April 1945 - The bloody, laborious route across the Pacific brought the Allied Powers within striking distance of Japan's homeland. The controversy over strategy between General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz was resolved. With the success of Nimitz in the Marshalls and the Marianas, and MacArthur in New Guinea, Nimitz agreed that if MacArthur could take the Philippines, Formosa would be neutralized and could be bypassed.
It was, therefore, not Formosa, but Okinawa that would be the staging area for the ultimate assault against Japan. But first that island had to be taken. Japan's objective was to make the Allied Powers pay the highest possible price for Okinawa, and prepare its population, including civilian suicide bombers, for the ultimate allied assault on Kyushu and Honshu.
The largest amphibious force of the war, larger even than the D-Day force, was assembled for invasion of Okinawa - more than 1,300 ships and 180,000 men. Gen. Simon Buckner, Commanding General of the 10th Army would have two corps under his command; the III Amphibious Corps, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, and newly formed 6th Marine Divisions, and the XXIV Corps, consisting of the Army's 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry Divisions.
MacArthur was by then planning for invasion of Japan and would not interfere with the conduct of the Okinawan Campaign. Admiral Nimitz, having recently been promoted to Fleet Admiral, was in command of all naval units.
Allied naval forces included Task Force 51 commanded by Vice Admiral Kelley Turner, Task Force 58 commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Micher, and British Task Force 57 commanded by Admiral Bruce Fraser.
The Japanese defense included their 32nd Army, commanded by their brilliant strategist, Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima and two other generals of the Samurai elite. Most of the 110,000 Japanese soldiers were tough battle-tested veterans. Ushijima's artillery would be the heaviest concentration encountered by allies in the Pacific.
In the Battle of Okinawa the dreaded Kamikaze suicide pilots were used extensively - more than 1,900 Kamikaze sorties were launched against allied ships, and caused the heaviest Navy losses of the war.
A pre-invasion bombardment started a week before the main amphibious landing. The Army's 77th Division captured several small islands west of Okinawa to prevent suicide boats from interfering with the amphibious landing. Two weeks later, the 77th would capture the neighboring island of Ie Shima, during which famous war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed.
April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday - The 2nd Marine Division created a diversionary feint on the south part of Okinawa. The main landing force hit the beaches on the west central part of the island. The Army's 7th and 96th Divisions were to drive inland, capture Kadena Airfield, then pivot south. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions were to drive inland, capture Yontan Airfield, and pivot north, cutting the island in half.
To the immense surprise and relief of the landing force, it was virtually unopposed. Admiral Turner began to suspect that the Japanese had been discouraged and ready to surrender the island. And as Gen. Ushijima watched the 2nd Marine Division back off from their diversionary feint, he briefly imagined that his forces had repulsed the Marines with heavy casualties. But Easter Sunday was also April Fools' Day. Both Turner and Ushijima were wrong.
By the end of the first day, the Americans had more than 60,000 men ashore and both airfields captured with light casualties. But Ushijima had planned it that way. As the Americans landed, he marveled at the wasted ammunition they had used softening up the undefended beaches. He would lure the Americans inland to his elaborately prepared defense, a deadly labyrinth of man-made caves, bill poxes and blockhouses with interlocking fields of fire, and make them pay a heavy price for every yard taken.
Thus began nearly three months of hard fighting on land and on sea with huge losses. Navy losses included 36 ships sunk and 368 ships damaged, and the largest Navy loss of life in a single battle - some 5,000 dead and nearly equal numbers wounded.
The Battle for Okinawa resulted in the largest combined Army and Marine losses of a single battle with some 7,600 killed and more than 30,000 wounded. Several thousand of these would later die of wounds. The sustained combat under miserable conditions, including monsoon rains, resulted in the largest number of combat fatigue cases in a single battle of the war.
The two commanders of this battle, Gen. Buckner of the American 10th Army, and Gen. Ushijima of Japan's 32nd Army, both lost their lives - Buckner by an enemy artillery shell that drove fragments of coral into his body, and Ushijima by suicide.
About a third of Okinawa's population of some 150,000 lost their lives, and a large percentage of the survivors were wounded. Many committed suicide, convinced by the Japanese that survival under American captors would be worse than death. More than 100,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives rather than surrender. The few that surrendered were Okinawan conscripts who did not have the same dedication as Japanese regulars.
Okinawa, last great battle of the war - the largest Navy losses, largest combined Army and Marine losses, largest civilian loss of life in a single battle since Stalingrad, the only major WWII battle in which both opposing commanders lost their lives - yet this largest combined air-land-sea battle in history is relatively unpublicized, unsung and unheralded, unknown by the general public, and practically forgotten. How could this possibly happen?
In short, it is because this final battle of the war occurred when the world was being turned upside down. The battle itself is obscured by the dramatic history occurring at the time, by the very history it was creating, and by events that would immediately follow. The net result is a typical reaction of many Americans when this battle is mentioned.
