The defending Japanese military was determined to inflict a casualty rate so high that the U.S. government would choose not to invade the Japanese home islands. To this end, the southern portion of Okinawa had been covered with the most extensive system of fortifications and interlocking fields of fire the Americans had yet encountered in the Pacific Theatre. In anticipation of this level of resistance, five full divisions, two Marine and three Army, were committed to the struggle.
The initial American landings took place on 1 April 1945 and the island was not declared secure until 22 June, a period of 82 days, far longer than was expected by US planners. Four days before the end of the campaign, Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. became the highest ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in action in the Second World War.
For most of the war, the Japanese had not considered Okinawa vital to their defensive arrangements. US progress in the Central Pacific led them to activate the Thirty-Second Army[a] on the island in April 1944. In June, 5,000 men of the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade were lost at sea when their transport was torpedoed by a US submarine. The 9th Division, a veteran unit, was intended for Okinawa but was stranded on Formosa when the high command decided it couldn't risk more slow-moving transports in the East China Sea.[1] The unprecedented American casualty figures would almost certainly have been considerably higher had these men made it to Okinawa.
Final photograph of Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner (right) just before being killed by a Japanese artillery round on OkinawaMaj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd with Okinawan capital of Naha in backgroundA 105mm howitzer crew of the 15th Marines in action in Naha, OkinawaMarine riflemen follow a flame-throwing tank on Okinawa, 11 May 1945
1st Battalion (Lt. Col. Jean W. Moreau (WIA 16 May), Maj. Robert P. Neuffer (to 25 May), Lt. Col. Samuel S. Yeaton (to 14 Jun), Lt. Col. Leroy P. Hunt Jr.[e])
2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. William G. Robb (WIA 19 Apr))
3rd Battalion (Lt. Col. Erma A. Wright (To 14 Jun), Lt. Col. Angus N. FraServ)
6th Motor Transport Battalion (Lt. Col. Ernest H. Gould)
6th Pioneer Battalion (Lt. Col. Samuel R. Shaw (to 10 May), Maj. John G. Dibble (to 8 Jun), Lt. Col. Samuel R. Shaw (to 18 Jun), Maj. John G. Dibble)
6th Service Battalion (Lt. Col. George B. Bell (to 25 Apr), Lt. Col. Alexander N. Entringer)
6th Tank Battalion (Lt. Col. Robert L. Denig Jr.)
Right Beaches
Maj. Gen. Pedro A. del ValleMen of the 1st Marine Division assault a ridge two miles north of Naha supported by a bazooka.Artillerymen of the 11th Marines swabbing the barrel of their 75mm pack howitzer during the Okinawa campaign.Marine Corps TBM Avengers over Okinawa; white-pained hospital ship is visible below
3rd Battalion (Major John H. Gustafson (WIA 1 Apr), Lt. Col. John C. Miller, Jr. (4 Apr to 16 May), Major Frank W. Poland (to 8 Jun), Jr., Lt. Col. Robert B. Hill)
↑ William Manchester, later a noted historian, served in this unit on Okinawa; his 1980 bestseller Goodbye Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War was later discovered to contain multiple exaggerations and falsehoods.[4]
↑ Had been relieved of command on Guadalcanal for poor handling of the 5th Marine Regiment, but was given a second chance for battlefield command.
Clark, George C. (2006). The Six Marine Divisions in the Pacific: Every Campaign of World War II. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN0-7864-2769-8.
Frank, Benis M. (1969). Okinawa: Touchstone to Victory. London: McDonald & Company. ISBN0-3560-3066-0.
Rottman, Gordon (2004). Okinawa 1945: The Last Battle. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN0-275-98274-2.
Stanton, Shelby L. (1984). World War II Order of Battle. New York: Galahad Books. ISBN0-88365-775-9.
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