The Final Phase[4]
The last three months of 1944 marked the almost complete destruction
of Japanese air power in the Philippines and the defeat of the enemy
ground forces on Leyte. In January 1945 men and equipment began to
arrive in the Pacific in ever increasing numbers. Sixth and Eighth
Armies were fighting the Japanese in the Philippines, while the Tenth
was being organized to be used later on Okinawa. The Navy and Air
Forces were also expanding in number of men, ships, and planes.
[4] See Roy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, and John
Stevens, _Okinawa: The Last Battle_. Washington D.C. 1948, in the
series _U.S. ARMY IN WORLD WAR II._
The next step in the reconquest of the Philippines was the battle for
Luzon. Mindoro was seized before the invasion of Luzon was launched so
that an Allied air base could be established to provide air support for
the ground operations on Luzon. On 9 January 1945 U.S. troops landed on
the beaches of Lingayen Gulf on the western side of Luzon. The landings
were virtually unopposed and assault troops advanced rapidly inland
until they came to rugged terrain and well-prepared Japanese defense.
While part of the forces were left to hold a line facing north, the
bulk of the troops turned south toward Manila, which was captured.
Bataan Peninsula was cleared of enemy troops and Corregidor was seized.
While the U.S. attack carried on to clear the southern portion of the
island, another advance through the difficult mountainous terrain in
the north got under way. This was the climax to the fighting on Luzon.
While the battle for Luzon was in progress, other U.S. troops were
clearing the enemy pockets on Leyte and Samar and capturing the islands
in the southern Philippines with a speed and thoroughness which showed
the high degree of coordination developed by the ground, sea, and air
forces.
By the time the fighting stopped on Luzon, U.S. troops were being
redeployed from Europe to the Pacific, and in July the first contingent
of service troops from the ETO arrived in Manila. In August the U.S.
First Army established its command post on Luzon.
On 19 February 1945 Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands was assaulted by
marines who, by 16 March, overcame the stubborn enemy resistance and
secured the island for an advance air base from which the U.S. Air
Forces could support the invasion of Japan. On 1 April the invasion of
Okinawa in the Ryukyus began. This island, assaulted by Marine and Army
troops, was the last in the island-hopping warfare--in fact the last of
the battles before the fall of Japan itself. As on Iwo, the enemy had
prepared elaborate defenses and fought fanatically in the unsuccessful
attempt to prevent the U.S. forces from seizing the island. Because of
its closeness to Japan, the enemy was able to attack Okinawa by air
from its home bases and air superiority had not been gained by the
Allies before the amphibious assault began. This period of fighting
was marked by Japanese suicide attacks against Allied naval ships and
the Navy sustained heavy losses, losses greater than in any other
campaign during the war. On 21 June the island was declared secure and
the next few days were spent mopping up enemy pockets. The fall of
Okinawa and Iwo gave the Allies the air bases from which the almost
daily aerial attacks on the principal industrial cities of Japan were
to be launched, as well as emergency landing fields for crippled B-29’s
returning to their more distant island bases from attacks on Japan.
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: PBY CATALINA AMPHIBIAN FLYING BOATS over the U.S.
invasion fleet in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. The Luzon Campaign began on 9
January 1945 when U.S. forces landed in the Lingayen-San Fabian area.
(Consolidated Vultee.)]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: MEN AND SUPPLIES COME ASHORE in the Lingayen Gulf San
Fabian area. After a heavy bombardment of the landing beaches, the
first assault troops landed on Luzon, meeting little opposition. By
nightfall the invading army had gained an initial lodgment, suffering
but few casualties.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: SUPPLIES ON THE BEACH ON LINGAYEN GULF. By the end of
the first day the beachhead was seventeen miles long and four miles
deep. Large numbers of men and great quantities of supplies were
ashore.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. INFANTRYMEN CROSSING A DAMAGED BRIDGE as they
advance inland from the beach. The advancing U.S. troops found the
bridges destroyed. Some had been destroyed in 1942 during the Japanese
conquest of the Philippines.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: FIRST-WAVE TROOPS, armed with M1 rifles, wade waist
deep through a stream en route to San Fabian, 9 January 1945. The
U.S. forces encountered undefended rice fields, small ponds, marshes,
and streams beyond the beaches. Amphibian tractors were used to ferry
troops across the deeper of these water obstacles.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: SUPPLY CONVOY CROSSING THE AGNO RIVER over a
newly completed ponton bridge near Villasis, 22 January (top).