The Battle of Okinawa? Never heard of it.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
It was, therefore, not Formosa, but Okinawa that would be the staging area for the ultimate assault against Japan. But first that island had to be taken. Japan's objective was to make the Allied Powers pay the highest possible price for Okinawa, and prepare its population, including civilian suicide bombers, for the ultimate allied assault on Kyushu and Honshu.
The largest amphibious force of the war, larger even than the D-Day force, was assembled for invasion of Okinawa - more than 1,300 ships and 180,000 men. Gen. Simon Buckner, Commanding General of the 10th Army would have two corps under his command; the III Amphibious Corps, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, and newly formed 6th Marine Divisions, and the XXIV Corps, consisting of the Army's 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry Divisions.
MacArthur was by then planning for invasion of Japan and would not interfere with the conduct of the Okinawan Campaign. Admiral Nimitz, having recently been promoted to Fleet Admiral, was in command of all naval units.
Allied naval forces included Task Force 51 commanded by Vice Admiral Kelley Turner, Task Force 58 commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Micher, and British Task Force 57 commanded by Admiral Bruce Fraser.
The Japanese defense included their 32nd Army, commanded by their brilliant strategist, Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima and two other generals of the Samurai elite. Most of the 110,000 Japanese soldiers were tough battle-tested veterans. Ushijima's artillery would be the heaviest concentration encountered by allies in the Pacific.
In the Battle of Okinawa the dreaded Kamikaze suicide pilots were used extensively - more than 1,900 Kamikaze sorties were launched against allied ships, and caused the heaviest Navy losses of the war.
A pre-invasion bombardment started a week before the main amphibious landing. The Army's 77th Division captured several small islands west of Okinawa to prevent suicide boats from interfering with the amphibious landing. Two weeks later, the 77th would capture the neighboring island of Ie Shima, during which famous war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed.
April 1, 1945, Easter Sunday - The 2nd Marine Division created a diversionary feint on the south part of Okinawa. The main landing force hit the beaches on the west central part of the island. The Army's 7th and 96th Divisions were to drive inland, capture Kadena Airfield, then pivot south. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions were to drive inland, capture Yontan Airfield, and pivot north, cutting the island in half.
To the immense surprise and relief of the landing force, it was virtually unopposed. Admiral Turner began to suspect that the Japanese had been discouraged and ready to surrender the island. And as Gen. Ushijima watched the 2nd Marine Division back off from their diversionary feint, he briefly imagined that his forces had repulsed the Marines with heavy casualties. But Easter Sunday was also April Fools' Day. Both Turner and Ushijima were wrong.
By the end of the first day, the Americans had more than 60,000 men ashore and both airfields captured with light casualties. But Ushijima had planned it that way. As the Americans landed, he marveled at the wasted ammunition they had used softening up the undefended beaches. He would lure the Americans inland to his elaborately prepared defense, a deadly labyrinth of man-made caves, bill poxes and blockhouses with interlocking fields of fire, and make them pay a heavy price for every yard taken.
Thus began nearly three months of hard fighting on land and on sea with huge losses. Navy losses included 36 ships sunk and 368 ships damaged, and the largest Navy loss of life in a single battle - some 5,000 dead and nearly equal numbers wounded.
The Battle for Okinawa resulted in the largest combined Army and Marine losses of a single battle with some 7,600 killed and more than 30,000 wounded. Several thousand of these would later die of wounds. The sustained combat under miserable conditions, including monsoon rains, resulted in the largest number of combat fatigue cases in a single battle of the war.
The two commanders of this battle, Gen. Buckner of the American 10th Army, and Gen. Ushijima of Japan's 32nd Army, both lost their lives - Buckner by an enemy artillery shell that drove fragments of coral into his body, and Ushijima by suicide.
About a third of Okinawa's population of some 150,000 lost their lives, and a large percentage of the survivors were wounded. Many committed suicide, convinced by the Japanese that survival under American captors would be worse than death. More than 100,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives rather than surrender. The few that surrendered were Okinawan conscripts who did not have the same dedication as Japanese regulars.
Okinawa, last great battle of the war - the largest Navy losses, largest combined Army and Marine losses, largest civilian loss of life in a single battle since Stalingrad, the only major WWII battle in which both opposing commanders lost their lives - yet this largest combined air-land-sea battle in history is relatively unpublicized, unsung and unheralded, unknown by the general public, and practically forgotten. How could this possibly happen?
In short, it is because this final battle of the war occurred when the world was being turned upside down. The battle itself is obscured by the dramatic history occurring at the time, by the very history it was creating, and by events that would immediately follow. The net result is a typical reaction of many Americans when this battle is mentioned.
The Battle of Okinawa? Never heard of it.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
