Battle of Okinawa (1945)

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Okinawa called Easter gift – landing like rehearsal

Gunboats touch off swooshing barrages of rockets in support of new Pacific invasion
By William McGaffin

WITH THE U.S. TENTH ARMY ON OKINAWA (April 1, delayed) – A mighty new army of Marines and soldiers went to church ion their transports 13 hours earlier than folks on Fifth Avenue this beautiful Easter Sunday. Then they walked ashore on Okinawa Island in an almost unopposed landing.

It was virtually a bloodless beachhead they established on this strategically vital island. Not since Kiska have we had such an easy time.

I watched the landing through glasses from the bridge of an amphibious flagship. This afternoon I followed the troops ashore and walked over the major part of the Marine beachhead with gray-haired Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger, commanding general of the Marine III Amphibious Corps troops, who comprise half of the Tenth Army.

Asks about casualties

At every command post we visited on this picturesque pine tree-clad island, the 60-year-old general inquired about casualties and everywhere the answer was a fantastically low figure. There were, for example, only 10 wounded and one killed in one Marine regiment up to two this afternoon, according to Lt. Col. Fred Beans of Cleburne, Texas, who is the executive officer of the regiment.

“I’ve seen only six dead Japs,” the colonel added.

Casualties were described as “exceedingly light,” too, with the XXIV Army Corps making up the rest of the Tenth Army.

Some called it an Easter present, other dubbed it “April Fool.” The general commented: “Doggone. I never, never have been on a battlefield like this before. It’s just a rehearsal. only more fun.”

1,500 planes attack

This is officially credited with being the “largest amphibious operation of the war in the Pacific to date.” More than 1,400 ships are involved and 1,500 carrier-based planes are providing close support.

It was exhilarating to watch the battleships slamming away at point blank range in the grand climax to a solid week of preparatory naval bombardment, to see the gunboats touch off swooshing barrages of rockets, to see flight after flight of planes thunder in to bomb and strafe and rocket.

After this, landing-boats paraded by with flags flying and started toward shore with their precious human cargoes. Half a mile from shore they surmounted a nasty reef and kept on going. At 0846 (8:46 a.m.) they hit the beach.

A clean beach

No landing craft were lost to enemy action on the half of the beach I visited ana no mines were found. It was a clean beach with no bodies, no damaged equipment, no crowded first-aid stations.

It was such a strange looking beachhead it didn’t seem as though we could be landing on hostile territory.

One Marine said: “It looks just like Jones Beach (on Long Island) on a Sunday afternoon.”

We control the sea and air. There is no sight of enemy fleet. Our planes have had a field day over the target, with no ack-ack opposing them. The weather, which worried us on our way here, was perfect today – cool, with a bright sun and a smooth sea.

Troops walk upright

The troops walked upright after they landed and made excellent progress. They captured two airfields before the end of the morning.

It is believed that there were anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 enemy troops here. If that is true, we cannot understand why they didn’t oppose our landing more vigorously. The only living things we encountered were civilians. They were friendly and bowed low to the Marines who then led them to reception camps.

The general expressed himself as mystified by the Jap conduct. It is quite possible that there will be some bloody struggles yet. But we got artillery and tanks ashore today. And by letting us take two airfields the Japs simply gave us Okinawa.

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It was almost all Royal Navy with some help from the Dominion navies (including HMCS Uganda, a Canadian cruiser which voted itself out of the war before the Hiroshima bombing). The bulk of the Royal Indian Navy during the war were escort ships, minesweepers, coastal defence and amphibious landing vessels, so they didn’t directly contribute to the blue water fleets in the Indian or Pacific Oceans.

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Völkischer Beobachter (April 3, 1945)

US-Landung auf Okinawa

Tokio, 2. April – Die seit Tagen erwartete feindliche Landungsoperation gegen Okinawa, die Hauptinsel der Riukiugruppe, begann am Morgen des 1. April. Wie das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier am gleichen Tage dazu meldet, hat der Feind zunächst am 31. März einige Einheiten auf den benachbarten kleinen Inseln Kamiyama und Majima gelandet, und es gelang ihm dann am Morgen des nächsten Tages, im Südteil Okinawas Fuß zu fassen.

Gleichzeitig meldet das Hauptquartier weitere schwere Schiffsverluste des Feindes, und zwar zusätzlich zu denjenigen, welche bereits am 27., 29. und 31. März bekanntgegeben wurden. Demnach versenkten Einheiten der japanischen Luftwaffe und Flotte einen Flugzeugträger, zwei Kreuzer, zwei Zerstörer, drei Kriegsschiffe unbekannter Klasse, und beschädigten ein Schlachtschiff (oder schweren Kreuzer) so schwer, dass mit seinem Sinken gerechnet wird.

