suicide attacks by Shimpū Tokkōtai units, the Japanese naval air force tried to deal a decisive blow to the American Pacific fleet . The Allied air raids on Kyūshū on March 18, 1945 marked the beginning of this battle .
The fighting on Okinawa lasted until June 30th and ended with the capture of the island by American troops. Over two-thirds of the Japanese defenders died in the course of the battle. There were also high casualties among the civilian population and on the American side. But it was also the first time that Japanese soldiers surrendered by the thousands.
prehistory
Strategic importance
Okinawa , the largest island in the Ryūkyū group , 250 nautical miles from Japan, about 100 km long and 10 to 25 km wide, was under Japanese administration from 1871 and since 1609 as the Kingdom of Ryūkyū a vassal state. When the Pacific War broke out in 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the two islands of Okinawa and Taiwan , at that time under Japanese military control , were expanded into strong naval bases, with the airfields located on Taiwan allowing Japanese planes, the Philippines held by American troops as well attack certain parts of national revolutionary China . Therefore, several airfields were built on Okinawa, of which the one near Naha was specially expanded. Japanese ships damaged in the course of the fighting in the Pacific could be repaired in the shipyards of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the largest ports of Okinawa. The Japanese ships that carried oil and other raw materials from Southeast Asia to Japan could be repaired in the occupied Philippines, Taiwan or Okinawa. The island of Okinawa secured the right flank of the Japanese defense system around the two main southern islands of Kyūshū and Honshū .
It was strategically important for the Japanese to keep the Ryūkyū Islands under their control, as American troops from there could cut off the Japanese units in the southern Pacific from the rest of the armed forces stationed in Korea , northern China and Japan. The Ryūkyū Islands could have been used by the American troops as an advanced base of operations in the event that the Americans had already planned to conquer the main islands and could also have served as a base for air strikes against Japanese cities. Strategically, the Ryūkyū Islands occupied a key position for Japan on the sea routes from Borneo and Sumatra, on which materials essential for the war effort were transported to Japan.
American attack planning
The American General Staff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff , had already drawn up an operational plan for an attack on the Ryūkyū Islands in 1944. This planned to first attack the Japanese units in the north of the island of Okinawa and in the capital Naha and to cut them off from the rest of the garrison in the south of the island by an amphibious landing in the center of the island and a crossing of Okinawa. In late 1944, General Douglas MacArthur , whose troops were attacking the Philippine islands of Leyte and Mindoro , personally asked the staff to include a final advance south in their plans after the conquest of Naha. General Simon B. Buckner , who was appointed to lead the operation, also agreed to this plan. The other commanders of the American armed forces who were scheduled to carry out the operation against Okinawa, in particular General Roy Geiger , who would lead the tactical command of the Marines during the operation and serve as Buckner's chief of staff, were informed of this decision immediately. The island's defenders were estimated to be no more than 70,000 men, as the operations staff assumed that several thousand soldiers had been transferred to Japan or Korea.
In addition, under pressure from General Buckner and General Geiger , it was decided to land on several neighboring islands of Okinawa, the Kerama Islands , to support the landings from local air bases. In addition, the aircraft carriers of the Fast Carrier Task Force and several other units of the Navy, including the battleships USS Mississippi , USS Missouri , USS Nevada , and USS Colorado , were added to the invasion fleet. The landings on the Kerama Islands took place on March 26, 1945, within the next day the few Japanese soldiers on the islands were wiped out and they were completely captured on the 28th.