Two-and-a-half-ton amphibian trucks unload supplies at Dagupan, on the
Agno River a short distance from Lingayen Gulf. From Dagupan they were
loaded onto trains and sent inland to the advancing troops (bottom).]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: FILIPINOS IN A RICE FIELD watching an artillery cub
plane prepare to take off near Angio, about a mile and a half inland
from the beach, 12 January (top). Filipinos working with U.S. engineer
troops assembling steel matting on an airstrip at Lingayen, 14 January
(bottom). On 17 January the Lingayen airstrip was completed and the
Far Eastern Air Forces assumed responsibility for the air support of
ground operations. By this time the Japanese had stopped sending air
reinforcement to the Philippines and during the Luzon Campaign air
superiority was in the hands of the U.S. forces.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. CASUALTY RECEIVING PLASMA at the front lines near
Damortis. The Japanese were well emplaced in the mountain areas beyond
the beaches and the U.S. artillery and armor were greatly limited in
their effectiveness by the rugged terrain. The enemy put up his first
strong opposition along the Rosario-Pozorrubio-Binalonan line, where he
had built pillboxes and dugouts of every description with artillery and
automatic weapons well hidden and camouflaged. This fighting was not
a part of the drive on Manila. The enemy casualties during the latter
part of January 1945 were much greater than those suffered by the U.S.
forces.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: JAPANESE MEDIUM TANK, Type 97 (1937) improved version
with 47-mm. antitank gun, knocked out near San Manuel (top); U.S.
medium tank, M4A3 passing a burning enemy tank, 17 January (bottom).
During the last few days of January the U.S. forces near the San
Manuel-San Quintin and Munoz Baloc areas met strong armored opposition
and severe fighting ensued. By the end of the month both objectives,
the cities of San Quintin and Munoz, were reached. Forty-five enemy
tanks were destroyed in the San Manuel fighting. Most of the enemy
tanks encountered were dug in and used as pillboxes and were not used
in actual armored maneuver.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. SOLDIER FIRING A FLAME THROWER at a Japanese
position. The only way many of the enemy positions could be knocked out
was to assault them with flame throwers.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: ARTILLERYMEN AT AN OBSERVATION POST east of Damortis,
February 1945; the officer in right foreground is using a telescope BC
M1915A1 (top). 105-mm. howitzers M2A1 firing at the city of Bamban, 26
January 1945 (bottom). While one U.S. corps drove south toward Manila
another corps swung north and northeast from Lingayen Gulf, beginning
a four-month up-hill campaign against the Yamashita Line. This was a
name given by U.S. forces to the defense sector across the mountains of
central Luzon.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 105-MM. HOWITZERS M2A1 firing from the grounds of Santo
Tomas University during the attack on Manila, 5 February. While some
U.S. forces continued the drive northeast from Lingayen, the remainder
of the troops began to advance on Manila. On the night of 31 January-1
February the attack on Manila began in full force.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: MANILA DURING AN ARTILLERY ATTACK. Rafts and amphibian
tractors were used to ferry the attacking U.S. troops across the
numerous streams because the enemy had destroyed all the bridges. When
the enemy did not evacuate Manila, U.S. artillery was employed. It had
previously been hoped that it would not be necessary to shell the city.
