UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

The War in the Pacific

 

 

OKINAWA:

THE LAST BATTLE

 

 

by

Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns

Russell A. Gugeler, and John Stevens

 

 

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

UNITED STATES ARMY

WASHINGTON, D. C., 2000

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 49-45742

First Printed 1948-CMH Pub 11-1

 

 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402

UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Kent Roberts Greenfield, General Editor

Advisory Committee

Historical Division, SSUSA

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The conflict with the Axis Powers confronted the United States Army with problems on a scale never faced before-problems as great in administration, training, supply, and logistics as in strategy and tactics. THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II sets forth in detail the nature of the problems faced, the methods used to solve them, and the mistakes made as well as the success achieved. The object is to provide a work of reference for military and civilian students as well as a record of achievements which deserve an honorable place in the pages of history. Its value to the thoughtful citizen as an aid to his comprehension of basic problems of national security has been a major consideration. Its preparation has also been prompted by the thought that in a faithful and comprehensive record all who participated in the Army's vast effort would find a recognition merited by their service and sacrifice.

 

The advantage to the Army and the scholar has been the decisive factor in proceeding with the least possible delay to the publication of such a series.. No claim is made that it constitutes a final history. Many years will pass before the record of the war can be fully analyzed and appraised. In presenting an organized and documented narrative at this time, the Historical Division of the War Department has sought to furnish the War Department and the Army schools an early account of the experience acquired, and to stimulate further research by providing scholars with a guide to the mountainous accumulation of records produced by the war.

 

The decision to prepare a comprehensive account of military activities was made early in the war. Trained historians were assigned to the larger units of the Army and War Department to initiate the work of research, analysis, and writing. The results of their work, supplemented by additional research in records not readily available during the war, are presented in this series. The general plan provides for a division into subseries dealing with the War Department, the Army Air, Ground, and Service Forces, the technical services, and the theaters of operations. This division conforms to the organization of the Army during 

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World War II and, though involving some overlapping in subject matter, has the advantage of presenting a systematic account of developments in each major field of responsibility as well as the points of view of the particular commands. The plan also includes volumes on such topics as statistics, order of battle, military training, the Women's Army Corps, and other subjects that transcend the limits of studies focused on an agency or command. The whole project is oriented toward an eventual summary and synthesis.

 

The present volume concerns one of the most bitterly fought battles of the Pacific war, in which the Army, the Marine Corps, and the Navy all played a vital part. In order to make the Army's role and the campaign as a whole as intelligible as possible the historians have treated in detail the operations of the Marine Corps units attached to Tenth Army, and have also sketched the contribution of the Navy both in preliminary operations against Okinawa and in the campaign itself. Another characteristic of this as of other volumes on Pacific campaigns is that tactical action is treated on levels lower than those usually presented in the history of operations in the European theaters. The physical limitations of the terrain fought over in the Pacific restricted the number and size of the units which could be employed and brought into sharp focus the operations of regiments, battalions, and smaller units. A wealth of verified material on such operations is available for all theaters, but it is only that of the Pacific which can be used extensively, since in other theaters the actions of smaller units are lost in the broad sweep of great distances and large forces. The description of small-unit action has the merit of giving the nonprofessional reader a fuller record of the nature of the battlefield in modern war, and the professional reader a better insight into troop leading.

 

Okinawa: The Last Battle is the work of combat historians of the 1st Information and Historical Service, Tenth Army. The practice of dispatching trained historians to accompany troops into combat grew out of earlier experience, both in World War I and in the early part of World War II, which demonstrated that the paper records produced by units in battle were rarely, if ever, adequate for the writing of military history. Lower units, such as the infantry company and very often the battalion, do not write as they fight; hence the details of combat are not in their records. Even at higher levels many significant orders and reports, because they are communicated orally and by telephone, are noted in the record only sketchily if at all. An equally serious gap arises

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from the fact that the "why" behind the decision is almost never discernible in the documents.

