Dye Dale, O`neill Robert. The road to victory: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Iwo Jima •

239

the 26th Regiment, approaching a ridge just north

of the ruins of Nishi Village, found the enemy

opposition to be almost nonexistent when

suddenly the ridge disappeared in a massive

explosion. The Japanese had mined their

command post and it was left to the Marines to

recover the bodies of 43 of their comrades.

In a clever maneuver in the 4th Division

sector, the 23rd and 24th Regiments moved to

the east and then swung sharply south,

edging the Japanese toward the 25th Regiment

which had assumed a defensive line.

Realizing that they were trapped, the

Japanese elected for a banzai attack, against

the direct orders of Kuribayashi. At around

24oohrs a large column of men was

highlighted in the cross-flares from the naval

destroyers and was decimated for no gain.

The morning revealed the extent of the

carnage. A body count showed almost 800

Japanese dead, probably the largest number

of casualties that they suffered in a single day

and a justification of Kuribayashi's reluctance

to sanction the attack. Marine casualties were

90 dead and 257 wounded.

D+17-D+18

D+17, March 9, witnessed steady but

unspectacular progress, despite another two

young Marines both being awarded posthumous

Medals of Honor. The final breakthrough to the

sea was achieved by a 28-man patrol led by

Lieutenant Paul Connally. As the men swilled

their faces in the icy water, mortar rounds began

falling among them and there was a mad

scramble back to the safety of the

cliffs.

Connally

had filled his water bottle with sea water and

sent it to General Erskine with the message "for

inspection, not consumption." That same night,

as the Marines bedded down after another

The battle for Iwo Jima

was a long, drawn out

process, with Marines

using various weapons

against their enemy.

A Carbine and Garand

can be seen in this

picture. The general

destruction of the island

following the naval

bombardment is plain to

see. (Tom Laemlein)

240 •

THE ROAD TO VICTORY: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

As the Marines made

their way across the

island, scenes such as

this dead Japanese

gunner at his post were

everyday occurances.

(Tom Laemlein)

frustrating day which saw only minor gains on

the 4th and 5th Division fronts, the drone of

hundreds of aircraft was heard as they skirted

the east of Iwo Jima for the first of the "area

bombing" raids on Tokyo.

D+19

It was obvious to both sides that, by March

10, the battle was reaching its climax.

Cushman's Pocket was proving a tough nut to

crack and the "Meatgrinder" and "Turkey

Knob" were still to be taken. However, the

Japanese were nearing the end of their

endurance as diminishing numbers and

chronic shortages were taking their toll.

In the northwest corner of the island

Lieutenant-General Kuribayashi prepared his

final enclave, one which was significantly

called "Death Valley" by the Marines.

Located about 500 yards south of Kitano

Point, it was a nightmare of rocks, caves, and

gullies where the 1,500 remaining troops

prepared for the end.

D+20 - D+36:

"GOODBYE FROM IWO"

The Japanese were now confined to three

distinct areas: one was Cushman's Pocket, the

second an area on the east coast between the

village of Higashi and the sea, and the other

was Death Valley. Conventional battle was

abandoned as the infantry slugged it out with

a desperate enemy. Tanks could only operate

in the few areas where bulldozers could clear

a path for them. Artillery fire was reduced

dramatically as the front lines merged, and

many gunners found themselves donning

combat gear.

Iwo Jima • 241

Corpsmen and stretcher-

bearers evacuate some

of the wounded to

landing craft on the

beach. In a cynical move

to placate public alarm

at the mounting casualty

figures, Iwo Jima was

declared "secure" on

March 14. In a ceremony

held in the shadow of

Mount Suribachi, Harry

Schmidt's personnel

officer read the

statement as an

artillery barrage

thundered in the north

of the island, almost

drowning out his words.

The irony of the

situation was obvious

to all. (NARA)

"Among the Americans who fought on Iwo Jima,

uncommon valor was a common virtue."

- ADMIRAL CHESTER NIMITZ

Japanese to explain the futility of further

resistance. However, the equipment failed

to work and his efforts were in vain. The

slaughter continued for four more days until

the whole garrison was eliminated.