Weiterhin erzielten sie Treffer auf einem Schlachtschiff (oder Kreuzer), zwei Zerstörern, zwei Kriegsschiffen unbekannter Klasse, einem Transporter.

Somit belaufen sich die vom Kaiserlichen Hauptquartier gemeldeten feindlichen Verluste in der seit dem 23. März andauernden Invasionsschlacht in den Gewässern der Riukiugruppe auf 105 Kriegsschiffe und Transporter, von denen insgesamt 59 versenkt wurden.

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U.S. Navy Department (April 3, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 320

The Marine III Amphibious Corps and the XXIV Army Corps made rapid gains in all sectors of the lines on Okinawa Island on April 3 (East Longitude Date). In the north, the Marines advanced generally from 4,000 to 6,000 yards reaching the East Coast near Katchin Peninsula and cutting it off. Units of the 7th Infantry Division which had reached the eastern shore of Okinawa the previous day moved southward along the shore of Katsurin Bay on the east coast from a point near the town of Takaesu to Kuba Town. Our front lines in the southern sector at nightfall of April 3, approximated a line from Kuba Town in the east to Chiyunna in the west. Resistance throughout the day was negligible. The advancing troops were supported by gunfire from heavy units of the Fleet. Ships’ guns and carrier aircraft shot down 11 enemy planes during the day. Unloading of supplies continues satisfactorily.

Fast carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked targets in the Sakishima Group on April 3.

On March 30-31, Corsair and Hellcat fighters, Helldiver bombers, and Avenger torpedo planes from carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet supporting the Okinawa operation inflicted the following damage on enemy forces in the Ryukyus:

Aircraft:

  • Seventeen shot out of the air.
  • Five destroyed on the ground.
  • Nineteen damaged in the air and on the ground.

Shipping:

SUNK:

  • Three motor torpedo boats.
  • Two small cargo ships.
  • Nine small craft.

PROBABLY SUNK:

  • One small cargo ship.
  • Four small craft.

DAMAGED:

  • One motor torpedo boat.
  • Four small cargo ships.
  • One lugger.
  • Fourteen small craft.

INSTALLATIONS:

  • Six submarine pens at Unten Bay, Okinawa, destroyed and another heavily damaged.

  • Mills, barracks, bridges, radio stations, pillboxes, buildings, docks, gun positions and covered revetments destroyed or damaged on Okinawa.

Other installations on Tokuno, Amami, Kikai and Minami, Daito Islands, heavily hit.

Installations on Marcus Island were bombed on April 2 by Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force.

Planes of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked buildings, vehicles and barges in and around the Palau Islands on April 3.

During the week ending March 31, 69 Japanese were killed and 13 taken prisoner by U.S. patrols on Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas.

Navy Search Aircraft of Fleet Air Wing Two made neutralizing attacks on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls on April 2.

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The Pittsburgh Press (April 3, 1945)

Japs digging in on Okinawa

Yanks split island, move within 6 miles of its capital city

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The Yanks on Okinawa today sliced the Jap island in two, widened their hold on Nakagusuku Bay, secured Zampa Cape and moved within six miles of the capital, Naha. Allied observation planes were already using Yontan and Kadena airfields, and early use of the fields by fighters and bombers was forecast.

GUAM (UP) – Army invasion troops who sliced Okinawa in two with a six-mile dash to the east coast widened their hold on the vital Nakagusuku Bay anchorage to at least three miles today and still were advancing.

Other units of Maj. Gen. John R. Hodges’ XXIV Army Corps advanced south along the west coast to within a little more than six miles of Naha, capital of Okinawa, in the first hard fighting of the three-day-old invasion.

Indications grew that the Japs were preparing to defend a line across the narrow isthmus just above Naha. The Japs were reported “digging in.”

Marines at the northern end of the Tenth Army’s front broadened the west coast beachhead to at least 10 miles with an advance of more than a mile.

The Marines cleaned out and secured Zampa Cape and sent an armored spearhead along the coastal highway to the north.

Casualties continued astonishingly light on both sides.

The XXIV Corps’ push to the east coast gave the Americans a wide corridor from which to attack either north or south. It also secured a foothold on all vital north-south communications.

United Press reporter Edward L. Thomas said the first doughboys reached the beaches of Awasi Harbor near Tobaru Village at 3 a.m. yesterday. They had achieved in 36 hours what the original invasion schedule said might take more than five days. Awasi Harbor lies at the northern end of Nakgusuku Bay and today the troops were probing forward out of the peninsula.