Blocked off by white line in top picture is Intramuros. River at left
in top picture and the foreground of bottom picture is the Pasig. The
tall tower at right in bottom picture is part of the city hall, later
occupied by GHQ.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: INFANTRYMEN ON THE ALERT in a street of Manila man
their .30-caliber Browning machine gun M1919A4. On 7 February 1945 the
envelopment of Manila began and by 11 February the Japanese within the
city were completely surrounded. Cavite was seized on 13 February.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. TROOPS MOVING INTO MANILA, 12 February. The
attacking forces were assigned the mission of clearing Manila, where
the fighting continued from house to house and street to street.
Despite the many enemy strong points throughout the city, the U.S.
attackers progressed steadily and by 22 February the Japanese were
forced back into the small area of the walled city, Intramuros.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 240-MM. HOWITZER M1 firing on Intramuros, where the
walls were sixteen feet high, forty feet thick at the base, tapering
to twenty feet at the top. During the night of 22-23 February all
available artillery was moved into position and at 0730 on 23 February
the assault on Intramuros began. Once the walls were breached and the
attacking troops had entered, savage fighting ensued. On 25 February
the entire area of the walled city was in U.S. hands.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: INFANTRYMEN PICK THEIR WAY ALONG A STREET of Intramuros
as a bulldozer clears away the rubble. On 4 March 1945 the last
building was cleared of the enemy and Manila was completely in U.S.
hands. In background is the downtown business section of Manila, on the
far side of the Pasig River.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: MEDIUM TANK M4A1, modified, firing on an enemy position
in the hills east of Manila, 10 March. After the fall of Manila the
U.S. forces reorganized and moved east to a line extending from
Antipolo to Mount Oro. For two days artillery and aircraft attacked
enemy positions and then ground forces attacked the hill masses
approaching Antipolo. After the fall of that city on 12 March, the
advance continued eastward over a series of mountain ridges which
ascended to Sierra Madre. While this attack progressed, another drive
to clear southern Luzon began.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: FOOD AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES BEING DROPPED to the Allied
internees at Bilibid Prison Farm near Muntinglupa, Luzon, after
they were rescued from the Japanese prison camp at Los Banos. After
the capture of Fort McKinley on 19 February, troops of the airborne
division turned east to Laguna de Bay and then southward. It was given
the dual mission of rescuing some 2,000 civilian internees at Los Banos
and destroying the enemy that had been bypassed during the advance on
Manila. Assisted by a parachute company that was dropped near the camp,
a special task force liberated the internees, and then continued to mop
up enemy troops.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: BOMB STRIKE ON A MOUNTAIN west of Bamban. Progress was
slow over the difficult terrain of the Zambales Mountains where the
Japanese had constructed pillboxes and trenches and had fortified
caves. The U.S. attack was made frontally, aided by daily air strikes,
and the enemy strong points were eliminated one by one. By 14 February
the Americans had secured the high ground commanding Fort Stotsenburg
and Clark Field.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. PARATROOPERS LANDING ON CORREGIDOR during the
invasion of the island (top); “Topside,” Corregidor (bottom). While the
U.S. advance down the Bataan Peninsula was progressing, Corregidor was
being assaulted. On 16 February 1945 a battalion of a regimental combat
team landed on the south shore of the island. A regimental combat team
was flown north from Mindoro and landed two hours before the amphibious
assault troops.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: CORREGIDOR. Paratroopers landing on the island; note
that some landed on the side of the cliff rather than on Topside,
accounting for many casualties (top). C-47 dropping supplies to the
troops which have landed (bottom). By afternoon on 16 February the
ground and airborne troops had joined forces, and before dawn of the
next day they had split the island in two.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: CREW OF A 75-MM. PACK HOWITZER M1A1 being subjected
to small arms fire on Corregidor, 17 February. At first the enemy
offered only spotty resistance but soon rallied and offered a stubborn
defense.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: PARATROOPER, armed with a U.S. carbine M1A3 with a
folding pantograph stock, fires a bazooka at an enemy pillbox on Greary
Point, Corregidor, 19 February.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: SOLDIERS LOOKING AT MALINTA HILL, Corregidor. On 27
February 1945, Corregidor was once again in U.S. hands, although
individual Japanese soldiers were still found hiding on the island.