With only Death Valley to secure, Harry

Schmidt could be forgiven for thinking that the

battle was all but over. He sadly misjudged

Kuribayashi, and another ten days of savage

fighting and 1,724 casualties lay ahead. Death

Valley was around 700 yards long and

between 300 and 500 yards wide with dozens

of canyons and gullies leading off on both

sides. In a cave somewhere in this labyrinth

the general planned his final stand.

In the northwest, the 5th Division

regrouped and re-armed in preparation for the

final assault on Death Valley (or "The Gorge"

as the Marine maps labeled it). Meanwhile

the 3rd Division fought a bloody battle in

Cushman's Pocket, slowly grinding down the

fanatical remnants of Baron Nishi's command.

The Baron, himself, partially blinded in the

fighting, held out until the end and his body

was never discovered.

General Senda was still holding out in an

area east of Higashi. Prisoners estimated his

strength at around 300 men, and in an attempt

to reduce the carnage, General Erskine

arranged for loudspeakers to broadcast to the

346 • THE ROAD TO VICTORY: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

Prisoners were rare on

Iwo Jima. A group of

curious Marines stop

to stare at one of the few

Japanese taken alive.

(NARA)

Colonel Liversedge's 28th Regiment moved

up the coast and took up their positions on

the cliffs overlooking the Valley, while the

remainder of the division attacked from the

center and from the east. In a week of attrition

the Marines painfully squeezed the Japanese

further and further back until, by March 24,

the enemy had been reduced to an area of

around 50 yards square. Flamethrower tanks

had expended over 10,000 gallons of fuel

per day burning out

caves and

crevices. So badly mauled was the 2nd

Battalion that they ceased to exist as a fighting

force, and the 1st Battalion was on its third

commander in nine days. The first was

decapitated, the second maimed by a mine,

and the third lost his left arm to a burst of

machine gun fire.

Again General Erskine tried to persuade

the enemy to give up the hopeless struggle,

sending Japanese POWs and Nisei (Japanese

Americans) to contact the defenders but to no

avail. In the pre-dawn darkness of March 26,

the final act of the tragedy was performed.

Between 200 and 300 Japanese troops

from Death Valley and

Iwo Jima • 243

"The United States is the last country in the world that

Japan should fight."

- LIEUTENANT-GENERAL KURIBAYASHI

other scattered positions on the west coast

silently crept through the ravines of the 5th

Division sector heading for a tented area

between Airfield No. 2 and the sea occupied by

a mixture of Seabees, Air Force personnel,

Shore Parties, and anti-aircraft Gunners. Most

of them were attacked while they slept. The

noise alerted other troops in the area and a

desperate battle of shooting, punching,

kicking, and stabbing raged on. Dawn

revealed the full extent of the carnage: 44

airmen and 9 Marines lay dead with a further

119 wounded; of the attackers 262 were killed

and 18 captured. Lieutenant Harry Martin of

the 5th Pioneers had hurriedly organized a

defense line during the attack and single-

handedly killed four enemy machine gunners

before dying himself. He was to be Iwo Jima's

final Medal of Honor hero, bringing the total

to an incredible 27. The circumstances of

General Kuribayashi's death have always been

shrouded in mystery but most accounts

indicate that he asked to be buried by his own

soldiers prior to discovery by his erstwhile foe.

AFTERMATH

A total of 2,251 B-29 Superfortress bombers

made forced landings on the island during and

after the battle. This represented a large

number of crewmen who would otherwise

have had to ditch in the 1,300-mile expanse of

ocean between Japan and the Marianas with a

minimal chance of survival.

The capture of the Philippine Islands and

the invasion of Okinawa in April accelerated

the pace of the war. The 20th Air Force fire-

raising raids and the dropping of the atomic

bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended it,

and the island of Iwo Jima, secured at a terrible

cost in Marine lives, played a major role in

these events. The savagery of the fighting and

the fanatical defense on Iwo Jima clearly

demonstrated the high price the US would

have to pay if an invasion of mainland Japan

were ever attempted.

A memorial stands

near the site of General

Kuribayashi's cave

in Death Valley.

(Taro Kuribayashi)

ORIGINS OF

THE CAMPAIGN

The spring of 1945 found Allied fortunes in the

Pacific very much in the ascendant. There was

no doubt who would be the ultimate victor.

The only questions remaining were when the

final battle would be fought and how many

more men would have to die.

