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Battle of Okinawa: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest engagement of the Pacific War, earning the nickname the Typhoon of Steel for its ferocity and the sheer volume of steel that rained down upon the island. Fought from the 1st of April 1945 until the 22nd of June 1945, this 82-day campaign was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The United States Army and Marine Corps launched Operation Iceberg against the Imperial Japanese Army, creating a Tenth Army that included the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry Divisions alongside the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Marine Divisions. This force numbered over 182,821 personnel, supported by a massive fleet of 18 battleships, 27 cruisers, 177 destroyers, and 39 aircraft carriers. Opposing them was Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima's Thirty-Second Army, a mixed force of regular troops, naval infantry, and conscripted local Okinawans. The Japanese had about 100,000 troops on the island, but the Americans expected to face a much larger force. The battle was the longest sustained carrier campaign of the Second World War, with the Japanese employing kamikaze tactics on an institutionalized scale for the first time. Between the 6th of April and the 22nd of June, the Japanese flew 1,465 kamikaze aircraft in large-scale attacks, causing the US Navy to suffer more casualties than in any previous engagement in the Atlantic or Pacific. The sheer intensity of the fighting turned the island into a vast field of mud, lead, decay, and maggots, where over 100,000 Japanese soldiers and 50,000 Allied personnel were killed or wounded. The human cost was staggering, with at least 149,425 Okinawan people killed, died by coerced suicide, or went missing, making it the most devastating battle for civilians in the Pacific theater.
The Iron and Blood Corps
In a desperate bid to defend their homeland, the Imperial Japanese Army mobilized 1,780 schoolboys aged 14 to 17 years into front-line service as the Iron and Blood Imperial Corps, known as Tekketsu Kinnōtai. This mobilization was conducted by an ordinance of the Ministry of the Army, not by law, yet military authorities ordered schools to force almost all students to volunteer as soldiers, sometimes counterfeiting the necessary documents. About half of the Tekketsu Kinnōtai were killed, including in suicide bomb attacks against tanks and in guerrilla operations. Among the 21 male and female secondary schools that made up these student corps, 2,000 students died on the battlefield. Female Himeyuri students were organized into a nursing unit, and even with their role as nurses, they were still exposed to the harsh conditions of war. The Japanese military also used civilians as human shields or outright killed them, confiscating food and executing those who hid it, leading to mass starvation. The Japanese military also killed about 1,000 people who spoke in the Okinawan language to suppress spying. The mobilization of children and the use of civilians as human shields highlighted the desperation of the Japanese command and the tragic fate of the Okinawan people caught in the crossfire. The Japanese expected the Americans to land 6 to 10 divisions against the Japanese garrison of two and a half divisions, but the Americans' superior firepower and numbers made any offensive Japanese troop concentrations extremely dangerous. The Japanese staff calculated that each US division had five or six times the firepower of a Japanese division, and this was compounded by the Americans' abundant naval and air firepower. The Japanese had used kamikaze tactics since the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but now for the first time they became a major institutionalized aspect of the Japanese defensive strategy. The Japanese had prepared their positions well and fought tenaciously, hiding in fortified caves and emerging from them to rain mortar rounds and grenades upon the Americans advancing up the forward slope. The Japanese defenses were sited on reverse slopes, where the defenders waited out the artillery barrage and aerial attack in relative safety. The Japanese also used land-based Shin'yō-class suicide motorboats in the suicide attacks, although Ushijima had disbanded the majority of the suicide boat battalions before the battle because of expected low effectiveness against a superior enemy. The boat crews were re-formed into three additional infantry battalions. The Japanese also launched Operation Ten-Go, an attempted attack by a strike force of ten Japanese surface vessels, led by the battleship Yamato, which was intercepted by US carrier aircraft and sank on the 7th of April 1945 after a one-sided battle. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost some 3,700 sailors, including Admiral Seiichi Itō, at the cost of ten US aircraft and twelve airmen. The Japanese also lost 16 combat vessels, including the super battleship Yamato, and 1,430 aircraft. The Japanese also lost 27 tanks and 743 artillery pieces, some of them eliminated by the naval and air bombardments but most knocked out by American counter-battery fire. The Japanese also lost 110,071 soldiers during the battle, including conscripted Okinawan civilians. A total of 7,401 Japanese regulars and 3,400 Okinawan conscripts surrendered or were captured during the battle of Okinawa. Additional Japanese and renegade Okinawans were captured or surrendered over the next few months, bringing the total to 16,346. This was the first battle in the Pacific War in which thousands of Japanese soldiers surrendered or were captured. Many of the prisoners were native Okinawans who had been pressed into service shortly before the battle and were less imbued with the Imperial Japanese Army's no-surrender doctrine. When the American forces occupied the island, many Japanese soldiers put on Okinawan clothing to avoid capture, and some Okinawans would come to the Americans' aid by offering to identify these mainland Japanese.