U.S. losses were 209 killed, 725 wounded, and 19 missing. Enemy losses
were 4,497 killed and 19 prisoners.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: CHENEY BATTERY, Corregidor, showing destruction of the
installation (top). East end of Malinta Tunnel, where the defending
U.S. troops held out during the enemy attack in 1942 (bottom). Much of
the destruction of the Corregidor installations shown in these pictures
was from enemy artillery shellings in 1942.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: BATTLE CASUALTY being placed aboard a Catalina flying
boat for evacuation to Nichols Field near Manila. The PBY patrol
bomber was extensively used in the Pacific for rescue work and usually
patrolled large areas of the ocean over which the long-range bombers
flew. These planes could land and take off from the ocean and were
equipped to handle casualties.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: INFANTRYMEN firing a .30-caliber water-cooled machine
gun M1917A1 at the enemy in the hills of Luzon. An all-out offensive to
destroy the enemy in northern Luzon began in late February. Extremely
rugged terrain combined with enemy resistance made the advance over
the hills slow and costly. The majority of the attacking U.S. troops
attempted to gain an entry to Cagayan Valley through Balete Pass.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 and infantrymen.
By 15 March 1945 the enemy was being pushed back and the U.S. forces
in northern Luzon were advancing columns up the roads to Bauang and
Baguio. The stubborn Japanese defense and the difficult terrain slowed
U.S. advances for weeks.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: VIEWS OF THE HARBOR AT MANILA showing the congested
docking area and amount of shipping. Clearing Manila Harbor and
restoring its dock facilities progressed rapidly and supply problems
were soon helped by the full use of the excellent port, which was well
located for supplying troops in the Philippines. By 15 March a total
of 10,000 tons per day was passing through the port. By the middle of
April almost two hundred sunken ships had been raised from the bottom
of the bay. Top picture shows Pier 7, one of the largest in the Far
East.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: BOMB CRATERS ON THE RUNWAY AT LIPA AIRFIELD in Batangas
Province. In southern Luzon advancing U.S. units met at Lipa and
continued the final mopping up of enemy resistance in the southern
portion of the island.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT, AND TROOPS coming ashore at Legaspi
in southeastern Luzon. Small landing craft in top picture are LCM’s;
in background is an LST. On 1 April troops landed at Legaspi and soon
overran southeastern Luzon.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: GUN TURRETS AT FORT DRUM being blasted in a low-level
aerial attack. The last enemy resistance in the Zambales Mountains
was broken up, Bataan Peninsula was cleared of enemy troops, and
the remaining enemy-held islands in Manila Bay were taken. On the
island of El Fraile, on which Fort Drum (a concrete fort shaped like
a battleship) was located, troops landed on the top of the fort and
pumped a mixture of oil and gasoline into the ventilators. When
ignited, the resulting explosions and fires destroyed the garrison.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: TROOPS ADVANCING ON A ROAD EAST OF MANILA while overhead
a P-38 drops two bombs on Japanese positions. Bitter fighting took
place over the almost inaccessible ridges and peaks of the Sierra Madre
Mountains.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: REPUBLIC P-47’s AND LOCKHEED P-38’s (top and bottom
respectively) drop napalm fire bombs on enemy positions in the
mountains east of Manila. As each bomb hit the target or ground
it would explode and burn everything over an oval-shaped area of
approximately 70 by 150 feet. The bombs were effective in eliminating
the enemy troops in their well-dug-in positions.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 in the hills east of
Manila.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 8-INCH HOWITZER M1 firing on enemy positions in Ipo