The Japanese knew what was coming next

but they did not know exactly where the

Americans would strike. The Imperial General

Headquarters (IGHQ) narrowed the possible

targets to Formosa off the Chinese mainland

or Okinawa southwest of the Home Islands

and part of the Ryukyus island group. The

Japanese began to reinforce both areas as

the American 5th Fleet and US 10th Army

marshaled at island bases across the Pacific.

OPPOSING PLANS

THE JAPANESE PLAN

In 1945 only scattered remnants of the Imperial

Japanese Army (IJA) held out in the Philippines.

Much of

the

Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) rested

on the bottom of the Pacific. Its once feared

carrier air arm had virtually ceased to exist.

US submarines had cut Japan's sea-lanes while

B-29 bombers rained explosives on Japan's cities

at will.

Expecting attacks on Formosa and the

Ryukyus, Japan prepared to battle the Americans

to a stalemate. Hoping that Japanese spirit would

endure massed American firepower and limitless

material resources, it would strive to inflict

unacceptable losses and sue for peace.

The 32nd Army's battle slogan expressed

this plan for a "war of attrition" in blunt terms:

One plane for one warship

One boat for one ship

One man for ten of the enemy or one tank

But the 32nd Army under the command of

Lieutenant-General Mitsuru Ushijima was not

at full strength and could only defend

approximately one-third of the region. The 32nd

Army's deployment found the 62nd Division

covering an area in the south from Naha and

Shuri north to a line anchored on the east and

west coasts on the second narrowest neck of the

island, the three-and-a-half-mile-wide Chatan

Isthmus. This north-facing front was dug in on

OPPOSITE

Assault troops of the

1st Marine Division

churn ashore aboard a

landing vehicle, tracked

Mk 3 (LVT[3B amphibian

tractor. This view is

toward the amtracs

stern and shows a .socal

HB-M2 machine gun.

Five-gallon water cans

line the amtrac's sides

for use ashore and for

protection from small-

arms fire. The landings

on Okinawa were the

largest simultaneous

amphibious assault

in the entire Pacific

War and in total over

1,300 ships would take

part. (USMC)

246 • THE ROAD TO VICTORY: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

some of the first high ground encountered

south of the central plains where the Americans

would land. A more formidable defense line

behind this was centered on the rugged

4,500 yard-long Urasoe-Mura Escarpment,

Tanabaru Escarpment, and several ridges

running from northwest to southeast across the

island. The main defense line, however, was

still further south and centered on Shuri Castle

and a vast, rugged cross-island ridge and hill

complex. The weary advancing Americans

would run headlong into well-prepared and

formidable defenses.

The 24th Division secured the southern end

of the island to prevent landings and act as the

32nd Army reserve. The 44th Independent

Mixed Brigade (1MB) was southeast of the 62nd

defending the Chinen Peninsula, where it was

thought the Americans might land on the

island's southeast Minatogawa Beaches

(Minatoga in most US documents). The Okinawa

Naval Base Force secured the Oroku Peninsula

southwest of the 62nd Division and was

prepared to fight the Americans at the water's

edge as was IJN doctrine. The island's north was

not completely abandoned. The 1st Specially

Established Regiment (formed from airfield

service personnel) screened the Yontan and

Kadena Airfields on the central plains. The

regimental-size 2nd Infantry Unit, detached

from the 44th 1MB, was established on the

Motobu Peninsula on the island's northwest

coast to distract the Americans. One of its

battalions was on Ie Shima (island) just west of

the Motobu along with other small elements.

The 32nd Army had little faith in promised

Japanese air support. In order to survive and

slow the Americans to the maximum extent, the

Army would dig. Thousands of pillboxes,

bunkers, weapons emplacements, and fighting

positions were dug. Terrain features were

Okinawa • 247

incorporated into the defense and weapons

were well-sited with excellent overlapping fields

of fire. Multiple defense lines were established

across the island anchored on dominating

terrain. Extensive tunnel systems were dug, over

60 miles, enough to protect the Army's 100,000

troops. The construction and improvement of

these repeating lines would continue through

the battle as the Japanese were painfully pushed

south. Supplies and munitions were protected

in dugouts and caves.