 

The records must be supplemented by interviewing key participants in the action at all levels if anything approaching complete understanding of what happened is to be attained. Unless such quick on-the-spot study is made, memories will grow dim or the man who knows the answer may become a casualty in a subsequent operation. Thus the historians who took the field were given the mission of noting the messages, reports, and orders as they came in, of spotting the gaps in the story as it was thus unfolded, and of taking prompt steps to fill those gaps by asking questions.

 

At first, historians were sent to the theaters as individuals or teams. Later they were organized into units called Information and Historical Services, one of which was assigned to each field army. Though the 1st Information and Historical Service was the first of these to be activated, all the others were called on to deal with operations earlier. As a consequence the ist Information and Historical Service not only benefited in some measure by the lessons they learned, but was the first which was fully organized and prepared to take the field at the very start of a major operation, with plans laid for a systematic coverage of the campaign.

 

In an organizational sense, therefore, the preparations for historical coverage of the Okinawa campaign were better than those for earlier operations. This explains why the history of the last operation has been issued first.

Okinawa: The Last Battle was written by U. S. Army historians who participated in the Ryukyus campaign as members of a group organized to accompany the American forces to the Ryukyus and secure at first hand the materials for a history of their operations. This group was formed in Hawaii as a section of the 1st Information and Historical Service, which was attached to Tenth Army in January 1945.

 

Before the embarkation of troops for Okinawa, most of the Tenth Army's combat historians, as they were called, had joined at various points in the Pacific the units whose part in the coming battle they were to record. Similarly, Marine historians were already with III Amphibious Corps headquarters and the Marine divisions which were to take part in the action. Lt. Col. John Stevens was in command of the Army historians; his chief assistant was M/Sgt. James M. Burns, the author of Guam in the series AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION.* Colonel Stevens and Sergeant Burns accompanied Tenth Army headquarters. Capt. Donald L. Mulford came from Leyte with XXIV Corps and remained with it until late in May, when he was assigned to the 96th Division to replace its historian, Sgt. Bert Balmer, who had been wounded in action. At XXIV Corps headquarters Maj. Roy E. Appleman succeeded Captain Mulford. Capt. Edmund G. Love, an experienced historian of operations in the Central Pacific, was attached to the 27th Division. Capt. Russell A. Gugeler and Capt. Paul R.. Leach, who had served respectively with the 7th and 77th Divisions on Leyte, accompanied these divisions to Okinawa. Capt. Jesse L. Rogers, on his arrival at Okinawa in June, was assigned to the 96th Division to assist Captain Mulford. The Marine historians on Okinawa were Maj. Almet Jenks, III Amphibious Corps; Sgt. Kenneth Shutts and Sgt. Paul Trilling, 1st Marine Division; and Capt. Phillips D. Carleton, 6th Marine Division.

 

Army historians held frequent conferences during and after the campaign for the purpose of coordinating their work. Liaison with the Marine historians

 

* Published by the Historical Division, War Department Special Staff.

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was established soon after the initial landings at the target and was maintained throughout the operation. Further information and perspective were gained through conferences with Navy personnel at Okinawa and with Navy historians in Hawaii and Washington.

 

After the campaign, histories of the operations of the four Army divisions and of the 6th Marine Division were written by the respective division historians; a history of the XXIV Corps on Okinawa was written by Major Appleman; and a history of the 1st Marine Division on Okinawa was compiled by Capt. James R. Stockman, USMCR, from division records and from material supplied by the division historians.

 

In July 1945, after the battle of Okinawa ended, Colonel Stevens and Sergeant Burns were detached from the 1st Information and Historical Service and returned to Oahu to write the history of the Okinawa operation at Fort Shafter, where the records of all Amy units which had fought on Okinawa were subsequently brought together. Captain Love, who had completed his history of the operations of the 27th Division by July 1945, returned to Washington. The other Army historians remained with their units to complete their interrogations of the men who fought, write the division and corps histories for which they were responsible, and be available for prospective new assignments.