Operation plan
The final orders to the individual divisions of the national armed forces were given on March 10th. For the invasion the troops of the XXIV Army Corps under General John R. Hodge and the marines of the III. Marine Expeditionary Force selected. In order to ensure close cooperation between army troops and marines, these troops were operationally subordinate to the newly established 10th Army , whereupon they formed a unified force of 182,821 men. The marines were to form the first wave of landings, then attack along the road to Naha and, after the successful breakthrough of the Japanese lines, cross the island. The army troops should go ashore in several more landing waves, then reinforce the marines at the front and swing together with these units against the city of Naha and the Shuri area in order to isolate the enemy positions around the capital and Shuri. To the north of it, some marines, supported by army units, had to break through the Japanese defenses to the north of the landing beach and clear the northern half of the island before marching south again and also attacking the enemy positions at Shuri. The inner wings of both groups were supposed to consist of armored units to stop Japanese counterattacks or to clean up smaller boilers. The Marine Corps aircraft were assigned to carry out air strikes against Naha and Shuri in support of the 10th Army and to provide close air support to the advancing troops . Finally, the naval aircraft, which were under the command of the invasion fleet and thus under Admiral Raymond A. Spruance , were supposed to attack the Japanese installations and machines at the Kyushus and Formosas airfields in order to prevent enemy air or kamikaz attacks against the American naval units off the coast. Before the amphibious landing on the western beaches of the island, the capital ships of the escort fleet were to level the landing sections with heavy artillery fire in order to destroy any enemy positions. At the same time, the squadrons of the Navy and the Marine Corps were to carry out air strikes against the coastal areas by destroying the Japanese positions identified by photo reconnaissance with napalm and high- explosive bombs . Several squadrons equipped with F4U Corsair fighters were supposed to destroy the reported enemy bunkers, anti-aircraft or coastal batteries by using air-to-surface missiles . The first wave of marines landed was due to leave the mother ships on the morning of April 1st.
Japanese location
Fortification work
Shortly after the start of the fighting for the Mariana Islands, the Japanese high command, under pressure from the Koiso cabinet , ordered the expansion of the defense positions in the western Pacific region. After another defeat after the loss of Saipan, Tinian and Guam , Okinawa and Iwojima were now the last bastion in the Pacific for the Japanese troops, as an Allied attack on the main islands would presumably take place after their conquest. Therefore, since the beginning of September 1944, several fortified defensive lines have been built on the island, mostly with the help of local forced laborers, Allied prisoners of war and Japanese soldiers. The first of these lines ran in the Shuri area, the second in the Naha area, the third on the southern tip of the island, while a fourth, but unfinished, line of defense ran in the north. About 60,000-100,000 workers and troops took part in the work. By the beginning of the American landings on Okinawa, the various defensive structures, mainly bunkers , anti-tank trenches, trenches, single holes , tunnel systems , tank traps and machine-gun nests , were only 50 to 80 percent complete. In addition, there were some old fortresses: Shuri Castle from the Sanzan period , whose extensions and facilities were used by the Japanese troops as quarters and defensive positions, should be mentioned here. The ammunition depots that were set up in the castle and the quarters of the approximately 2000-strong Japanese garrison were defended by several machine-gun nests and artillery batteries . The line of defense that ran in the Shuri area was defended by around 23,000 Japanese soldiers.
Troop strength
As early as July 15, 1944, about 20,000 soldiers of the newly formed 32nd Army landed on Okinawa . Moving Japanese troops from mainland Japan or Formosa to Okinawa was difficult: The 44th independent mixed brigade lost 5,600 men, almost all of its strength, and several artillery pieces and heavy equipment when the Toyama Maru on June 29, 1944 It was sunk by the submarine USS Sturgeon on route from Kyushu to Okinawa . After the huge losses suffered by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1943 and 1944, these troops now lacked well-trained officers and soldiers. In addition, the units lacked telecommunications equipment, so that the connection between the individual units was poor and prone to interference. For this reason, telephone lines were partially installed on Okinawa to make up for the lack of electronic equipment through telephone connections. The units of the 32nd Army also consisted only partially of trained veterans who had been combined in the 24th Infantry Division , which had been supplemented by practically untrained and newly drafted Japanese reservists . The reservists lacked training because of their hasty mobilization, as most units had received only a very short basic training .
Since the weapons production of the Japanese industry had sunk from May 1944 due to the numerous attacks by B-29 Superfortress bombers and the American submarines had sunk a large part of the Japanese transport ships , there were also supply and supply problems, which consisted of one in particular Shortages of machine guns and other heavy infantry weapons made themselves felt. The only weapon that was in abundance was the Arisaka Type 99 rifle. Allegedly only six guns of different calibers were available per kilometer at the front , but the units on Okinawa were equipped with different mortar batteries in September 1944 . The Japanese army had also not been able to compensate for the losses of tanks in the numerous battles of the previous months. The 32nd Army therefore had only about 60 Ha-Go and Chi-Ha tanks available to defend Okinawa . The food supply by the Japanese transport ships was also cut off by Allied submarines and air strikes, so that the defenders of Okinawa plundered the food of the civilian population and planted several large rice and grain fields on the island, which were cultivated by civilians or Chinese forced laborers .
