Transcript The Final Days —The Last OKINAWA

The Final
Days
OKINAWA—The Last
Battle
&
The Fire Bombing of
Japan
Events in Time
US Forces under MacArthur
recapture Corregidor and ManilaMarch 45’
9-10 March 50 Square miles of
Tokyo explodes in flames as it is
firebombed by B-29s and napalm
20 March Brits liberate Burma
and Mandalay
Target Okinawa
350 miles south of Japan
Base for operations into
China as well as the coming
invasion of Japan
Truly Japanese soil and it
will be a costly step
towards victory
The Battle for Okinawa -ICEBERG
JAPANESE DEFENSES ON OKINAWA
General Mitsuru
Ushijima centered
his defense around
the historical
capital, Shuri
Castle
This provided the
Japanese with a
heavy defense line
that could be
flanked only from
the sea.
Well Dug in
Tanks and Artillery
Roughly 65,000
Japanese Troops was
our initial estimate, we
were way off
Most troops
concentrated in the
southern sector of the
island
Pinpoint accuracy and
home field advantage
April 1, 1945 “The Last Invasion”
US 10th Army invades
Okinawa-180,000 men
Japanese Homeland—
Ryukyu Islands
The largest sea-land-air battle
in history
Lieutenant General Simon
Bolivar Buckner, Jr.
Japanese Forces
130,000 strong 32nd Army
Shuri Castle (77 DIV, 1 BAT, 5 MARINES)
Okinawa defenses would be the
hardest that the US faced during
the war
The Japanese Commanders
knew defeat was imminent, but
wanted to make US pay the
HIGHEST POSSIBLE PRICE.
TH
ST
TH
The Battle for the
Sea
The Kamikaze threat
was immense
In the 2 month battle
the Japanese flew
1,900 kamikaze
missions, sinking
dozens of Allied
ships and killing
more than 5,000
U.S. sailors.
Operation Ten-Go
The use of the now
defeated Japanese
navy as suicide
bombers
The Yamoto and her
escorts
Beach themselves
fight then die with
honor
Intercepted and
destroyed
87 DAYS TO JAPAN
March 26, 1945 at Hagushi Bay in
west, not the south as expected
These men along with a landing force
on April 1, headed north to cut the
island in half
By the end of day 1 we had landed
60,000 men
These men met little resistance early
The battle for the
northern sector of
the island
culminated in mid
April with US
Army and Marines
fighting in twisted
and jagged rock
areas of the
island
But by June 21
the Northern
sector was secure
The Battle for The South
Centered around the
Ancient Shuri Castle
the battle here was
brutal
7th and 96th Infantry
Divisions battled dug
in Japanese troops
holding fortified
positions on high
ground
It became desperate
hand-to-hand fighting
in west-central
Okinawa along Cactus
Ridge, about five miles
northwest of Shuri.
Taking 1,500
causalities
and killing
over 4,500
Japanese the
fighting men
realized they
were only
facing an
outpost
regiment
Kakazu Ridge
Japanese well dug in and created free
fire kill zones
Sent the Okinawans out at gunpoint
to acquire water & supplies for them
The advanced stalled and Ushijima
goes on the offensive
April 12th his 32 Army hits the US
frontline on broad frontal assault
Japanese attack was heavy,
sustained, and well organized.
The repeatedly hit our line and were
repulsed
They believed that we could be taken
by night attacks
In the end they fall back to a
defensive strategy
Close air support and superior
weapons won the day
324 guns, the naval force, 650
aircraft hit the Kakazu Ridge the
enemy goes underground and
waits
As we ascended they came out
and ripped us to pieces, we lose
22 tanks and the men are
crushed
Using this victory Ushijima
launches an attack of his own, his
guns in the open are completely
detroyed
“A WW1 BATTLEFIELD
Monsoon rains
and fighting
conditions
The dead and
decaying mixed
with the rain to
make a gory
human soup
SHURI CASTLE
1st bat. 5th Marines
assault the fortified
position
The castle falls, but
as with Iwo it is not
the end
These men barely
escape a friendly
death
It gets worse before its over!!
Buckner’s Mistake
As we mop up the
island its defenders
turn
Multiple Banzi charges
some numbering over
5000 men
Last ditch effort
Ushijima and his 2nd
Cho commit suicide
leaving his 3rd in
command 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 “
Kamikazes who will
sink 21 American
warships and badly
damage 66 others
Fighting is so
intense that few will
survivor without
wounds
Americans lost
7,373 men killed
and 32,056
wounded on land
At sea, the
Americans lost
5,000 killed and
4,600 wounded
Japanese lost 107,000 killed and
7,400 men taken prisoner
Another 20,000 dead as a result
of American tactics whereby
Japanese troops were incinerated
where they fought.