The Battle of Okinawa took place from the 1st of April 1945 until the 22nd of June 1945. This 82-day campaign was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
Who commanded the Japanese forces during the Battle of Okinawa?
Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima commanded the Thirty-Second Army during the Battle of Okinawa. Ushijima and his subordinate General Chō committed suicide by seppuku in their command headquarters on Hill 89 in the closing hours of the battle.
How many civilians died during the Battle of Okinawa?
At least 149,425 Okinawan people were killed, died by coerced suicide, or went missing during the Battle of Okinawa. This figure makes it the most devastating battle for civilians in the Pacific theater.
What was the Iron and Blood Imperial Corps in the Battle of Okinawa?
The Iron and Blood Imperial Corps, known as Tekketsu Kinnōtai, was a unit of 1,780 schoolboys aged 14 to 17 years mobilized by the Imperial Japanese Army to fight in the Battle of Okinawa. About half of the Tekketsu Kinnōtai were killed, including 2,000 students who died on the battlefield.
Why was the Battle of Okinawa called the Typhoon of Steel?
The Battle of Okinawa earned the nickname the Typhoon of Steel due to its ferocity and the sheer volume of steel that rained down upon the island. The fighting turned the island into a vast field of mud, lead, decay, and maggots where over 100,000 Japanese soldiers and 50,000 Allied personnel were killed or wounded.
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. In these preliminary operations, the 77th Infantry Division suffered 27 dead and 81 wounded, while the Japanese dead and captured numbered over 650. On the 31st of March, Marines of the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion landed without opposition on Keise Shima, four islets just west of the Okinawan capital of Naha. A group of Long Tom artillery pieces went ashore on the islets to cover operations on Okinawa. The main landing was made by the XXIV Corps and the III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on the 1st of April. The 2nd Marine Division conducted a demonstration off the Minatoga beaches on the southeastern coast to deceive the Japanese about American intentions and delay movement of reserves from there. Tenth Army swept across the south-central part of the island with relative ease, capturing the Kadena and the Yomitan airbases within hours of the landing. In light of the weak opposition, General Buckner decided to proceed immediately with Phase II of his plan, the seizure of 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. By this point, the bulk of the Japanese forces in the north were cornered on the Motobu Peninsula. The terrain was mountainous and wooded, with the Japanese defenses concentrated on Mount Yaedake, a twisted mass of rocky ridges and ravines on the center of the peninsula. There was heavy fighting before the Marines finally cleared Yaedake on the 18th of April. However, this was not the end of ground combat in northern Okinawa. On the 24th of May, the Japanese mounted Operation Gi-gou: a company of Giretsu Kuteitai commandos were airlifted in a suicide attack on Yomitan. They destroyed 100,000 gallons of fuel and nine planes before being killed by the defenders, who lost two men. Meanwhile, the 77th Infantry Division assaulted Ie Shima, a small island off the western end of the peninsula, on the 16th of April. In addition to conventional hazards, the 77th Infantry Division encountered kamikaze attacks and even local women armed with spears. There was heavy fighting before the area was declared secured on the 21st of April and became another airbase for operations against Japan. While the 6th Marine Division cleared northern Okinawa, the US Army 96th and 7th Infantry Divisions wheeled south across the narrow isthmus of Okinawa. The 96th Infantry Division began to encounter fierce resistance in west-central Okinawa from Japanese troops holding fortified positions east of Highway No. 1 and about 5 miles northwest of Shuri, from what came to be known as Cactus Ridge. The 7th Infantry Division encountered similarly fierce Japanese opposition from a rocky pinnacle located about 3 miles southwest of Arakachi (later dubbed The Pinnacle). By the night of the 8th of April, American troops had cleared these and several other strongly fortified positions. They suffered over 1,500 battle casualties in the process while killing or capturing about 4,500 Japanese. Yet