 

After the war ended, Captain Leach completed the history of 77th Division operations, and Captain Mulford and Captain Rogers the account of 96th Division operations; these three historians were then separated from the Army. Major Appleman and Captain Gugeler, who accompanied the XXIV Corps and the 7th Division to Korea, were ordered to Oahu late in the fall of 1945 to complete their respective corps and division histories at Fort Shafter. Sergeant Burns returned to the United States early in December and was separated from the Army.

 

By March 1946 Major Appleman had completed the narrative of XXIV Corps operations on Okinawa, and Captain Gugeler the history of the 7th Division in the campaign. At that time, although Colonel Stevens, Major Appleman, and Captain Gugeler were all eligible for separation, they returned with the Okinawa records to Washington to continue work in the Historical Division, WDSS, on the history of the Okinawa campaign. Together with Sergeant Burns, now a civilian, they completed the Okinawa manuscript by the end of June. Organization of the volume was developed at conferences of all the Army historians during and after the battle on the basis of studies by Sergeant Burns.

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The manuscript was turned over to the Pacific Section of the Historical Division, WDSS. Dr. Charles B. Hirschfeld, a member of the Section, added material on high-level planning and logistics, revised and condensed certain portions of the manuscript, and aided in the preparation of the maps. The authors are especially indebted to Dr. Louis Morton, Chief of the Pacific Section, who supervised the preparation of the final manuscript and represented the authors during the editing process. The editing was performed by Dr. Albert K. Weinberg of the Editorial Branch, assisted by Miss Edith M. Poole and Miss Grace T. Waibel. The maps were prepared under the direction of Mr. Wsevolod Aglaimoff. Col. Allison R. Hartman acted as military editor, Major Charles F. Byars prepared the list of Tenth Army units in Appendix A, and Mr. George R. Powell compiled the charts and tables in Appendix C. Mr. W. Brooks Phillips prepared the index.

 

Capt. Robert L. Bodell selected the illustrations in this volume from material in the possession of the Signal Corps, Army Air Forces, U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps, U. S. Coast Guard, and Yank magazine. The sketches on pp. 244-45 and 292-93 were drawn by S/Sgt. T. King Smith of the XXIV Corps Historical Section.

Washington, D. C.  1 July 1947

ROY E. APPLEMAN JAMES M. BURNS RUSSELL A. GUGELER JOHN STEVENS

 

