Jap casualties exceed 110,000 on Okinawa
4,259 killed or captured in day
GUAM (UP) – Jap casualties in the Okinawa campaign soared past the 110,000-mark today. Tokyo finally admitted the loss of the island.
The exact enemy toll was not announced immediately. But the rate at which Jap remnants were being mopped up – 4,259 were killed or captured Saturday alone – indicated the figures soon will reach 112,000 or even 115,000.
Through Saturday, 109,755 Japs had been slain or taken prisoner since the American invasion began April 1. The total comprised 101,853 dead and 7,902 prisoners, including 2,689 labor camps.
Report Banzai charges
The Jap High Command conceded the fall of Okinawa in a communiqué broadcast by Radio Tokyo reporting the final Banzai charges by the army and navy garrisons. No messages have been received from Okinawa since last Wednesday, the communiqué said.
Marine and navy forces on the Oroku Peninsula made their “final slashing assault” June 13 under command of Rear Adm. Minoru Ota, the communiqué said. Ota’s body was found in a cave by U.S. Marines. He and his staff had committed suicide by slashing their throats.
Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, commander on Okinawa, employed all forces remaining under his command in a final assault June 20, the Jap communiqué said. Ushijima’s body has not been found. But Marines believed he may be holding out in a cave on the southwest coast.
Claim high U.S. losses
The enemy command also said government officials and civilians under Gov. Akira Shimada fought “valiantly from beginning to end” in defense of their homeland.
The communiqué estimated American casualties at 80,800 and claimed that 600 Allied warships and transports had been sunk or damaged in Okinawa waters.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced the end of organized resistance on Okinawa last Thursday. He reported in a communiqué today that small enemy pockets were still resisting with rifles and grenades at scattered points.
In Japan itself, officials mobilized all motor vehicles in Tokyo, including passenger cars and buses, and their drivers into the Tokyo Volunteer Transport Corps to assure the rapid movement of war materials.
Radio Tokyo also reported that the government’s emergency war powers which went into effect last Friday prepared the nation for “decisive combat.”