Battle of Okinawa
The island of Okinawa became the stage for Operation Iceberg, a massive military campaign that began on the 1st of April 1945. This operation marked the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The United States Army and Marine Corps forces launched an attack against the Imperial Japanese Army to seize control of the island. Prior to the main invasion, the Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were captured by the U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division on the 26th of March 1945. The battle lasted for 82 days until the 22nd of June 1945. Allied planners intended to use Kadena Air Base as a staging point for Operation Downfall, which was the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of multiple infantry divisions and marine units to execute this seizure. The Tenth Army included its own Tactical Air Force supported by combined naval and amphibious forces. Opposing these Allied forces was Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima's Thirty-Second Army. This Japanese force consisted of regular army troops, naval infantry, and conscripted local Okinawans. Approximately 100,000 Japanese troops were stationed on Okinawa at the onset of the invasion. The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" due to the ferocity of the fighting and the sheer numbers of ships and vehicles involved.
The US Army deployed over 103,000 soldiers to the island during the campaign. These figures included more than 38,000 non-divisional artillery, combat support, and headquarters troops alongside another 9,000 service troops. Over 88,000 Marines and 18,000 Navy personnel also participated in the operation. At the start of the Battle of Okinawa, the US Tenth Army commanded 182,821 personnel under its direct orders. Total aircraft provided by the US Navy, Marine, and Army Air Force exceeded 3,000 throughout the duration of the battle. The invasion fleet consisted of 18 battleships, 27 cruisers, 177 destroyers or destroyer escorts, and 39 aircraft carriers. A British naval contingent accompanied 251 British naval aircraft including Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian ships and personnel. The Japanese land campaign was conducted by a 67,000-strong regular 32nd Army supported by some 9,000 Imperial Japanese Navy troops at Oroku Naval Base. Approximately 39,000 drafted local Ryukyuan people were mobilized to assist the defense effort. This group included 24,000 hastily drafted rear militia called Boeitai and 15,000 non-uniformed laborers. The Japanese staff calculated that superior quality and numbers of weapons gave each US division five or six times the firepower of a Japanese division. Primary resistance in the south was led by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima and his chief of staff Lieutenant General Isamu Chō.
The land battle took place over about 81 days beginning on the 1st of April 1945. The first Americans ashore were soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division who landed in the Kerama Islands west of Okinawa on the 26th of March. Subsidiary landings followed and the Kerama group was secured over the next five days. On the 31st of March Marines of the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion landed without opposition on Keise Shima islets just west of Naha. The main landing was made by the XXIV Corps and III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on the 1st of April. Tenth Army swept across the south-central part of the island capturing Kadena and Yomitan airbases within hours of the landing. General Buckner decided to proceed immediately with Phase II of his plan seizing northern Okinawa. The 6th Marine Division headed up the Ishikawa Isthmus and by the 7th of April had sealed off the Motobu Peninsula. Six days later on the 13th of April, the 2nd Battalion 22nd Marine Regiment reached Hedo Point at the northernmost tip of the island. The terrain was mountainous and wooded with Japanese defenses concentrated on Mount Yaedake. Heavy fighting occurred before the Marines finally cleared Yaedake on the 18th of April. Meanwhile the 96th Infantry Division began to encounter fierce resistance from Japanese troops holding fortified positions east of Highway No. 1. By the night of the 8th of April American troops had cleared these and several other strongly fortified positions suffering over 1,500 battle casualties while killing or capturing about 4,500 Japanese.
On the 28th of March 1945, 394 civilians on Tokashiki island were forced by Japanese soldiers to kill themselves after the landing of US troops. During the battle, the Imperial Japanese Army showed indifference to Okinawans' safety and used civilians as human shields or outright killed them. The military also confiscated food from the Okinawans and executed those who hid it leading to mass starvation. Japanese soldiers killed about 1,000 people who spoke in the Okinawan language to suppress spying. With the impending Japanese defeat, civilians often committed mass suicide urged on by Japanese soldiers who told locals that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampage. Thousands of civilians induced by Japanese propaganda believed American soldiers were barbarians who committed horrible atrocities. Some threw themselves and their family members from southern cliffs where the Peace Museum now resides. Okinawans were often surprised at the comparatively humane treatment they received from the American enemy. Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and United States Power states that Americans did not pursue a policy of torture rape and murder of civilians as Japanese military officials had warned. Military Intelligence Corps combat translators such as Teruto Tsubota managed to convince many civilians not to kill themselves.
The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War with some 50,000 Allied and around 100,000 Japanese casualties including local Okinawans conscripted into the Japanese Army. At least 149,425 Okinawan people were killed died by coerced suicide or went missing according to local authorities. The most complete tally of deaths during the battle is at the Cornerstone of Peace monument which identifies names of each individual who died at Okinawa in World War II. As of 2023 the monument lists 242,046 names including 149,634 Okinawans 77,823 Imperial Japanese soldiers and 14,010 Americans. The numbers correspond to recorded deaths during the Battle of Okinawa from the time of American landings on the 26th of March 1945 to the signing of the Japanese surrender on the 2nd of September 1945. The Americans suffered some 48,000 casualties not including some 33,000 non-battle casualties of whom over 12,000 were killed or missing. Killed in action were 4,907 Navy 4,675 Army and 2,938 Marine Corps personnel while 13,708 marines were wounded. Four days from the closing of the campaign Lieutenant General Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery fire which blew lethal slivers of coral into his body.
The Cornerstone of Peace monument at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum presents Okinawa as being caught between Japan and the United States. There is ongoing disagreement between Okinawa's local government and Japan's national government over the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides during the battle. In March 2007 the national Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology advised textbook publishers to reword descriptions that the embattled Imperial Japanese Army forced civilians to kill themselves. MEXT preferred descriptions that just say that civilians received hand grenades from the Japanese military. This move sparked widespread protests among Okinawans. On the 29th of September 2007 about 110,000 people held the biggest political rally in the history of Okinawa to demand that MEXT retract its order. The resolution states it is an undeniable fact that multiple suicides would not have occurred without involvement of the Japanese military. In December 2007 MEXT partially admitted the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides. The ministry allowed publishers to reinstate reference that civilians were forced into mass suicides by the Japanese military on condition it is placed in sufficient context.
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Common questions
When did the Battle of Okinawa begin and end?
The Battle of Okinawa began on the 1st of April 1945 and ended on the 22nd of June 1945. The operation lasted for 82 days until the Japanese surrender was signed on the 2nd of September 1945.
Who commanded the United States forces during the Battle of Okinawa?
Lieutenant General Simon Buckner commanded the US Tenth Army which included over 103,000 soldiers and more than 88,000 Marines. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher led the Fast Carrier Task Force while Commodore Arleigh Burke served as his chief of staff.
How many civilians died during the Battle of Okinawa?
At least 149,425 Okinawan people were killed or went missing according to local authorities. The Cornerstone of Peace monument lists 149,634 Okinawans among its total names recorded from the time of American landings on the 26th of March 1945.
What was Operation Ten-Go in the context of the Battle of Okinawa?
Operation Ten-Go involved an attempted attack by a strike force of ten Japanese surface vessels led by the battleship Yamato. The world's largest battleship sank on the 7th of April 1945 after being under attack from more than 300 aircraft.
Why did Okinawan civilians commit mass suicide during the battle?
Civilians committed mass suicide because they believed Japanese propaganda that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampage. Japanese soldiers forced some civilians to kill themselves and used others as human shields while confiscating food leading to mass starvation.