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Contents

Chapter	Page
I. OPERATION ICEBERG	1
The Strategic Decision	1
Nature of the Target	7
The Plan of Attack	17
Mounting the Attack	36
II. INVASION OF THE RYUKYUS	44
Preliminary Neutralization of Enemy Strength	44
Seizure of the Kerama Islands	51
Softening Up the Target	63
III. WINNING THE OKINAWA BEACHHEAD	68
The Landing	69
Moving Island	74
Organizing the Beachhead	79
IV. WHERE IS THE ENEMY?	84
The Japanese Forces	84
The Japanese Plan of Defense	92
Enemy Counterattack by Air and Sea	96
V. COMING TO GRIPS WITH THE ENEMY	103
Through the Outposts, 4-8 April	104
Assaulting the Shuri Defenses, 9-12 April	113
The Enemy Takes the Offensive	130
VI. THE CONQUEST OF NORTHERN OKINAWA	138
Drive up the Ishikawa Isthmus, 4-7 April	138
Probing the Motobu Defenses, 7-13 April	141
Closing In on Yae-Take, 14-15 April	144
Conquest of Motobu Peninsula, 16-18 April	146
VII. THE CAPTURE OF IE SHIMA	149
Plans and Preparations of the Enemy	150
American Plans and Preparations	153
Invasion of Ie Shima, 16-17 April	156
Stalemate at Bloody Ridge, 18-19 April	163
Capture of Iegusugu, 20-21 April	173
Last Phase	181
VIII. THE ATTACK OF 19 APRIL ON THE SHURI DEFENSES	184
Plans and Preparations	184
Preliminary Attack of the 27th Division, 18 April	190
The General Attack	194
IX. FALL OF THE FIRST SHURI DEFENSE RING	208
Item Pocket	208
Assaulting the Outer Shuri Defense Ring	219
X. TACTICS AND TACTICAL DECISIONS	249
Tactics and Weapons on Okinawa	249
Tactical Decisions	258
XI. ASSAULTING THE SECOND SHURI DEFENSE RING	265
Stalemate on the West Coast	267
The 7th Division at Kochi Ridge	269
The Maeda Escarpment Barrier	274
XII. THE JAPANESE OFFENSIVE AND ITS AFTERMATH	283
Planning the Offensive	283
The Offensive Under Way	286
Japanese Penetration to Tanabaru, 5 May	294
The Americans Resume Offensive	302
XIII. THE MAY ATTACK ON THE SHURI DEFENSES	311
The Attack in the West	313
The Attack in the Center	332
Opening the East Coast Corridor	351
XIV. BATTLE IN THE RAIN	360
Enemy Air Attacks	360
Stalemate in the Center	364
The 6th Marine Division Occupies Naha	372
The 7th Division Bids for Envelopment	377
XV. THE FALL OF SHURI	383
Exodus From Shuri	387
American Occupation of Shuri	394
XVI. BEHIND THE FRONT	403
Supply Operations	405
Hospitalization and Evacuation	412
Military Government	415
Base Development	419
XVII. THE ENEMY'S LAST STAND	422
The Push South to the Yaeju-Dake-Yuza-Dake Barrier	422
The Capture of Oroku Peninsula	427
Assaulting the Last Defense Line	434
XVIII. THE BATTLE ENDS	455
End of Organized Resistance	455
Surrender and Suicide	462
Final Mop-up	471
Victory: Cost and Value	473
APPENDIX A. MAJOR TACTICAL UNITS OF TENTH ARMY IN THE RYUKYUS CAMPAIGN	475
APPENDIX B. JAPANESE 32d ARMY UNITS IN THE RYUKYUS CAMPAIGN	483
APPENDIX C. STATISTICS OF THE RYUKYUS CAMPAIGN	487
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE	503

Tables

1.Strength of Army, Marine, and Naval Forces of Tenth Army in the Ryukyus Campaign,30 AApril-30 June 1945	488
2.Comparative American and Enemy Major Losses in the Ryukyus Campaign, 1 April-30June 1945	489
3.Casualties Sustained by Tenth Army, 1 April-30 June 1945	490
4.Troops and Supplies loaded for the Initial Assault on the Ryukyus	492
5.Personnel and Supplies Loaded for Assault and for First Echelon Garrison in the Ryukyus Campaign, by point of Embarkation	493
6.Comparison Of Estimated Capacities for Unloading at Okinawa Beaches and Quantities   Actually Unloaded, 1 April-30 June 1945	494
7.Cargo Unloaded at Okinawa Beaches, 1 April-30 June 1945	496
8.Ammunition Expended by Tenth Army Field Artillery, 1 April-30 June 1945	498
9.Ammunition Expended by the U. S. Navy in the Ryukyus Campaign, March-June 1945	500
10.Ammunition Expended by XXIV Corps, by Type of Weapon, 4 April-21 June 1945	501