Defense strategy
Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru and the Japanese 32nd Army , which was under his command from August 8, 1944, were ordered to defend the island to the last cartridge despite these shortages of weapons and war material. The original defense plan was based on inland defense. The north of Okinawa should be defended by a few units. The south of the island, on the other hand, was to be defended by the rest of the Japanese troops: the terrain of the southern tip of Okinawa consisted of jagged ridges of hills, which were defended by the Japanese troops in cave positions. In addition, the capital Naha and its important airfield were located, as well as the Shuri fortress ring and the defense line built around it in the southern part of the island. General Ushijima left the defense of these positions to General Chō Isamu , Chief of Staff of the 32nd Army. Therefore, the 24th, 62nd and 28th Divisions were subordinated to him, as well as the 44th, 45th, 59th and 60th independent mixed brigade , parts of the 27th Panzer Regiment and a large part of the artillery and ammunition, as well as about 20,000 freshly drafted Okinawer, the Boeitai. Chō's command post, the headquarters of the group, the entire operations staff and the radio center were located in Shuri. These troops comprised about 80 percent of the personnel and artillery and 90 percent of the tanks of all Japanese forces on the island. Ushijima ordered these troops to defend every meter of the ground. In order to be prepared for possible breakthroughs by the enemy in the Shuri defense line, he gathered an operational reserve south of the main force under his command, which used the cave positions in the extreme south of the island for defense.
Part of the civilian population was evacuated, 1,529 people died when the submarine USS Bowfin sank the Tsushima Maru on August 22, 1944 with 1,788 evacuated civilians on board on the way from Okinawa to Kagoshima.
Air strikes and artillery fire
119,000 Japanese soldiers were standing on Okinawa in the spring of 1945 when they were the target of the planned amphibious assault in the course of the island jumping of the American troops. Together with the approximately 450,000 civilian inhabitants of the island, the troops experienced devastating air strikes and heavy artillery fire from the sea on March 23. However, the first American attack came in February when several B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from bases on Leyte attacked Japanese aircraft and defenses at the island's airfields. In the days that followed, American air strikes destroyed all Japanese machines on Okinawa. Reinforcements arriving from Kyūshū's runways were also destroyed almost immediately by further air raids.
The invasion
On L-Day , April 1, 1945, the 10th US Army under Lieutenant General Buckner began with the III. Marine Expeditionary Force under Major General Geiger and the XXIV Army Corps under Lieutenant General John R. Hodge , a total of 183,000 men, storm the island. The American invasion force also consisted of 20 battleships, 19 aircraft carriers with 1,160 aircraft and 13 heavy cruisers. In total, the maritime force made up 1,500 ships.
After an easy landing and a quick advance, Buckner divided his forces into two wedges that swung north and south. A few days after the start of the invasion, large parts of the island were occupied. The Japanese did not fight until the main defensive points: in the north on the Motobu Peninsula , in the south in the area of the capital Naha and in the medieval fortress Shuri . Shuri became the bloodiest section for the Americans in the battle for the island. The terrain (jungle and mountains), heavy rainfall and the Japanese troops, often fighting with contempt for death, resulted in heavy losses for the Americans during the operation. The success of the invasion was only considered certain in June, but the guerrilla war in the mountains dragged on until July.
preparation
On March 26, the 77th Infantry Division took the Kerama Islands ; In the process, she captured almost 300 motorboats laden with explosives, which the Japanese armed forces were keeping ready for suicide attacks on the landing fleet. A landing by scouts of the Pacific Fleet on the undefended group of islands Keise-shima on March 31 enabled two battalions of the 420th Field Artillery Group with 24 155 mm Long Toms to be positioned there to line the southwest coast of Okinawa. In the week leading up to the landing, the beaches and airfields were bombed, with little effect, although the Navy fired more than 25,000 rounds of its heavier artillery. In addition, combat swimmers removed hundreds of obstacles set up by the Japanese from the shallow water in front of the beaches.