Many Okinawan citizens
indoctrinated with Japanese
views of Americans chose suicide
over “LIBERATION”
A Citizens end
Okinawan civilian losses in the campaign
were in excess of 140,000; in addition, it is
estimated that more than a third of the
surviving civilian population was wounded.
Many commit suicide: There are many
Okinawans who have testified that the
Japanese Army directed them to commit
suicide. There are also people who have
testified that they were handed grenades
by Japanese soldiers (to blow themselves
up)
Results of Okinawa
The island was a rotten wound, but with
harbors and size it was perfect
The fierce determination of its defenders
left no doubt the use of the A-bomb would
be necessary
US KIA-7,373 and 32,056 WIA on land, at
sea 5,000 KIA---4,600 WIA
JAPANESE-107,000 KIA—7,400 POW: As
many as 150,000 civilian deaths
As many as 20,000 more KIA for the
Japanese many incinerated to nothing
DEATH OF FDR
APRIL 12,
1945
FDR DIES
AND IS
SUCCEDED
BY HARRY
S. TRUMAN
OKINAWA IS SECURED BY JUNE
22, 1945
OPERATION DOWNFALL
FULL SCALE INVASION OF THE
JAPANESE MAINLAND
7,000,000 US TROOPS IN YEAR 1
13,000,000 BY YEAR 2-3
CASUALTIES ESTIMATED IN THE
MILLIONS FOR US FORCES
IS THERE ANOTHER WAY?
Downfall, Olympic, & Coronet
Military leaders did
not know was that
by the end of July
the Japanese had
been saving all
aircraft, fuel and
pilots in reserve,
and had been
feverishly building
new planes for the
decisive battle for
their homeland
Hidden in mines,
railway tunnels,
under viaducts and
in basements of
department stores,
work was being
done to construct
new planes.
The Japanese
defenders would be
the hard-core of the
home army.
All along the invasion
beaches, American
troops would face
coastal batteries, antilanding obstacles and
a network of heavily
fortified pillboxes,
bunkers, and
underground
fortresses.
Some of the Japanese
troops would be in
American uniform,
English-speaking
Japanese officers
were assigned to
break in on American
radio traffic to call off
artillery fire, to order
retreats and to further
confuse troops.
Prairie Dog Warfare
was a battle for yards,
feet and sometimes
inches. It was a
brutal, deadly and
dangerous form of
combat aimed at an
underground, heavily
fortified, non-retreating
enemy.
In addition to the use
of poison gas and
bacteriological warfare
(which the Japanese
had experimented
with), Japan mobilized
its citizenry.
One Hundred Million
Will Die for the
Emperor and Nation
Twenty-eight
million Japanese
had become a part
of the National
Volunteer Combat
Force. They were
armed with ancient
rifles, lunge mines,
satchel charges,
Molotov cocktails
and one-shot black
powder
mortars. Others
were armed with
swords, long bows,
axes and bamboo
spears.
At the early stage of the invasion,
1,000 Japanese and American
soldiers would be dying every hour
and it would only get worse.
The island and its people would in the
end all have to die for us to succeed.
The night hell fell from the sky
B-29S & THE
FIREBOMBING OF JAPAN
Curtis LeMay
Firebomb every city in
Japan
NAPALM
Standard Oil and Du Pont
10,000 ft
NO GUNS NO GUNNERS2X
AS LOADED “A REIGN OF
FIRE”
"Slaughter bombing"
**SEE HANDOUT**
Population of Tokyo dropped
to half as panic stricken
civilians fled
POTSDAM CONFERENCE-17
JULY -2 AUGUST 45
STALIN, ATLEE, AND
TRUMAN
ULTIMATIUM TO
JAPAN
UNCONDITIONAL
SURRENDER OF FACE
TOTAL DESTRUCTION
By June 28 resistance in the
Philippines has ended
5 July Philippines officially
liberated
The night of July 10---us b-29s
begin a launch of 1000 bomber
raids on Japan
14 July US NAVAL forces begin
to bombard Japans home islands
The ends is near and the only
question is how will it end???
The Manhattan Project
Will this end the war???
Will it destroy us all??
What will be the costs??
Will Warfare ever be the
same???