Charts

I. Organization of Allied forces for the Ryukyus Campaign, January 1945	20
II. Organization of Central Pacific Task Forces for the Ryukyus Campaign, January 1945	22
III. Organization of Expeditionary Troops for the Ryukyus Campaign, January 1945	24
IV. XXIV Corps Assignment of Shipping for the Assault on Okinawa	43
V. Organization of the Japanese 62d Division in Okinawa	88
1.Tenth Army Weekly Battle Casualties, 1 April-30 June 1945	491
2.Comparison of Estimated Capacities for Unloading at Okinawa Beaches and Quantities Actually Unloaded, 1 April-20 June 1945	495
3.Average Daily Volume of Supplies Unloaded in the Ryukyus, 1 April-16 May 1945	497
4.Ammunition Expended by Tenth Army Field Artillery, 1 April-30 June 1945	499

Maps

1.Ryukyu Islands	5
2.Okinawa Island Group	6
3.The plan of Attack	30
4.Advance in the North: 6th Marine, 4-8 April 1945	140
5.Kakazu Pocket, 21 April 1945	240
Map I: Strategic Situation in the Pacific
Map II: Island of Okinawa
Map III: Southern Okinawa
Map IV: Kerama Islands 77th Division 26-29 March 1945
Map V: Tenth Army Advance 1-3 April 1945
Map VI: Japanese Defense Positions 1 April 1945
Map VII: Through the Outposts XXIV Corps 4-8 April 1945
Map VIII: The Pinnacle 1st Battalion 184th Infantry 6 April 1945
Map IX: Kakazu Ridge Attack of 9 April 1945
Map X: Kakazu Ridge Attack of 10 April 1945
Map XI: XXIV Corps Advance, 9-12 April 1945
Map XII: Japanese Plan of Attack, 12 April 1945
Map XIII: Japanese Attack, 12-14 April 1945
Map XIV: Yae-Take: 6th Marine Division, 8-20 April 1945
Map XV: Landings on Ie Shima: 77th Division, 16 April 1945
Map XVI: Ie Shima, 18 April 1945
Map XVII: Ie Shima 19 April 1945
Map XVIII: Ie Shima, 20-21 April 1945
Map XIX: XXIV Corps Attack, 19 45
Map XX: Fire Plan of  272d Independent Infantry Battalion: Kakazu Area, 19 April 1945
Map XXI: Item Pocket: 165th Infantry,20 April 1945
Map XXII: Item Pocket, 21 April 1945
Map XXIII: Item Pocket, 22-25 April 1945
Map XXIV: Skyline Ridge: 7th Division, 19 April 1945
Map XXV: Skyline Ridge: 32d Infantry, 21 April 1945
Map XXVI: 96th Division,20-24 April 1945
Map XXVII: Fight for the Pinnacles, 20 April 1945
Map XXVIII: Through the Outer Shuri Defenses, 19-24 April 1945
Map XXIX: Stalemate at Kochi: 7th Division, 25 April-3 May 1945
Map XXX: Maeda Escarpment, 25-29 April 1945
Map XXXI: Attack on Shuri Defenses, 25 April-3 May 1945
Map XXXII: Japanese Plan of Attack, 4 May 1945
Map XXXIII: Japanese Attack, 4-5 May  1945
Map XXXIV: American Advance, 3-10 May 1945
Map XXXV: Tenth Army Advance, 11-21 May 1945
Map XXXVI: Sugar Loaf Hill: 6th Marine Division, 14-15 May 1945
Map XXXVII: Sugar Loaf Hill: 6th Marine Division, 16-17 May 1945
Map XXXVIII: Sugar Loaf Hill: 6th Marine Division, 18 May 1945
Map XXXIX: Flattop and Dick Hills, 11-12 May 1945
Map XL: Flattop and Dick Hills, 13-14 May 1945
Map XLI: Flattop and Dick Hills, 15 May 1945
Map XLII: Conical Hill, 11-16 May 1945
Map XLIII: Conical Hill, 17-21 May 1945
Map XLIV: Closing in on Shuri, 22-29 May 1945
Map XLV: Fall of Shuri, 30-31 May 1945
Map XLVI: The Push South, 1-3 June 1945
Map XLVII: Oroku and Yaeju-Dake, 4-11 June 1945
Map XLVIII: Breaching Yaeju-Dake, 12-17 June 1945
Map XLIX: End of Organized Resistance, 18-21 June 1945