On the night of March 31st to April 1st, the US Navy prepared for the invasion with a bombardment that lasted for hours. It was supported by carrier aircraft that dropped bombs .
landing
The landing began with a diversionary maneuver: At the same time as the actual landing in western Okinawa, the 2nd Marine Division faked a landing on Minatoga Beach in the east of the island, losing almost 50 men through Kamikaze attacks on the troop transport Hinsdale and the armored landing ship 844 , too the navy lost nearly 50 sailors. The deception was repeated the next day, so that Japanese troops and artillery were tied there for several weeks to prevent an American landing.
For H-hour , 8: 30h, the Americans landed chain operated amphibious vehicles , amphibious 2.5-ton trucks and landing craft to the Hagushi beaches in the south of the island south of Cape Zanpa near the airfields Yontan ( Yomitan ) and Kadena , between Gima / Yomitan in the north and Chatan in the south. The mouth of the Bishi-gawa formed the border between the landing sections of the XXIV. Corps and the III. Marine Expeditionary Force. The landing went faster than planned: within the first hour 16,000 men had been landed, at the end of the first day the 10th Army with 60,000 men held a bridgehead 8 miles wide and 2 miles deep.
The landing troops were surprised that they were not confronted with strong defensive fire and that the beaches were not mined: the entire 10th Army lost only 159 men on April 1, and the bridge over the Bishi-gawa fell undamaged into their hands. Even with the first reconnaissance teams into the interior, no Japanese troops were to be seen, apart from isolated groups and a few of the dreaded arborists . At 1 p.m., the 6th Marine Division took Yontan airfield, which was only defended by locals who quickly surrendered; Kadena was also easily taken by the 7th Infantry Division .
On April 2, the 7th Infantry Division had already reached the east coast and the first American aircraft landed on the captured airfields, which were quickly repaired.
The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions headed north, with the 6th on the Motobu Peninsula, while the 1st Marine Division secured the center of the island. The 6th Marine Division took Nago on April 7th . One of their regiments, the 22nd Marine Regiment, advanced northeast and reached Hedo Misaki in the village of Kunigami on the northern end of the island on April 13 . The rest of them faced heavy resistance on Mount Yae Take on Motobu from around 2,000 Japanese from the Kunigami combat group under Colonel Takesiko Udo, consisting of parts of the 44th independent mixed brigade.
On April 16, the 77th US Infantry Division landed on Iejima , an island northwest of the Motobu coast. On the night of April 13, scouts from the Pacific Fleet landed on the island of Minna-shima south of the eastern part of Iejima , so that the 305th, 902nd and 306th field artillery battalions have been sweeping Iejima from there since April 15 could. After heavy fighting by the 77th Infantry Division against almost 5,000 Japanese, the island of Iejima and its airfield were firmly in American hands on the evening of April 21.
Japanese counter-offensive
Operation Ten-Go
On April 6, the Japanese became active across the sea. Kamikaze pilots attacked the outpost ring of the Allied fleet with 355 planes , sank 3 destroyers , damaged 12 heavily and destroyed 2 ammunition ships and 10 smaller vehicles, but the intended destruction of the porters did not succeed because the defenses were too strong. A Japanese fleet approaching Okinawa was sighted by a submarine, and the next day American launch vehicles sank the battleship Yamato , the light cruiser Yahagi and 4 destroyers. The bandage then turned off again.
Sho Go
Around April 10, the Japanese were given the keyword "Sho Go" (victory operation), which General Yoshijiro Umezu released from the imperial headquarters and thus set the defensive plan for Okinawa in motion; Defense from the depths, holding fortified points (Motobu in the north, Naha and Shuri in the south), destruction of the Allied fleet by kamikaze pilots. On April 12 and 13, 185 aircraft attacked the fleet, but only hit small units. Further attacks by victim planes on 15./16. and from small groups to June 22nd brought little success. Vice Admiral Mitscher's flagship, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill and the carrier USS Enterprise were damaged and a few small units sunk. In the three months of the battle for Okinawa, a total of 2,373 kamikaze were sacrificed, but only 34 ships (the largest of the destroyers USS Mannert L. Abele ) were sunk, 368 ships were merely damaged, including Admiral Spruance's flagships USS Indianapolis and USS New Mexico .