Mr. Thomas said the troops sliced through meager Jap resistance “like a hot knife through butter” in their dash to the east coast.

It was indicated that the troops had seized control of the northern face of the Awasi hill mass dominating the Bisha Gawa Valley and territory to the north. The victory firmly anchored the American beachhead 362 miles southwest of Japan proper.

Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger’s III Marine Amphibious Corps extended the west coast beachhead another 3,000 yards to the north by pushing across the base of Zampa Cape to the approaches of 770-foot Yontan Zan peak.

Observation planes were operating from Yontan and Kadena airfields captured in the first hours of the invasion. Engineers were rushing repairs to the fields to permit their use by fighters and bombers.

Reinforcements pour in

The 1,400-ship invasion fleet continued to pour reinforcements of men, tanks, guns and supplies across the invasion beaches unmolested while 1,500 carrier planes shuttled protectively overhead.

Warships in the armada joined carrier planes in supporting the ground forces, hurling everything from 16-inch shells to flaming rockets into already-burning Naha and other enemy strongpoints.

Jap planes made a feeble attack on the invasion armada Sunday night and five were shot down. A Jap communiqué claimed that 13 more U.S. warships had been sunk and 17 damaged.

A CBS correspondent broadcasting from the fleet and Tokyo claims that 150 ships had been sunk since the start of the invasion operations were just about 99.44 percent wrong.

Though the Jap communiqué obviously was exaggerated, there was no inclination at Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’s Pacific Fleet headquarters here to write off Okinawa as already won. On the contrary, hard fighting was anticipated as the invaders come to grips with the enemy garrison totaling 60,000 to 80,000 troops.

The Jap commander was expected to fight desperately to gain time while Japan itself rushes construction of anti-invasion defenses. Next on the American invasion schedule may be Japan itself.

Big fight ahead, Navy warns

WASHINGTON (UP) – A Navy spokesman voiced surprise today at the “amazingly light” U.S. casualties on Okinawa. But he warned that when the Japs come out of hiding, they will fight as fanatically as on Saipan and Iwo Jima.

The official said the bulk of the Jap defenders probably would be encountered as U.S. forces drove southward.

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Much friendlier than expected –
Okinawa civilians prove docile, most respectful to Americans

By William McGaffin

WITH THE U.S. TENTH ARMY ON OKINAWA (April 2, delayed) – The civilians of Okinawa are friendly.

That has been our experience to date with the hundreds who are coming into our lines, bowing respectfully, with grave faces that break into smiles when we smile at them.

It is my guess that the docile attitude of the 1,200 or more whom I saw this afternoon will be typical of the entire civilian population here. There are approximately 450,000 of them.

Through an interpreter I talked with a group of civilians. They were Yakusho Imi Yakusho – farmers – from villages we have overrun in our sensational two-day advance. Among them were a 35-year-old man with his wife, three children and 81-year-old father.

The husband, barefoot and dressed in a blue kimono and American style snap-brim felt hat, said Okinawa was “overjoyed” because the Americans had come, although they were very frightened at first of “bakugeki imi bakugeki” – which was their words for “bombing by planes.”

Few had been injured, however. They had taken refuge in caves, heeding our pamphlet warning three days before the landing.

Three and a half million pamphlets were dropped, instructing the natives in Japanese to clear out of the towns and stay away from the airfields because we were going to bomb and shell them. On the reverse side was conveyed in picture language – a huge fleet of U.S. planes and ships of all types converging on Okinawa.

Many civilians came in with pamphlets clutched in their hands. Their eyes still were wide with astonishment. They said they never had seen so many ships and planes before.

Provost Marshal Lt. Col. Floyd Stephenson of Washington, D.C., said:

They are coming in much faster than we expected. We thought they’d be hostile or at least critical and distrustful of us. After all their only word about us has come from the Japanese.

The colonel said:

But they are not real Japanese. They have a heavy Chinese strain. The Jap overlords made them very conscious of their “inferior” position. All they have known has been years of oppression. It is possible they resent this more than we expected.

The Jap military went off leaving these people without food or water. They said until we came, they had had none for 10 days.

Fed by Americans

I watched a long line of them getting some of the K-rations that our troops are eating. Most of them were barefoot and in kimonos. Invariably each one, whether a two-year-old, or a gray-bearded elder, would bow politely to the Marine as the package of K-ration was doled out.

And each time the Marine solemnly bowed back.

The Marines say that “they are very simple and amiable and always think of the old folks first.”

Many civilians are still hiding fearfully in caves, but they come out without making trouble when our men go up to the entrances and talk to them. There have been no acts of sabotage.