Dam area, May 1945 (top); Filipino guerrillas fighting against the
enemy in Batangas Province with the U.S. troops (bottom). Some of the
guerrillas had been fighting against the Japanese since the fall of
the Philippines in 1942. Weapon in foreground (bottom) is the standard
Japanese gas-operated, air-cooled, heavy machine gun (Type 92 (1932)
7.7-mm. Hv MG). The feed is a 30-round strip and may be seen in place,
rate of fire 450 rounds per minute.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: DIFFICULT TERRAIN. Infantrymen pushing along a muddy,
primitive road (top); a patrol moving through heavy undergrowth
(bottom).]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: U.S. TROOPS moving through mountainous terrain on their
way to Santa Fé, Luzon.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: LIGHT TANK M5 providing cover from Japanese fire for a
wounded infantryman on the road to Baguio (top). Armor and infantry on
a hillside overlooking Baguio; in the foreground is a 105-mm. howitzer
motor carriage M7, while down the slope of the hill is a 76-mm. gun
motor carriage M18 (bottom). Vehicles, like the foot soldiers, found
the going hard over the rough terrain.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: VEHICLES FORDING A RIVER in northern Luzon while
engineer troops work on the road; in foreground is a 105-mm. howitzer
motor carriage M7. Note destroyed enemy vehicles along road and in
stream (top). A bulldozer and a medium tank help another medium tank
which has struck a road mine (bottom).]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: MEDIUM TANK M4A1 on a hill overlooking Baguio (top);
soldiers looking at the ruins of the western section of Baguio
(bottom). Baguio was subjected to extensive bombardment by aircraft
and heavy artillery and the enemy’s defenses around the former summer
capital were reduced. Infantry troops led by tanks that had great
difficulty maneuvering through the mountains entered Baguio on 27 April
with practically no opposition.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 155-MM. HOWITZER M1 in Balete Pass shelling enemy
artillery positions, 19 April. During March one division moved forward
ten miles after constructing more than 130 miles of roads and trails.
The same problems of terrain were faced in this advance and it was not
until 13 May that the pass was seized.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: P-38’S DROPPING FIRE BOMBS north of Balete Pass.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: INFANTRYMAN ROUTING ENEMY SOLDIERS hiding in a culvert
near Aritao on the highway north of Balete Pass. U.S. forces broke
through the Japanese defenses at Aritao and seized Bayombong to the
north toward the Cagayan Valley on 7 June 1945. After this, the drive
northward was rapid and met with little opposition.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN in northern Luzon. The Malaya River
flows through the valley in the vicinity of Cervantes, Ilocos Sur
Province.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: PARATROOPERS LANDING NEAR APARRI. The Northern Luzon
Guerrilla Force had cleared the northwestern coast of Luzon and by
early June 1945 controlled practically all the territory north of
Bontoc and west of the Cagayan Valley. On 21 June U.S. troops and
guerrillas seized Aparri, and on 23 June a reinforced parachute
battalion was dropped near the town. The paratroopers moved southward
meeting U.S. troops moving northward.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: A PHOSPHORUS HAND GRENADE EXPLODING on an enemy
position. The drive into the Cagayan Valley ended the last offensive on
Luzon in June 1945. Enemy pockets of resistance were cleared out and
by 15 August, when hostilities officially ended, the U.S. forces had
reported 40,565 casualties including 7,933 killed. The Japanese lost
over 192,000 killed and approximately 9,700 captured.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: 60-MM. MORTAR CREW FIRING at enemy positions on
Mindanao. While the fighting was still in progress on Luzon, other U.S.
troops were engaged on other islands in the Philippine Archipelago.
