DK - World War II Map by Map

254 ENDGAME AND AFTERMATH 1944–1955

E

a s

t

C

h

i

n

a

S

e

a

Kerama

Islands

Keise Shima

Tsugen Shima

Aguni Shima

Iheya Islands

le Shima

O

K

I

N

A

W

A

Oruku

Peninsula

Kiyan

Peninsula

Motobu Peninsula

Cape Hedo

Mount Yae

Ha

gu

sh

i (^) B
ay
Task Force 51
P
A
C
I
F
I
C
O
C
E
A
N
Naha
Hagushi
Kurawa
Nago
Tako
Bise
Itoman
Shuri
Yonabaru
Kuba
Kin
Taira
Aha
Hedo
US 10th Army
Task Force 58
Japanese 32nd
Army
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
Both Japanese and American
soldiers committed atrocities
against civilians during the
battle. The Japanese also
confiscated the Okinawans’
food, causing mass starvation.
When an American victory
seemed certain, thousands of
Okinawans committed suicide
under pressure from the
government. Among the civilians
killed on Okinawa were also
many who had been forced to
serve in the Japanese army.
US landings and advance
across Okinawa
Japanese forces on Apr 1
THE INVASION OF OKINAWA
APRIL 1–4, 1945
Troops of the US 10th Army landed at Hagushi
on April 1. By the end of the day, 50,000 US
soldiers were on Okinawa and had taken key
targets, including airfields. Ultimately, 170,000
troops landed on the island. At first they faced
little resistance as they moved inland; by April 4
they had divided the island in two.
2
US advance north
Resistance around Mount Yae
THE CONQUEST OF NORTH OKINAWA
APRIL 4–21, 1945
After taking south central Okinawa, General
Buckner, commander of the US 10th Army,
sent troops north. They encountered strong
resistance from Japanese forces cornered in
ridged, wooded terrain around Mount Yae in
the Motobu Peninsula. By April 20, the US held
the north, and had secured the islet of le Shima.
3
With their assault on Iwo Jima still underway (see pp.250–251), US
commanders began preparing for Operation Iceberg—the invasion
of Okinawa, the largest island in the Ryukyu Archipelago. Just 60
miles (96 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide at its widest, Okinawa
is equidistant from Taiwan, Japan, and China, and US strategists
saw it as the ideal base for the final assaults on the main Japanese
islands. Like Iwo Jima, Okinawa was heavily fortified, with artillery
hidden in caves, and garrisoned by 100,000 men under Lieutenant
General Ushijima Mitsuru.
Familiar with the fierce determination of the Japanese army and
aware that losses in the battle would probably overtake those on Iwo
Jima, the US began the campaign with a massive bombardment to
soften up the island’s defenses. This was followed by the US military’s
biggest amphibious landing of the Pacific War. Nonetheless, it took
the US forces more than two months to capture the entire island.
In the end 12,000 US soldiers, 100,000 Japanese soldiers, and 100,000
civilians died in a campaign that was made obsolete by the events at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki (see pp.258–259).
THE BATTLE
OF OKINAWA
As the conflict in Europe was nearing its end, the US
was still fighting a brutal war in the Pacific. Its planned
conquest of the isolated island of Okinawa resulted in
one of the bloodiest battles of the entire conflict, which
earned the nickname “Typhoon of Steel.”
“The Japanese bayonets were fixed; ours
weren’t. We used the knives ...”
FORMER US MARINE WILLIAM MANCHESTER, 1987
A US Marine shares his rations
with children on Okinawa
Preliminary US landings
1 ALLIED PREPARATION
MARCH 18–31, 1945
Ahead of the invasion, Allied aircraft from
carriers in Task Force 58 launched raids on
Kyushu—the most south-westerly of Japan’s
main islands. They destroyed hundreds of
Japanese aircraft, reducing the threat to the
invasion of Okinawa. On March 26, US forces
landed on the Kerama Islands west of Okinawa,
which could be used as fleet anchorage, and on
Keise Shima, from which artillery could provide
fire support across most of southern Okinawa.
OKINAWA CAPTURED
In four broad phases extending from
April 1 to June 21, the Americans
gradually gained control of Okinawa.
The battle for the island played out
on land and at sea.
KEY
Allied forces Japanese airfields
MAR 1945 APR MAY JUN JUL
2
3
4
5
6
1
TIMELINE
Mar 31
May 12
Apr 4
Jun 21
Apr 21
UNDER US CONTROL 1945
Mar–Apr The US 10th
Army consists of more
than 180,000 personnel at
the start of the invasion.
US_254-255_Battle_of_Okinawa.indd 254 19/03/19 7:37 PM