Northern section
On April 8, the 29th Marine Regiment of the 6th Marine Division sealed off the Motobu Peninsula, while the 4th Marine Regiment of the 6th Marine Division was held in reserve at Ora on the east coast of Okinawa and the 22nd Marine Regiment pushed along the west coast of Okinawa further northeast, to occupy the last third of the island. By this time the invading forces had already achieved objectives for which the plan had allowed three weeks. The K Company of the 4th Marine Regiment pushed north along the east coast of Okinawa on April 10, followed by the entire 3rd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment as far as Kawada on April 13. After the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Marine Regiment had crossed Okinawa from west to east and advanced along the east coast to the north, on April 19, at Aha, it met the heads of the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Marine Regiment, pushing south along the east coast from the north who took Hedo Misaki on April 13th.
On April 9, the 29th Marine Regiment advanced westward. While his 3rd Battalion was advancing along the south coast of Motobus via Awa against Sugo, 1st Battalion Itomi tried to take Motobus in the center, but encountered strong resistance. The 2nd Battalion advanced north along the east coast of Motobus. On April 10, 1st Battalion took Itomi, while 3rd Battalion reached Sugo, Sakimotobu, and finally Toguchi. The 2nd Battalion, whose northern tips reached Nakasoni, captured the submarine and torpedo boat base Unter Ko. On April 12, the scout and sniper company of the 6th Marine Division took Bise in northwest Motobus.
The final blow against the mountain fortress Yae-Take led the 6th US Marine Division from April 13, mainly with the 4th and 29th Marine Regiment. At this point in time, the American armed forces were informed about the occupation of the fortress: around 1,500 soldiers under Colonel Udo, consisting of parts of the 44th independent mixed brigade, 2 infantry battalions, naval personnel from Downstairs Ko and working groups. This information came from prisoners among 300 Japanese who had surrendered, a previously unheard of event because so far every soldier had fought to the death and none had surrendered. The Yae-Take fortress fell on April 16, and on April 20 the last Japanese units on Motobu were pursued to the north coast and destroyed.
Even as Motobu was gradually captured in mid-April, the Americans suffered great losses when parts of the fortifications were blown up by the remaining crew. After the capture of Motobu Fortress, days and nights of guerrilla warfare began in the mountains. The site clearing dragged on until the end of April and still cost a number of US Marines and Japanese their lives.
Southern section
While the advance in the northern area was progressing relatively well despite rain and mud, it stagnated in the south, and the fighting in the run-up to Naha and Shuri increasingly developed into a merciless trench warfare .
On April 30th, exactly four weeks after the start of the invasion, the 1st and 6th US Marine Divisions in the northern section of the island were replaced by infantry forces. The troop formations were refreshed, strengthened, regrouped and detached to the XXIV Army Corps to the south, which was still involved in defensive position battles on the mountain barriers in front of Naha and Shuri. In the southern sector, phase 1 of the attack plan continued with no visible success: no progress, a deep defense system, fanatical resistance, strong Japanese artillery concentration, losses for the Americans.
Until April 11th, the Americans could only make small gains. A rugged, fortified mountain range, tenaciously defended by the Japanese, which also did not permit the use of tanks , blocked the southern tip of Okinawa in the west from Naha to Shuri in the east. The attacking forces of the 7th US Infantry Division (left), the 96th (center) and the 27th (right) were in the front until the end of the month and were bleeding out, which is why the commanding General Buckner regrouped to finally make the decisive breakthrough to reach.
The American plan of attack provided for the following: “On May 7th, the XXIV. Corps swings in, the entire western sector covered by it so far will be taken over by the III. Marine Expeditionary Force, with the 6th Marine Division taking over the section of the 1st. The 1st division reinforces the 27th; the 77th is deducted from le Shima and the 96th allocated. Attack time: May 10, 9:00 a.m. From 7:00 am, the carrier machines, the army and naval artillery are fired. "
Japanese artillery had been supporting the defenders since May 4th, there were attacks by the Japanese air force on American-occupied airfields and landings from the sea that reinforced the Japanese troops in Shuri. During the failed Japanese counterattack near Maeda on May 4th and 5th, gun-defending medic Desmond Doss rescued approximately 75 injured soldiers of the 77th Division on the fiercely contested eastern end of Urasoe Mura Cliff, which Americans called Hacksaw Ridge Division, for which he received the Medal of Honor . Hundreds of soldiers fell victim to the fighting between April 26th and May 7th around this cliff, until the Japanese positions there were largely destroyed.