Mopping up was still in progress on Leyte and Samar; landings were
made on Mindanao, Palawan, Marinduque, Panay, Cebu, Bohol, Negros,
Masbate, Jolo, and Basilan; and other troops were being prepared for
the invasion of Okinawa.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: SHELL CASES BEING OPENED in preparation for an 81-mm.
mortar attack in the hills of Mindanao (top); light armored car M8
moving along a river bank on Mindanao (bottom). During July most of
the remaining enemy troops on Mindanao were driven into the hills and
hemmed in, after which they were relentlessly attacked by aircraft.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: TROOPS WADING ASHORE during the invasion of Cebu island
(top) and on the beach after landing (bottom). During March landings
were made on Panay, Cebu, and Negros.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: FILIPINO RESIDENTS OF CEBU CITY welcome infantry and
armored troops.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: TROOPS DISEMBARKING FROM AN LVT(4) on Mactan Island in
the southern Philippines, April 1945.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: CAPTURED JAPANESE SOLDIER being brought in on northern
Cebu, May 1945 (top). Japanese prisoners at Cebu City boarding a ship
that will take them to a prisoner of war enclosure (bottom). Of the
more than 350,000 enemy troops in the entire Philippine Archipelago
only an estimated 50,000 were left when Japan capitulated. Of the
original number relatively few were taken prisoner.]
PHILIPPINES
[Illustration: AN ENLISTED MAN of an airborne division buying bananas
from native Filipinos as he waits to take off from Lipa airfield for
Okinawa in September 1945. In background is a Waco glider CG-4A.]
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES
[Illustration: DOUGLAS A-20 flies away after hitting an oil storage
tank on an island in the Netherlands East Indies. While U.S. forces
were liberating the Philippines, Australian troops were fighting
against isolated enemy positions in New Guinea, New Britain, and
Bougainville, and at the same time were preparing for an attack on
Borneo. On 1 May Australian forces landed on Tarakan Island off the
northeast coast of Borneo. On 10 June Australians landed at Brunei Bay,
Borneo, and by the middle of July there was little enemy activity.
The best harbors were seized and the rich oil fields were again under
Allied control. The remaining Japanese troops withdrew into the jungles
of the interior.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: IWO JIMA]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: MEN AND EQUIPMENT ON BOARD AN LST waiting to move in on
D Day, Iwo Jima. Even before the invasion of the Philippines it had
been decided to seize Iwo Jima in order to obtain airfields to support
the ultimate invasion of Japan. Iwo Jima was the only island in the
Volcano and Bonin groups suitable for an air installation of any size.
Beginning in August 1944 the island was bombed by Allied aircraft so
as to neutralize the enemy airfields and installations located there.
On 19 February 1945 two Marine divisions landed on Iwo under cover of
supporting fire from naval ships. Jima means island.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: UNLOADING ON THE BEACH ON IWO JIMA. Initially during the
landing on Iwo Jima all went according to plans. The water was calm,
no underwater obstacles were found, and the heavy preinvasion shelling
had destroyed some of the mine fields. One hour after the first waves
of marines were ashore the enemy opened fire with automatic weapons,
mortars, and artillery. Later in the day heavy seas hurled landing
craft on to the beach, which added greatly to the difficulty of getting
men and supplies ashore.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: STEEL MATTING BEING LAID on the beach at Iwo Jima to
facilitate the unloading of heavy equipment over the sand. Both on
the beaches and inland the loose volcanic soil made the movement of
vehicles extremely difficult. Trucks bogged down and supplies soon
piled high on the beach.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: 75-MM. GUN MOTOR CARRIAGES M3 FIRING at enemy positions
on Iwo Jima (top). 4.5-inch automatic rocket launchers T45 mounted on
two ¾-ton trucks, firing; this gravity-feed automatic launcher was
developed as a Navy standard item for firing the 4.5-inch Navy barrage
rocket (bottom).]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: A DUMMY JAPANESE TANK carved in the soft volcanic ash.
This tank had previously drawn fire from the attacking U.S. troops.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: MARINES FIRING ON ENEMY SOLDIERS hidden in a cave.