the battle had only begun, for it was realized that these were merely outposts, guarding the Shuri Line. The next American objective was Kakazu Ridge, two hills with a connecting saddle that formed part of Shuri's outer defenses. The Japanese had prepared their positions well and fought tenaciously. The Japanese soldiers hid in fortified caves. American forces often lost personnel before clearing the Japanese out from each cave or other hiding place. The Japanese sent out Okinawans at gunpoint to obtain water and supplies for them, which led to civilian casualties. The American advance was inexorable but resulted in a high number of casualties on both sides. Meanwhile, American forces also faced heavy resistance at the Maeda Ridge, also known as Hacksaw Ridge. As the American assault against Kakazu Ridge stalled, Lieutenant General Ushijima, influenced by General Chō, decided to take the offensive. On the evening of the 12th of April, the 32nd Army attacked American positions across the entire front. The Japanese attack was heavy, sustained, and well organized. After fierce close combat, the attackers retreated, only to repeat their offensive the following night. A final assault on the 14th of April was again repulsed. The effort led the 32nd Army's staff to conclude that the Americans were vulnerable to night infiltration tactics but that their superior firepower made any offensive Japanese troop concentrations extremely dangerous, and they reverted to their defensive strategy. The 27th Infantry Division, which had landed on the 9th of April, took over on the right, along the west coast of Okinawa. General John R. Hodge now had three divisions in the line, with the 96th in the middle and the 7th to the east, with each division holding a front of only about 1 mile. Hodge launched a new offensive on the 19th of April with a barrage of 324 guns, the largest ever in the Pacific Ocean Theater. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers joined the bombardment, which was followed by 650 Navy and Marine planes attacking the Japanese positions with napalm, rockets, bombs, and machine guns. The Japanese defenses were sited on reverse slopes, where the defenders waited out the artillery barrage and aerial attack in relative safety, emerging from the caves to rain mortar rounds and grenades upon the Americans advancing up the forward slope. A tank assault to achieve breakthrough by outflanking Kakazu Ridge failed to link up with its infantry support attempting to cross the ridge and therefore failed with the loss of 22 tanks. Although flame tanks cleared many cave defenses, there was no breakthrough, and the XXIV Corps suffered 720 casualties. The losses might have been greater except for the fact that the Japanese had practically all of their infantry reserves tied up farther south, held there by another feint off the Minatoga beaches by the 2nd Marine Division that coincided with the attack. At the end of April, after Army forces had pushed through the Machinato defensive line, the 1st Marine Division relieved the 27th Infantry Division and the 77th Infantry Division relieved the 96th. When the 6th Marine Division arrived, the III Amphibious Corps took over the right flank and Tenth Army assumed control of the battle. On the 4th of May, the 32nd Army launched another counter-offensive. This time, Ushijima attempted to make amphibious assaults on the coasts behind American lines. To support his offensive, the Japanese artillery moved into the open. By doing so, they were able to fire 13,000 rounds in support, but effective American counter-battery fire destroyed dozens of Japanese artillery pieces. The attack failed. Buckner launched another American attack on the 11th of May. Ten days of fierce fighting followed. On the 13th of May, troops of the 96th Infantry Division and 763rd Tank Battalion captured Conical Hill. Rising above the Yonabaru coastal plain, this feature was the eastern anchor of the main Japanese defenses and was defended by about 1,000 Japanese. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions fought for Sugar Loaf Hill. The capture of these two key positions exposed the Japanese around Shuri on both sides. Buckner hoped to envelop Shuri and trap the main Japanese defending force. By the end of May, monsoon rains which had turned contested hills and roads into a morass exacerbated both the tactical and medical situations. The ground advance began to resemble a World War I battlefield, as troops became mired in mud, and flooded roads greatly inhibited evacuation of wounded to the rear. Troops lived on a field sodden by rain, part garbage dump and part graveyard. Unburied Japanese and American bodies decayed, sank in the mud and became part of a noxious stew. Anyone sliding down the greasy slopes could easily find their pockets full of maggots at the end of the journey. From 24 to the 27th of May the 6th Marine Division cautiously occupied the ruins of Naha, the largest city on the island, finding it largely deserted. On the 26th of May aerial observers saw large troop movements just below Shuri. On the 28th of May Marine patrols found recently abandoned positions west of Shuri. By the 30th of May the consensus among Army and Marine intelligence was that the majority of Japanese forces had withdrawn from the Shuri Line. On the 29th of May the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines occupied high ground east of Shuri Castle and reported that the castle appeared undefended. At 10:15 Company A, 1/5 Marines occupied the castle. Shuri Castle had been shelled by the battleship for three days before this advance. The 32nd Army withdrew to the south and thus the Marines had an easy task of securing Shuri Castle. The castle, however, was outside the 1st Marine Division's assigned zone, and only frantic efforts by the commander and staff of the 77th Infantry Division prevented an American airstrike and artillery bombardment which would have resulted in many friendly fire casualties. On the 29th of May a Confederate flag was raised over Shuri Castle, before being removed and replaced by a US flag three days later on orders of General Buckner, himself the son of a Confederate General. The Japanese retreat, although harassed by artillery fire, was conducted with great skill at night and aided by the monsoon storms. The 32nd Army was able to move nearly 30,000 personnel into its last defense line on the Kiyan Peninsula, which ultimately led to the greatest slaughter on Okinawa in the latter stages of the battle, including the deaths of thousands of civilians. In addition, there were 9,000 IJN troops supported by 1,100 militia, with approximately 4,000 holed up at the underground headquarters on the hillside overlooking the Okinawa Naval Base in the Oroku Peninsula, east of the airfield. On the 4th of June, elements of the 6th Marine Division launched an amphibious assault on the peninsula. The 4,000 Japanese sailors, including Admiral Minoru Ota, all committed suicide within the hand-built tunnels of the underground naval headquarters on the 13th of June. By the 17th of June, the remnants of Ushijima's shattered 32nd Army were pushed into a small pocket in the far south of the island to the southeast of Itoman. On the 18th of June, General Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery fire while monitoring the progress of his troops from a forward observation post. Buckner was replaced by Major General Roy Geiger. Upon assuming command, Geiger became the only US Marine to command a numbered army of the US Army in combat; he was relieved five days later by General Joseph Stilwell. On the 19th of June, Brigadier General Claudius Miller Easley, the commander of the 96th Infantry Division, was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire, also while checking on the progress of his troops at the front. The last remnants of Japanese resistance ended on the 21st of June, although some Japanese continued hiding, including the future governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Masahide Ota. Ushijima and Chō committed suicide by seppuku in their command headquarters on Hill 89 in the closing hours of the battle. Colonel Yahara had asked Ushijima for permission to commit suicide, but the general refused his request, saying: If you die there will be no one left who knows the truth about the battle of Okinawa. Bear the temporary shame but endure it. This is an order from your army commander. Yahara was the most senior officer to have survived the battle on the island, and he later authored a book titled The Battle for Okinawa. On the 22nd of June Tenth Army held a flag-raising ceremony to mark the end of organized resistance on Okinawa. On the 23rd of June a mopping-up operation commenced, which concluded on the 30th of June. On the 15th of August 1945, Admiral Matome Ugaki was killed while part of a kamikaze raid on Iheyajima island. The official surrender ceremony was held on the 7th of September, near the Kadena Airfield.