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Jap in a cave

WITH XXIV CORPS, Okinawa Island – One American patrol found their first Okinawa civilian today – behind a cedar chest in a cave. The civilian was not over four feet tall, barefooted and dressed only in a dark blue kimono.

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Editorial: Okinawa shortens the war

Almost every time there is a battle, the public is told it is the most important yet. So, the public by this time is beginning to discount such reports as something it has heard too often before. Hence the rather take-it-for-granted attitude toward the Okinawa landing.

Actually, this island with the strange name is the key to our entire offensive against Japan. the Marianas and the Philippines are essential waystations, but they are too far away from Japan to serve as advance bases. Iwo is important, though too small for major air, naval and supply bases. But Okinawa is the works.

All the experts agree on this - including the Japs. According to Tokyo, “The entire strategy of the Pacific hangs on this island… The loss of Okinawa would mean the collapse of the vanguards of Japan proper, and then there could be no hope of turning the course of the war.” Our Army commander there, Lt. Gen. Simon Buckner, says:

It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of this operation, from the standpoint of our offensive, this is the most valuable island yet invaded.

Okinawa is large enough for adequate bases. It can provide harbors for surface fleets, submarines, supply and troopships. It has several airfields and facilities for more.

It is the most perfect location for our offensive purposes. It dominates the East China Sea and is within striking distance of all four of our eventual objectives – Formosa, the China coast, Korea and Japan proper. The China coast is only 400 miles away, Formosa 350, and the Jap home island of Kyushu 325.

From this position our Navy will be able to cut the main enemy supply lines across the East China Sea, and its submarines can roam the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, hitherto private Jap waterways. That will further reduce enemy shipping. It will seriously interfere with the two-way war traffic of raw materials and food to Japan and of military supplies from Japan to troops in China.

And Okinawa is close enough to launch our invasions of China and Japan. Our Easter landings in great force and with infinitesimal loss have shortened the war.

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Japanese women soldiers killed

ABOARD ADM. TURNER’S FLAGSHIP OFF OKINAWA (UP) – Tenth Army soldiers on the Okinawa beachhead reported today that they wiped out one night enemy infiltration group composed in part of three or four women.

A Tenth Army intelligence officer aboard this flagship said the presence of women in the group was revealed following the attack when the bodies were checked.

The women were wearing regulation Jap Army uniforms and were carrying firearms, the officer said.

The entire group was killed at night. Our soldiers knew only that enemy forces wee trying to penetrate our lines.

Inasmuch as the women were wearing men’s army uniforms, they probably could not have been identified as women even in daylight, the officer explained. He pointed out furthermore that since they were carrying arms, they could expect no other treatment than death.

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Is this story true? If so, where can I read more about it?

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If they are using women in battle, I guess that means that “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage”.

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U.S. Navy Department (April 4, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 321

The East Coast of Okinawa Island from Yaka in the north to Kuba Town in the south was brought under the control of the Tenth Army on April 4 (East Longitude Date). Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps pushing north and east simultaneously established their front line on the Isthmus of Okinawa about 3,000 to 4,000 yards north of Ishikawa and cap­tured all sections of the east coast in their zone of action. In the south, the XXIV Army Corps advanced steadily and at nightfall were holding a line between Uchi Tomari on the West Coast, Kamiyama in the center of the island, and a point just north of Nakagusuku on the east coast. The enemy offered scattered resistance to the advances of our troops. Concentrations of troops and vehicles in the southern part of the island were brought under fire by the guns of surface units of the fleet and by carrier aircraft supporting the attack. The unloading of supplies for the Expeditionary Forces ashore con­tinues satisfactorily.

The enemy made several small air attacks against our surface forces early in the morning of April 4. Four of his aircraft were shot down.

Aircraft from a carrier task group commanded by RADM Frederick C. Sherman, USN, attacked aircraft, airfields, and other installations in the Amami Group on April 3. The following damage was inflicted on the enemy:

  • Forty-five aircraft shot out of the air. Two aircraft destroyed on the ground. Nine aircraft damaged on the ground.

  • Twenty-five small craft damaged or destroyed. Two small cargo ships damaged. One motor torpedo boat damaged. Fuel dumps and buildings set afire.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed warehouse and supply areas in the Palaus on April 4. On the same date, Marine fighters struck piers at Yap in the western Carolines.

On April 3, 4th MarAirWing planes continued neutralizing attacks on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls.