One of the key locations of Shuri Fortress was the highly competitive village of Wana Ridge. Here, too, the terrain did not permit the use of tanks, and the planes could not cause much damage either, so the main burden was again on the infantry. Stories tell that veteran American soldiers compared these battles to the Battle of Verdun , with more reference being made to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (under General Pershing ) near the city of Verdun , as the bloodiest battles between the French and Germans took place, but the US did not enter the war until 1917.
The Americans had conquered Wana Ridge at least eight times by this point, but had to evacuate it each time. Only the attack on May 7th should finally bring the village into possession of the US troops, which paved the way for an attack from all sides against the main part of Shuri.
The case of Shuri
Before the storm inside Shuri could break out, the Americans first had to find a way through the strong outer walls. To this end, the battleship USS Missouri fired its 16-inch guns on the fortress for days, but without achieving any visible success. Then the USS Mississippi , which was equipped with special armor-piercing ammunition , was attached to the fortress. The marines back then bet which shot would break the fortress wall, and in general no one expected more than 100 shots. But the wall withstood a lot more than the Americans thought. The fortress broke up after about 10 hours and around 1,500 direct shells, but still some parts and most of the casemates where the defenders had withdrawn.
A fierce battle broke out along the large fortress area with its earthworks, porches, defense towers and moats, with advantages for the defenders. Right from the start, the American raid troops suffered heavy losses, with some troops remaining in defensive fire.
The Americans' hope of finding only ruins and dead people in the fortress, or in the worst case a demoralized and battle-weary opponent, was quickly dashed. The Japanese again demonstrated their high morale and tenacity when they freed themselves from the rubble and offered bitter resistance.
But there were also signs of decomposition on the Japanese side, defectors who were unable to recognize the meaning of death for a cause that had long been lost and who gave themselves up. That had never happened before in the island fights. But the defectors often died from bullets from their own ranks when their intent was apparent, and relatively few Japanese managed to get through to the enemy.
Even after the fortress was finally broken into, the battle remained tough. Because in anticipation of the invasion, the Japanese had carried out additional measures in the fortress area: building bunkers, firing positions, ditch systems. The partially destroyed and buried facilities were made functional and operational again by the surviving Japanese soldiers . For days a merciless hand-to-hand battle raged over these rubble bastions, in which literally every inch of ground was fought for.
During the last run of the Americans on the remains of the fortress to destroy the remaining Japanese troops, chance came to their aid: they had got their hands on a defense plan for the fortress, on which many of the secret passages and hiding spots were marked. Nevertheless, the fight remained extremely tough, because the Japanese holed up in many holes and underground hiding places. Despite full American artillery use, they fought doggedly, and many preferred to blow themselves up rather than surrender.
This murderous guerrilla war in the fortress area, which the Americans brought forward step by step, lasted a whole week.
Final stage of the battle
On June 1, 1945, Naha , the capital, fell after weeks of fighting over the mountain ranges, ravines, rivers and canals had blown up the Japanese belt of fortifications. The American clearing of the area and the partly still fierce guerrilla fighting dragged on until July. On June 25, the reserves of the two American corps were marched on the Naha-Yonabaru security line. Dispersed Japanese were stopped by radio calls to stop fighting; contrary to expectations, the action was successful. At the III. The Marine Expeditionary Force had captured 4,029 Japanese by June 30, and 7,401 with XXIV Corps; by mid-June there had been a total of only 322. The Battle of Okinawa turned into skirmishes with scattered soldiers at the end of the month, with most of the island's territory in the hands of the Americans.
But the fighting in the rugged mountains lasted for weeks. Even when the defense centers on Motobu, Shuri and Naha had long been destroyed, dispersed Japanese troops continued to fight fanatically. They holed up in inaccessible regions and didn't even give up when they ran out of weapons. They attacked the Americans with clubs and bare fists and threw themselves partly from the cliffs into the sea and into the mountain canyons. Many Americans who survived the battle in the mud and rain fell in the heavy weeks of the cleanup.
