Narratives of World War II in the Pacific

Okinawa: The Costliest Battle in the Pacific War

U.S. vessels land on the shore southwest of the island of Okinawa in April 1945.

Some of the 1,500 ships and vessels that stretched to the horizon.

The Battle of Okinawa

Michael A. Eyre

The Battle for Okinawa, April 1 to June 22, 1945, was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyus Islands and lies 350 miles from mainland Japan. It is about sixty miles long and ranges from two to eighteen miles wide and held strategic value for both the Americans and the Japanese. The Americans wanted control of Okinawa because it had four airfields and could support tactical and strategic air operations.[1] The Japanese needed to retain Okinawa after the Japanese naval disaster at Truk in February, 1944, and to keep the defense of Japan as far removed from the homeland as possible. At Truk, the Japanese naval  base was virtually destroyed by American aircraft.

The Battle of Okinawa is singularly unique in so many ways and stands apart from all other battles in World War II. The factors and characteristics clearly demonstrate what the costliest battle was about and its impact on American military thinking. Military thinking up to this time was that an assault on mainland Japan was inevitable. The enormous casualties and the brutal fighting that occurred on Okinawa forced military planners to reconsider the invasion of Japan. It directly influenced the American decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and therefore saved American lives who otherwise would have been involved in the invasion.

            Okinawa was the only Japanese Prefecture to experience actual ground combat.[2] That means it had a great psychological impact on the Japanese military and population. Although it is a small island, it is also densely populated. At the time of the battle, the population was about 490,000 because 80,000 had been evacuated earlier.[3] Most of the population lived in the southern third of the island in towns and villages because the northern two thirds is mountainous. These factors directly contributed to civilian casualties.   

            The immense size of the invasion forces made it the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War. It involved more than 1,500 ships of all types.[4] Total American forces numbered approximately 548,000; of these there were approximately 183,000 combat troops for the assault.[5]

            One of the most unique aspects of this battle was the Japanese military use of children. Up to this point in the war, the Japanese refrained from employing this tactic. These organizations were composed of students which supported the Japanese forces. The Himeyuri Student Corps were female students mobilized for help as nurses and the Blood and Iron Student Corps were boys. A most compelling account was the oral history of Miyagi Kikuko, a member of the Himeyuri Student Corps, who shared that these girls were given scant medical training before their employment as nurses.[6] The suffering she went through in the battle defies belief. Of approximately 2,000 students mobilized, 1,050 were killed.[7]

The casualties were the most of any battle fought in the Pacific Theater of operations. For context, more people were killed during this battle than were lost in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Total American losses for the battle were more than 12,000 killed and more than 36,000 wounded.[8]  The U.S. Navy suffered almost 5,000 killed and approximately 8,000 Army and Marine deaths. Kamikaze attacks sank 30 ships and damaged 368, of which 10 were battleships, 13 fleet and escort carriers, 5 cruisers, and 67 destroyers.[9] Official Army historians believe that the Battle of Okinawa produced more and worse neuropsychiatric cases (battle fatigue/exhaustion/depression) than any Pacific War battle.[10] Combat stress took large numbers of men off the line, severely depleting American combat power. 

The famous American war correspondent, Ernie Pyle, was killed by a Japanese sniper. This was the only battle in the Pacific War that both commanding generals were killed. The Japanese commander, General Ushijima, committed hari-kari and his American counterpart, Lieutenant General Buckner, was killed by mortar fire. Buckner was the highest ranking American officer to be killed in World War II. This demonstrates the significance and ferocity of the fight for Okinawa.

Japanese losses, too, were staggering. They suffered 107,539 killed and it is estimated that approximately 24,000 were lost after being sealed in caves.[11] There were more Japanese taken prisoner in this battle than any other in the Pacific War. By battle’s end, there were more than 16,000 Japanese and Okinawan auxiliaries who had surrendered, a truly unprecedented event.[12]  Also taking part in the battle was the Japanese battleship, Yamato. This was the world’s largest and most powerful battleship.[13] American submarines and planes found the Yamato and she was attacked and sunk with the loss of most of the crew.

Even more appalling than the losses of the Americans and the Japanese were those suffered by the Okinawans. There were more than 140,000 Okinawans killed.[14] This was more than the losses of the Americans and Japanese combined. A large portion of these were attributed to the introduction, by the Japanese military, of group suicide which will be addressed later.

On reflection, the Battle of Okinawa was the largest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. Okinawa was the only Japanese Prefecture (official Japanese sovereign territory) to experience actual ground combat. Another unique aspect of this battle was the Japanese military’s use of children to augment their forces. Kamikazes were heavily used in this battle to great effect. It was the only time in the Pacific War that both commanders were killed in the battle and one of the most significant characteristics was the high casualty rate of the civilian population. They outnumbered that of the belligerents. Additionally, this battle also saw the first disturbing introduction of group suicide; a most horrible tactic developed and employed by the Japanese military. Group suicide will be examined following a review of the strategy and tactics of the battle.

Bibliography

Appleman, Roy E.; James M. Burns; Russell A. Gugeler; John Stevens. Okinawa: The Last Battle. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History, 2000.

Buchanan, Albert Russell. The United States and World War II. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.

Buckner, Simon Bolivar, Joseph Warren Stilwell, and Nicholas Evan Sarantakes. Seven Stars: The Okinawa Battle Diaries of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. and Joseph Stilwell. College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2004.

Cook, Haruko T, Cook Theodore F. Japan At War; An Oral History. New York: The New Press, 1992.

Frank, Richard B. 2010. The Pacific War’s Biggest Battle. Naval History 24 (2) 56-61. Retrieved from 

Keegan, John. Atlas of the Second World War. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1989.

Lau, Chrissy. Class Lectures. Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, 2018

Morgan, Thomas D. 1995. “Victory in the Pacific.” Military Review 75 (5): 

Pike, Francis. Hirohito’s War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Place, 2016.

Schrijvers, Peter. The G.I. War Against Japan; American Soldiers in Asia and the Pacific During World War II. New York: New York University Press, 2002.

Oral History: Miyagi Kikuko

One of the most unique aspects of this battle was the Japanese military use of children. Up to this point in the war, the Japanese refrained from employing this tactic. These organizations were composed of students which supported the Japanese forces. The Himeyuri Student Corps were female students mobilized for help as nurses and the Blood and Iron Student Corps were boys. A most compelling account was the oral history of Miyagi Kikuko, a member of the Himeyuri Student Corps, who shared that these girls were given scant medical training before their employment as nurses. The suffering she went through in the battle defies belief. Of approximately 2,000 students mobilized, 1,050 were killed.