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The Pittsburgh Press (April 4, 1945)

Yanks drive for two more Jap airfields

Okinawa invaders push down coasts

GUAM (UP) – Tenth Army columns pushed down the east and west coasts of Okinawa today within striking distance of two more Jap airfields and only six miles or less from Naha, capital of the island.

Resistance was still negligible as the greatest invasion of the Pacific war went into its fourth day only 362 miles southwest of Japan. But the enemy garrison of 60,000 may make its first stand in the next few hours along a line across the narrow isthmus just north of the airfields.

A German DNB dispatch from Tokyo said U.S. troops made a new landing on Okinawa Tuesday south of the original beachhead.

A Jap communiqué claimed that six more U.S. transports, a battleship and four cruisers had been sunk in the invasion armada. An additional destroyer and an unidentified ship were listed as damaged.

Seize 7-mile stretch

The 7th Infantry Division seized nearly seven miles of the east coast in a drive along the Nakagusuku Bay naval anchorage yesterday to Kuba, four miles north of the uncompleted Yonabaru Airfield.

Another army division smashing down the west coast against moderate opposition reached Chiyunna, four miles north of Machinato Airfield and six miles north of Naha, a city of 65,000.

Two other airfields farther north were captured by the Americans on the first day of the invasion and were already in operation.

The Army forces were under orders to advance at all possible speed in an attempt to break through the narrow isthmus separating the south-central budge of the island from the southern bulge in which Naha is situated.

‘Keep driving ahead’

“Keep on driving ahead,” Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of the XXIV Army Corps, told his field commanders. “We can’t kill Japs standing still.”

At the northern end of the front, Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger’s III Marine Amphibious Corps also slashed across the island to the east coast in advances of up to 3½ miles.

The Marines reached the east coast, near the Katchin Peninsula, northern arm of Nakagusuku Bay, and sealed off that narrow jut of land. The thrust completed a second steel band across the southern third of the island.

The entire Jap garrison was believed concentrated in the southern bulge of Okinawa surrounding Naha for a fight to the death. A majority of the island’s 435,000 civilians probably moved to the more rugged northern two-thirds of the island.

Front dispatches said the main advance on Naha down the west coast was being slowed by the necessity of bridging deep ravines. The Japs blew up three bridges within a few miles and army engineers were throwing prefabricated Bailey bridges across the ravines under enemy fire.

Big guns of the 1,400-ship invasion armada joined some 1,500 carrier planes in supporting the ground forces with an around-the-clock bombardment of Naha and other strongpoints on Okinawa, as well as on other Jap islands in the Ryukyu chain.

Targets in the Sakishima Islands southwest of Okinawa were attacked by carrier planes yesterday.

The unloading of supplies across the beach of Okinawa continued “satisfactorily,” an American communiqué said. It reported that 11 counterattacking enemy planes were shot down over the island by anti-aircraft guns and carrier planes.

The communiqué also revealed that carrier planes destroyed or damaged 39 Jap ships and small craft and 41 enemy aircraft in the last two days of the pre-invasion bombardment of the Ryukyus Saturday and Sunday.

Summary of the bombardment showed:

SHIPPING:

  • Sunk: Three motor torpedo boats, two small cargo ships, nine small craft.
  • Probably sunk: One small cargo ship, four small craft.
  • Damaged: One motor torpedo boat, four small cargo ships, one lugger, 14 small craft.

AIRCRAFT:

  • Shot down: 17
  • Destroyed on the ground: 5
  • Damaged: 19

GROUND INSTALLATIONS:
Six submarine pens on Unten Bay, Okinawa, destroyed and another heavily damaged. A mill, barracks, radio stations, pillboxes, buildings, docks, gun positions and covered revetments destroyed or damaged on Okinawa. Other installations on Tokuno, Amami, Kikai and Minami Daito Islands hit heavily.

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Völkischer Beobachter (April 5, 1945)

Die Kämpfe um Okinawa

Tokio, 4. April – Das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier gab bekannt:

Die amerikanischen Truppen, die auf der Hauptinsel Okinawa gelandet sind, haben im Küstengebiet schwere Verluste erlitten, doch ist ein großer feindlicher Truppenteil am 3. April werter südlich von der Landungsstelle in das Gebiet von Sunabutsu und Arashi eingedrungen. Die dortigen japanischen Truppen führen gegen diese Landungstruppen nach wie vor heftige Abwehrkämpfe.

In den Gewässern um Okinawa wurden der dort operierenden feindlichen Flotte folgende Verluste zugefügt:

Versenkt wurden sechs Transporter, ein Schlachtschiff, vier Kreuzer. In Brand gesetzt wurden ein Zerstörer und ein Kriegsschiff unbekannter Bauart.