THE US PLAN

The main landing would begin at o83ohrs,

April 1, 1945, H-Hour, L-Day. The largest

simultaneous amphibious assault in the Pacific

War would see the landing of two Marine and

two Army divisions abreast on eight miles of

beach. Ill Amphibious Corps (IIIAC) would

land opposite Yontan Airfield with its 6th

Marine Division on the left. The Division would

move rapidly inland, seize the airfield and

protect the 10th Army's north flank by severing

the island at the narrow Ishikawa Isthmus. Its

22nd Marines would land on the left flank. The

4th Marines would land on the right and would

focus on the airfield. The Division's 29th

Marines was in IIIAC Reserve to land to order.

On the IIIAC's right, the 1st Marine Division

would storm ashore south of the airfield and

maintain contact with XXIV Corps on its right.

The 7th Marines would land on the Division's

left and the 5th on the right. The 1st Marines

would be in Division Reserve and follow the 7th

ashore while the Eastern Islands would

be secured as required to further protect the

10th Army's seaward eastern flank.

The Bishi Gawa (stream) served as the

initial physical boundary between IIIAC and

XXIV Corps. The veteran 7th Infantry Division

LEFT

Troops of the 1st Marine

Division board a landing

craft, vehicle and

personnel (LCVP)

alongside an assault

transport on the

morning of L-Day.

(USMC)

OPPOSITE TOP TO

BOTTOM

The embrasure of a

concrete and limestone

10.5cm Model 14 (1925)

gun emplacement dug

into the side of a hill.

Despite having a limited

field of fire, it and other

widely dispersed guns

were able to concentrate

their fires on specific

areas through which

it was predicted the

enemy would advance.

Similar positions were

constructed of logs

rather than concrete.

(USMC)

This looft-long, log-

reinforced tunnel had

five rooms branching off

it. The tunnel was found

on le Shima, and would

have served as a troop

shelter, command post,

aid station, ammunition

and supply store.

(USMC)

A heavily constructed

concrete, limestone,

and log bunker line on

Mezado Ridge 500-600

yards southwest of

Kunishi and 1,200 yards

south of Itoman. Only

a direct hit by a large-

caliber projectile or

a heavy bomb would

breach such bunkers.

(US Army)

248 • THE ROAD TO VICTORY: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

• Japanese strongpoints

[><3 US Marines

153 US Army

— — 1-Day (evening of

April) positions

Map depicting the

landing beaches at

Okinawa. (Osprey

Publishing Ltd.)

would land on the corps' left, maintain contact

with IIIAC, and seize Kadena Airfield. Its 17th

Infantry would be on the left and the 32nd on

the right. The 184th Infantry was the division

reserve. The 96th Infantry Division would land

south of the airfield with its 381st Infantry

on the left and the 383rd Infantry on the right.

Its 382nd Infantry was the corps reserve.

There was no division reserve, but the 382nd

would land behind the 381st and be prepared

to respond to a Japanese counterattack from

the south. XXIV Artillery would land as

necessary to support the corps attack. The

corps' main mission, after capturing Kadena

Airfield, was to swing south and secure an

east-west line through Kuba Saki and seal

off the Japanese in the south.

The 2nd Marine Division would remain

as the 10th Army Floating Reserve along

with the 27th Infantry Division as the

Expeditionary Troops Floating Reserve.

Once the island was severed and the

Japanese forces divided and isolated, with the

central portion of

the

island secured XXIV Corps

would advance south with the 7th Infantry

Division on the left (east) and the 96th on the

right (west) to seize the main objective area: the

island's southern end. IIIAC would back up

XXIV Corps, securing the occupied sector across

the island with its 1st Marine Division while the

6th advanced to clear the north end of the

island. The 77th Infantry Division would then

seize Ie Shima. The 27th Infantry Division would

land as necessary as XXIV Corps' frontline

lengthened as the advance pressed south to

where the island widened.

Initial air support for the landing forces

would be provided by 14 escort carriers. Task

Force 51 (TF-51) would transport and deliver

the landing forces, sustain them ashore,

provide close air support, and deliver naval

gunfire support. The 5th Fleet's Fast Carrier

Striking Force (TF-58) and British Carrier

Force (TF-57) would attack Japanese air bases

in the Home Islands and the Ryukyus and any

remnants of the Imperial Fleet.

OPPOSING

COMMANDERS

THE US COMMANDERS

Rear-Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, as

Commander Task Force 50 (TF-50), 5th Fleet

and Central Pacific Task Forces, was