The Battle of Okinawa 1945: The Real Story Behind Hacksaw Ridge

by Jon Diamond

Overview

The American campaign to capture Okinawa, codename Operation ICEBERG was fought from 1 April to 22 June 1945. 350 miles from Japan, Okinawa was intended to be the staging area for the Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland.

The Japanese Thirty Second Army defenders were on land and the Imperial Navy at sea fought tenaciously. They faced the US Tenth Army, comprising the US Army XXIV Corps and the US Marines’ III Amphibious Corps.

As the author of this superb Images of War book describes in words and pictures this was one of the most bitterly fought and costly campaigns of the Second World War. Ground troops faced an enemy whose vocabulary did not include ‘surrender’ and at sea the US Fifth Fleet, supported by elements of the Royal Navy, had to contend with kamikaze (‘divine wind’) attacks by air and over 700 explosive laden suicide boats.

The Okinawa campaign is synonymous with American courage and determination to defeat a formidably ruthless enemy. The campaign was the subject of Hacksaw Ridge, the recent Hollywood blockbuster – this is the real story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526726001
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	05/16/2019
Series:	Images of War
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	614,084
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jon Diamond MD is a kidney specialist in the USA with a deep interest in the Second World War. He is a keen collector of photographs. His Stilwell and the Chindits, War in the South Pacific, Invasion of Sicily, Invasion of the Italian Mainland: Salerno to Gustav Line, 1943-1944, Onto Rome 1944; Anzio and Victory at Cassino and Beyond Rome to the Alps; Across the Arno and Gothic Line, 1944-1945 and Op Plunder The Rhine River Crossing are all published by Pen and Sword in the Images of War series.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 4

Abbreviations 5

Chapter 1 Strategic Prelude to the Campaign for Okinawa 7

Map: Strategic prelude 8

Map: The Pacific War, September 1944-April 1945 14

Chapter 2 Terrain, Fortifications and Weapons 50

Map: Okinawa and surrounding islands 51

Chapter 3 Commanders and Combatants 119

Chapter 4 ITS Tenth Army's Amphibious Assault on Okinawa 160

Map: Landing (L)-Day: Invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 161

Chapter 5 Tenth Army Advance and the Protracted Conquest of Okinawa 181

Map: Inland and offshore Tenth Army advances 182

Map: Assault on the 'Naha-Shuri' Line 188

Map: US Tenth Army attack on IJA 3Snd Army's final redoubts 196

Epilogue 219

References 229