Die japanischen Truppen setzen, wie Domei ferner meldet ihre Gegenangriffe gegen die feindlichen Invasionstruppen auf Okinawa fort Diese machen äußerste Anstrengungen, ihren Brückenkopf an der Westküste des Hauptteils der Insel wo sie am Sonntagvormittag landeten, zu erweitern. Unter dem Schutz einer starken Feuerglocke durch Kriegsschiffe ist es den Amerikanern gelungen, weitere Truppen zu landen.

Nach einer weiteren Mitteilung des Kaiserlichen Hauptquartiers setzt die japanische Luftwaffe ihre heftigen Angriffe auf feindliche Kriegsfahrzeuge in den Okinawa benachbarten Gewässern fort, in deren Verlauf weitere 31 Überwasserfahrzeuge versenkt oder schwer beschädigt wurden.

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The Pittsburgh Press (April 5, 1945)

Showdown battle near on Okinawa

Yank drive slowed by stiff resistance

GUAM (UP) – The showdown battle of Southern Okinawa and the Jap island bastion’s capital city of Naha appeared to be shaping up or already mounting to full fury today.

Field reports said suddenly stiffened resistance had slowed the Tenth Army’s advance on Okinawa to a snail’s pace. The Japs were fighting hard from well-prepared positions – perhaps the lines on which they chose to undertake a stand – a little more than four miles north of Naha.

Both American and Jap tanks were jockeying for positions. A front dispatch reported the possibility of a major tank battle, the first of the war in the Pacific, on the plain between Naha and Kaniku.

Reach outposts

In one sector, a Jap tank concentration had already stalled the American push temporarily.

“Apparently we have reached the outposts of enemy defenses in the south, where a force of as many as 60,000 Japanese may be concealed,” United Press writer Edward L. Thomas reported from an advanced command post on Okinawa.

He said Jap strongpoints appeared to be scattered through the hills around the villages of Kaniku, Tsuwa and Tabaru. Approaching them, the Americans overran several preliminary lines of resistance in advances of 500 to 1,500 yards down the 3½-mile wide isthmus separating Central and Southern Okinawa.

Run into heavy fire

The hills command much of Southern Okinawa. Troops pushing through a misty rain toward one 600-foot height guarding the approaches to Shuri ran into heavy artillery, machine-gun and mortar fire.

The enemy appeared determined to hold Machinato and Yonabaru airfields, both within a mile and a half to two miles of the advancing Americans.

The veteran 32nd Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division on the eastern end of the line above Naha smashed the first organized resistance of the campaign yesterday with the capture of a ridge above Ishado on Nakagusuku Bay naval anchorage.

The 184th Infantry Regiment, meanwhile, was attacking a Jap pocket estimated at company strength – possibly 200 men – on the west coast.

The Army advances on the southern front, coupled with a Marine push to the north deep into the narrow isthmus between Southern and Central Okinawa, gave the Americans control of 80 square miles – one sixth – of the island only 330 miles southwest of Japan.

The campaign was already 12 days ahead of schedule, with the invasion forces controlling 17 miles of the west coast and 12 miles of the east coast, including half the shoreline of the vital Nakagusuku Bay.

Marines gain

The XXIV Army Corps’ line in the south, as of yesterday, ran from Uchi-Tomari to the west coast, 4½ miles north of Naha and 1¾ miles north of Machinato Airfield. Through Kamiyama, in the center, to a point just north of Nakagusuku village and two miles north or Yonabaru Airfield in the east coast.

On the northern end of the beachheads, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps drove to 2½ miles beyond Ishikawa in the narrow neck of land separating South-Central and Centra! Okinawa, where it had been anticipated the Japs might make another stand.

Resistance continued light on the Marine front, though observation planes reported enemy concentrations ahead.

Jap planes attack

Jap planes made several small-scale air attacks on the invasion armada early yesterday, and four of the aircraft were shot down.

U.S. planes from a carrier task group commanded by Rear Adm. Frederick C. Sherman attacked airfields and other installations in the Amami Islands just north of Okinawa Tuesday.

They destroyed 45 planes in combat and two on the ground, damaged nine others on he ground, destroyed or damaged 25 small craft, damaged two small cargo ships and a torpedo boat, and set fuel dumps and buildings afire.