Illustrations

Okinawans and Okinawan Customs	8
Okinawa's Landscape	11
Village on Okinawa	12
American Commanders	18
Loading Supplies for Okinawa	42
Preliminary Bombardment	47
Japanese Kamikaze Attacks	48
Terrain in the Kerama Retto	53
Landings in the Keramas	59
" Suicide Boats"	61
Softening Up the Target	62
Bombarding the Beaches	71
The Landings	73
Moving Inland	78
Supplying and Developing the Beachhead	82
Japanese Commanders	86
Japanese Weapons	90
Kamikaze Attacks	98
Sinking of the Yamato	100
XXIV Corps Turns South	106
East Coast Battles	109
Kakazu West	114
Kakazu Gorge	122
Tombstone Ridge Area	128
Saddle Between Kakazu West and Kakazu Ridge	136
Fire Bombing	142
Pushing to Yae-Take	145
Ie Shima	151
Rockets Over Ie Shima	155
Invasion of Ie Shima	158
Fighting Toward Ie	161
Death of Ernie Pyle	165
Ie and the Southern Beaches	166
Typical Defense System	168-69
Attack on Bloody Ridge	174
Government House Hill	179
Strategic Area of Southern Okinawa	186
Ouki Hill-Skyline Area and Machinato Inlet	188
Opening Action, 19 April	195
Battle for Tombstone Ridge	199
Death of a Tank	201
West End of Urasoe-Mura Escarpment	206
Item Pocket Area	212
Heart of Item Pocket	216
Skyline Ridge	221
Rocky Crags	229
Nishibaru Escarpment Area	233
The Pinnacles	239
Urasoe-Mura Escarpment	244-45
Kakazu Village and Kakazu Pocket	246
Japanese Fortifications	251
Naval Fire and Air Support	252
Blowtorch and Corkscrew	254
Southern Coast Line	261
Asa River Area	266
Kochi Area	270
Maeda Escarpment and Tank-Infantry Attacks	277
Maeda Escarpment Strong Points	278
Japanese Sea and Air Attack	288
Japanese Position at Tanabaru Escarpment, 4-7 May	292-93
Japanese Land Offensive	294
Tanabaru Escarpment	298
Attacks on Hill 60	305
American Advance Down the Center	308
West Flank Zone	315
Sugar Loaf and Horseshoe Hills	316
Fighting at Sugar Loaf and Crescent Hills	324
Dakeshi Ridge	327
Reverse Slope of Wana Ridge	331
Ishimmi Ridge	335
Chocolate Drop Hill	340
Dick Hills and Flattop	345
Advance Around Dick Hills and Flattop	350
Conical Hill and East Coast Flatlands	354
Japanese Air Raids on Okinawa	363
Wana Draw	367
Mud and Flood	368
"Three Sisters" and Oboe	371
Crossing the Asato River and Entering Naha	374
East Coast Corridor and Yonabaru-Naha Valley	380
Casualties	385
Secret Retreat	390
Shuri Heights	395
Shuri	399
Shuri Castle Bell	401
Supply and Communications Installations	404
Moving Supplies	408
Movement of Wounded	413
Military Government	416
Development of Airfield and Rehabilitation of Port	418
Mud and Supply	426
Advancing to Yaeju-Dake	429
Last Point of Resistance	430
Base of Oroku Peninsula	435
Yaeju-Dake and Hill 95	437
Flame Through a Hose	444
Night Attack on Yaeju-Dake	448
Yuza Peak and Kunishi Ridge	453
Fighting Toward Hill 89	457
Lt Gen Simon B Buckner	460
Overcoming the Last Resistance	464
Surrender	466
Last Japanese Command Post	469
Raising the American Flag	472

 

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page updated 10 December 2001

 

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