The aftermath of the battle
With Okinawa, the Japanese lost the last important bastion in front of the motherland. The price for this American victory was high. The Americans complained of 7,374 dead, 239 missing and 31,807 wounded in the landing forces and 4,907 dead and 5,000 wounded in the navy. All in all 12,520 dead and 37,000 wounded. The material losses amounted to 34–36 sunken ships, 368 damaged ships and 763 lost aircraft.
The British Carrier Group (TF 57) lost 98 aircraft with 4 ships damaged, 62 dead and 82 wounded.
The Japanese lost at least 66,000 soldiers in Okinawa, 3,650 marines at sea and 4,600 kamikaze . 7,830 aircraft were lost, 4,155 of them in combat. Overall, a loss of people and material that was difficult to cope with. The commanders-in-chief of the Battle of Okinawa were killed in the final phase of this war: General Buckner (USA) was hit by artillery on June 18; General Ushijima (Japan) committed suicide ( seppuku ). After the Japanese surrender, many surviving Japanese soldiers surrendered to the American armed forces. 10,000 Japanese army personnel and 8,000 members of the navy and the Boeitai , the Okinawan national guard, survived the battle. Japan also lost 16 warships during the fighting for Okinawa.
With Okinawa there was now a base in the immediate vicinity of the Japanese mainland (approx. 550 km) with ports for supply ships and two huge airfields and a further eight airfields were restored and expanded as quickly as possible. Kadena Airfield or the affiliated Yontan Airfield, which has just been completed, became the emergency landing site for the “ Bockscar ”, which after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki no longer had enough fuel on board for a return flight to Tinian or Iwojima . Okinawa represented the possibility of being able to use all types of fighter aircraft in the inventory of the USA directly against the Japanese main island. Thus the planned invasion of the Japanese motherland ( Operation Downfall ) for November 1945 moved into the realm of possibility. For this purpose, the 8th Air Fleet under Jimmy Doolittle , which had carried the brunt of the bombing raids on the German Reich, moved its headquarters to Okinawa. But there were no more missions. Along with Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, Kadena is still one of the most important US Air Force bases in the Pacific.
Possibly also in view of the bitter Japanese resistance in Okinawa, the US Army High Command and President Truman feared up to 300,000 dead US soldiers in an attack on the Japanese core islands.
Due to the surrender of Japan as a result of the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, the invasion plans became obsolete.
Remarks
- ↑ Baumschützen was the name for snipers who were camouflaged in the treetops and who stayed there for days.
- ^ The 1st Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Unit of the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade, the 50th specially founded infantry battalion and civilians who took part in the fighting in large numbers.
See also
Movies
- Okinawa (German TV and DVD title The Hell of Okinawa ), 1951, director: Lewis Milestone , actors: Richard Widmark , Jack Palance , Robert Wagner , Karl Malden , DVD 2004
- Okinawa - The Longest Battle (Taiheiyô Sensô to Himeyuri Butai) , Japan 1962, directed by Kiyoshi Komori
- Kamikaze Okinawa Zero (Gekido no showashi: Okinawa kessen) , Japan 1971, directed by Kihachi Okamoto
- Austin Hoyt (Director): Victory in the Pacific. Documentary, USA, 2005, 110 min.
- The ten-part miniseries The Pacific (2009) dedicates an episode to the Battle of Okinawa.
- Okinawa - The Last Battle (Manatsu no Orion) , Japan 2009, directed by Tetsuo Shinohara
- Hacksaw Ridge - The decision ( Hacksaw Ridge ) (2016) by Mel Gibson with Andrew Garfield , deals with the exploits of Desmond Doss on Okinawa.
literature
- Roy E. Appleman: War in the Pacific: Okinawa - The Last Battle (United States Army in World War II) , Konecky & Konecky Military Books, 1993, ISBN 1-56852-000-X .
- Simon Bolivar Buckner: Seven Stars: The Okinawa Battle Diaries of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., and Joseph Stilwell , Texas A&M University Press, 2004, ISBN 1-58544-294-1 .