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U.S. Navy Department (April 5, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 322

Our troops in both the northern and southern sectors of Okinawa continued to advance on April 5. By 1800 on that date, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps had moved forward generally 8,000 to 9,000 yards on Ishikawa Isthmus, the southern end of their line being in the neighborhood of Kin Town. Japanese opposition in the north continued to be ineffective. Army troops in the south made advances up to about 3,000 yards. In this sector, elements of the XXIV Army Corps moved into areas organ­ized for defense by the enemy and at nightfall resistance to the advance was increasing. Our advancing troops were supported throughout the day by gunfire from units of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and by carrier aircraft. During the period of April 1 to 1800 on April 5, 65 enemy aircraft have been de­stroyed over our forces attacking Okinawa. During the Okinawa operation as of midnight April 4‑5, 175 soldiers and Marines had been killed in action. Figures as to Naval personnel are not available. Seven hundred and ninety-eight soldiers and Marines had been wounded in action during the same period.

Organization for military government in the area of Okinawa under our control has been established and is functioning satisfactorily. About 9,000 civilians have surrendered to our forces. Considerable stocks of enemy foodstuffs have been captured and are available for civilian use.

On April 5, Hellcat and Corsair fighters and Avenger torpedo planes of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked targets in the Palaus. A warehouse was destroyed and barges and vehicles were damaged.

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U.S. Navy Department (April 6, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 323

By late afternoon on April 6 (East Longitude Date), Hellcat and Corsair fighters from two fast carrier task groups of the U.S. Pacific Fleet commanded by RADMs Frederick C. Sherman and J. J. Clark, USN, had shot down about 150 enemy aircraft which were attempting to attack fleet surface units in the area of the Ryukyus. This tally of damage is preliminary and incomplete. Some ships of our forces received minor damage but all remain fully operational.

United States troops on Okinawa continued to attack in both the northern and southern sectors. At midday, the Marine III Amphibious Corps had advanced 3,000 to 5,000 yards against small scattered groups of the enemy on Ishikawa Isthmus. In the south, the XXIV Army Corps was encountering stiffened enemy resistance in areas organized by the enemy for defense and supported by enemy artillery. Our forces were being supported continuously by ships’ gunfire and by carrier aircraft. During the night of April 5‑6, nine enemy planes were shot down near our forces around Okinawa.

In capturing the Kerama group of islands preliminary to the attack on Okinawa, U.S. forces killed 539 of the enemy and captured 166 prisoners of war.

Search aircraft of Fleet Wing One shot down two enemy aircraft in the Ryukyus area on April 6.

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The Pittsburgh Press (April 6, 1945)

Attack stalls U.S. invaders on Okinawa

Doughboys drive for port on east coast

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Jap counterattack on Okinawa has slowed U.S. troops driving toward the center and west coast of the island toward Naha, the capital. U.S. forces gained in the east coast drive on Yonabaru. To the north, U.S. Marines neared Kin.

GUAM (UP) – Jap defenders of Okinawa opened their biggest counterattack of the campaign today, bringing the American invasion forces to a virtual standstill in the west and central sectors of the island battlefront.

United Press writer James MacLean reported the Jap counterblow in a dispatch from Okinawa. It coincided with numerous signs that the walkover phase of the invasion was finished and bloody fighting lay ahead.

Resistance was reported stiffening all along the Okinawa front. The stalemate in the west and central parts came as U.S. Tenth Army forces stormed the slopes of three hills anchoring the defenses of Naha, smoldering and deserted capital city some four miles to the south.

Gain on east coast

Late reports from Okinawa disclosing the Jap counterattack said that only in the eastern sector were the Americans advancing at anything like the pace of their initial fanout from the west coast beachhead.

Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner’s forces were pushing down the east coast toward the town of Tsuwa, three miles north of Yonabaru, the island’s principal east coast port.

The American vanguard was within two miles of Yonabaru airstrip, which the Japs had partly constructed when the invasion began. Front reports said it probably could be made usable in a short time.

On the west coast, the Americans were bogged down about a mile north of Nakama, atop a high ridge running inland. Jap artillery on the ridge was pounding our forces. A curtain of smoke hung over the ridge as U.S. naval guns and land-based artillery teamed with bombers in a concerted assault on it.

Down five Jap planes

Five Jap planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire this afternoon.

Air scouts reported that Naha showed no signs of civilians or troops. The ruins of Okinawa’s largest city were burning fitfully from a mauling by U.S. air, sea and artillery forces.

Field reports said the Japs appeared to be preparing for a defense in depth. When the hill line before Naha is broken, they are expected to undertake a stand on a secondary line several miles south.

Upwards of 60,000 Japs were believed defending Southern Okinawa.

Marines gain

Marines of the III Amphibious Corps at the northern end of the expanding beachhead drove completely through the Ishikawa Isthmus separating Southern and Central Okinawa in advances up to 5½ miles yesterday.

On the east coast, the Marines were in the vicinity of Kin, 18 miles northeast of Naha, after clearing almost the entire shore of Kin Bay. Resistance continued light in the Marine sector and it appeared the Japanese had written off Central and Northern Okinawa.

A Marine reconnaissance outfit landed on Yabuchi Island just off the tip of Katsuren Peninsula, northern end of Nakagusuku Bay, and found it unoccupied.

U.S. casualties for the first four days of the Okinawa invasion through Wednesday were revealed as 175 dead and 798 wounded.

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U.S. Navy Department (April 7, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 324

On April 6 and 7 (East Longitude Dates), the enemy attempted strong counterattacks against our forces operating in the vicinity of Okinawa.

During the late afternoon and evening of April 6, a large force of enemy aircraft attacked our ships and shore installations in the vicinity of Okinawa. One hundred sixteen of these enemy aircraft were destroyed – 55 by our fighters and the remainder by our anti-aircraft fire. The attacking enemy aircraft pressed their attacks in with desperation and succeeded in sinking three of our destroyers and damaging several destroyers and smaller craft. No larger fleet units were hit.

Early on April 7, Navy search aircraft of Fleet Air Wing One sighted an enemy surface force which had left the Inland Sea and passing south of Kyushu had headed into the East China Sea. The force included the large battleship YAMATO, the most powerful ship left in the Japanese Navy, an AGANO-class light cruiser, one other small light cruiser or large destroyer, and a number of destroyers. A fast carrier task force commanded by VADM Marc A. Mitscher steamed toward the enemy at high speed and during the middle of the day brought the Japanese Force under air attack.

Our carrier aircraft which had destroyed 245 enemy aircraft on April 6, met no opposition over the Japanese ships but did meet heavy anti-aircraft fire. At a point about 50 miles southwest of Kyushu they sank the YAMATO, the light AGANO-class cruiser, the small cruiser and three destroyers. Three other destroyers were left burning. About three destroyers escaped from this attack.

The YAMATO was hit by at least eight torpedoes and eight heavy bombs. All the enemy ships were heavily strafed with rockets and machine guns.

Our carriers lost seven aircraft in this action. During minor contacts on April 7, they and their aircraft shot down 30 enemy aircraft. The task groups participating were commanded by RADMs F. C. Sherman, USN; A. W. Radford, USN; G. F. Bogan, USN, and J. J. Clark, USN.

The Marine III Amphibious Corps on Okinawa moved forward steadily in the northern sector throughout the afternoon of April 6. By 1800, it had made advances which placed its front lines across Ishikawa Isthmus from Chuda on the west coast to the mouth of the Kinbaru River on the east coast. In the south, strong enemy resistance developed during the day. From its strong defensive positions the enemy employed machine gun, small arms, mortar and artillery fire against the XXIV Army Corps throughout April 6, and the following night. Army troops along the East Coast in the southern sector advanced about 2,000 yards during the afternoon of April 6, and occupied the town of Tsuwa. The enemy in the south was brought under heavy fire by our artillery throughout the day.

Search aircraft of FlAirWing One attacked airfields in Kyushu, destroying four fighters on the ground, probably destroying three others and damaging about 15 more by strafing.

Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force bombed dock installations and buildings at Truk in the Carolines on April 5.

Neutralizing raids on enemy bases in the Marshalls were continued on April 5 by planes of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing.

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CINCPOA Communiqué No. 325

The Marine III Amphibious Corps continued to drive northward against negligible enemy resistance on the Ishikawa Isthmus of Okinawa on April 7 (East Longitude Date). By noon of that date, the Marines had advanced about 3,000 yards to the vicinity of Nago Town on the west coast and Ora Bay on the east coast. The XXIV Army Corps in the south was moving through difficult terrain in which the enemy is fortified behind an extensive system of strong points, pillboxes, blockhouses and trenches. Carrier aircraft, ships’ guns and heavy artillery continued to bombard enemy positions. A small group of aircraft attacked our forces early in the day. Twelve were shot down.

A carrier task force of the British Pacific Fleet attacked airfields and other installations on Ishigaki and Miyako in the Sakishima group on April 6 and 7. British fighters destroyed five enemy aircraft in the air and three others on the ground.

Further information on the action of fast carrier task forces of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on April 6 shows that our aircraft sank four small cargo ships and many small craft in the area of the Ryukyus and destroyed two aircraft on the ground, this damage being in addition to that previously reported. On April 7, after attacking Japanese surface forces off Kyushu, one of our heavy fleet units suffered minor damage during an aircraft attack but is fully operational.

Hellcat and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed and strafed warehouses and other installations in the Palaus on April 7.