- Bob Green: Okinawa Odyssey: The Battle for Okinawa by US Forces of the Tenth Army in the Pacific Theater Campaign of World War II , Bright Sky Press, 2004, ISBN 1-931721-39-4 .
- Rothacher, Albrecht; Okinawa: the final battle of World War II; Munich 2019 (iudicium); ISBN 9783862051328 .
- Gordon L. Rottman : Okinawa 1945 (Campaign) , Osprey, 2002, ISBN 1-85532-607-8 .
- EB Sledge : With the old Breed - At Peleliu and Okinawa , Ballantine Books, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-89141-919-8 (with a new introduction by Victor Davis Hanson). This book was used by Ken Burns for the TV series " The War " on PBS.
Web links
- The Battle of Okinawa (English)
- Online book of the US Army on the fighting on Okinawa (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The strength of the 32nd Army under Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima was 86,000 soldiers. In addition, there were 25,000 local islanders drafted on short notice and classified as military auxiliaries. The strength of the naval units is given as over 8,000. In: Chūshichi Tsuzuki: The pursuit of power in modern Japan, 1825–1995 . P. 312.
- ^ A b Robert Cowley, Geoffrey Parker: The Reader's Companion to Military History . P. 341.
- ^ Gordon L. Rottman: Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle . P. 84.
- ↑ Estimates of the dead vary due to the uncertainty about the exact number of Japanese combatants, the duration of the fighting and the nature of the fighting on Okinawa. Gordon L. Rottman: Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle , p. 85 gives 74,250 Japanese dead (66,000 dead in the fighting on Okinawa, 3,650 dead marines at sea and 4,600 dead kamikaze ). 18,000 Japanese combatants survived the battle and were captured by the Americans after the surrender, 7,400 Japanese were captured during the campaign.
- ↑ Post-war studies give this number. Shortly after the end of the battle, the number of civilians killed by the Japanese or Americans was estimated at 42,000 to 50,000. In: Gordon L. Rottman: Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle . P. 85.
- ^ Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, p. 4 , accessed April 16, 2012 .
- ↑ Chūshichi Tsuzuki: The pursuit of power in modern Japan, 1825-1995 . P. 312.
- ^ A b c Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, p. 11 , accessed April 25, 2012 .
- ^ Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, John Stevens: Okinawa: The Last Battle . United States Government Printing Office , 2000, ISBN 0-16-061318-3 , pp. 57 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - first publication 1948).
- ^ Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: THE FINAL CAMPAIGN :. Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, p. 12 , accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ^ A b Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, p. 14 , accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ^ A b Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, pp. 15-16 , accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ^ Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, pp. 16-17 , accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ^ Colonel Joseph H. Alexander: The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington, DC, 1996, p. 18 , accessed July 13, 2012 .
- ^ Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, John Stevens: Okinawa: The Last Battle. Chapter VII: The Capture of Ie Shima. In: United States Army In World War II - The War in the Pacific. Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC, 2000, pp. 149-183 , accessed April 26, 2012 .
- ↑ a b c d Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret): The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa. In: Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, Washington DC, 1996, p. 22 , accessed July 13, 2012 .
- ^ Mark J. Denger: Californians and the Military. Admiral Raymond Ames Spruance. In: The California Military Museum. California Center for Military History, accessed July 13, 2012 .
- ^ Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, John Stevens: Okinawa: The Last Battle. Chapter VII: The Capture of Ie Shima. In: United States Army In World War II - The War in the Pacific. Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC, 2000, pp. 139–148 , accessed July 17, 2012 .
- ↑ a b Major Chas. S. Nichols, Jr., Henry I. Shaw, Jr .: Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific. Chapter 6: Action in the North. Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1955, accessed July 17, 2012 .
- ↑ General Buckner described the use of flamethrowers and explosives against bunkers and caves as the " blowtorch and corkscrew " method, the blowtorch for the use of burning liquids and the corkscrew for the subsequent use of explosives. See: Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, John Stevens: Okinawa: The Last Battle. Chapter X: Tactics And Tactical Decisions. In: United States Army In World War II - The War in the Pacific. Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington DC, 2000, pp. 253-257 , accessed August 16, 2013 .
- ^ Gordon L. Rottman: Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle . P. 85.
- ↑ Hacksaw Ridge in the Internet Movie Database (English)