Two marines wait at the base of a rock while nearer the top one
fires an automatic rifle and two others fire a rocket launcher and a
.45-caliber submachine gun. The enemy had set up an elaborate system of
defenses. The island was honeycombed with caves and connecting tunnels,
camouflaged pillboxes and gun positions. Most of the caves had at least
thirty-five feet of overhead cover and had not been damaged during the
preinvasion bombing and shelling.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: FLAME THROWERS burning out enemy troops in a hidden
cave while a rifleman waits behind the cover of a rock. One by one the
marines knocked out the enemy pillboxes and sealed the caves, gradually
breaking down the defense system.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: THREE JAPANESE COMING OUT OF THEIR CAVE to surrender
(top); five captured enemy soldiers (bottom). On 16 March it was
officially announced that all organized enemy resistance had come to
an end, although mopping up continued for many days in the Kitano
Point area. The exact number of casualties to the enemy is not known
as many were lost in their caves and tunnels, but by 21 March over
21,000 dead had been counted, while only 212 prisoners were taken. Out
of approximately 20,000 casualties the Marines lost over 4,000 killed,
while Navy casualties amounted to over 1,000. Iwo Jima was probably
the most strongly fortified island selected as an objective during the
war.]
IWO JIMA
[Illustration: B-29 CRASH LANDS on the airstrip on Iwo Jima and burns
after returning from an attack on Tokyo. On 17 March 1945 sixteen
Superfortresses returning from a strike against Japan made emergency
landings on Iwo, and by the middle of June more than 850 of the large
bombers had landed there. By the end of the war over 2,400 B-29’s had
made emergency landings on the island.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: OKINAWA ISLAND GROUP]
JAPAN
[Illustration: THE CARRIER USS _FRANKLIN_ BURNING after being seriously
damaged during a Japanese attack. The middle of March 1945 marked the
beginning of the Okinawa campaign. On 14 March a fast carrier force
departed from Ulithi for an attack on Kyushu, while air force bombers
struck at Formosa and Honshu. On 18 March planes from the carrier force
successfully attacked airfields on Kyushu. The following day the planes
again took off, this time to strike enemy warships at Kure and Kobe.
During these bombardments Japanese planes attacked the carrier force
ships and damaged six of the carriers, one of them considerably and
another, the _Franklin_, seriously. The carrier force then moved toward
Okinawa, arriving in the area on 23 March, and warships and planes
bombarded the island.]
KEISE ISLANDS
[Illustration: GUN CREW SETTING UP A 155-MM. GUN M1A1 on one of the
Keise Islands (top); Japanese suicide boat captured on Aka Island
(bottom). On 26 March ground troops began the task of seizing the
Kerama group of islands. By 29 March all organized resistance had
collapsed and the following day the islands were declared secure.
Over 350 Japanese suicide boats were captured and destroyed by U.S.
troops in the Kerama Islands. On 31 March the Keise Islands were seized
without opposition and by evening two battalions of 155-mm. guns had
been put ashore to support the main landings on Okinawa.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: AERIAL VIEW OF SHIPS during the landings on Okinawa
(top); troops landing on the beach from LCT (6)’s (bottom). After a
preliminary bombardment of the beaches, the heaviest to support a
landing in the Pacific, the first assault troops landed on the Hagushi
beaches against no opposition. Within the first hour over 16,000 men
and some 250 amphibian tanks had landed. The airstrips at Yontanzam and
Katena were seized shortly after 1200 against little resistance. As
a result of the first day’s operations a beachhead approximately ten
miles long and three miles deep was in U.S. hands. Both Army and Marine
Corps troops made good progress during the next few days.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: PILOTED SHORT-RANGE FLYING BOMBS found on Okinawa. On 6
April the Kamakase Corps began a thirty-six hour mass suicide attack,
one of the most destructive air battles of the war. Over 350 suicide
planes accompanied by as many orthodox bombers and fighters sank or
damaged some 30 U.S. ships. The second great mass suicide attack began
on 12 April when the new Baka bomb was used for the first time. This
piloted short-range flying bomb, with a ton of explosive in its war
head, was carried to the target slung beneath a twin-engined medium
bomber. When released in a rocket-assisted dive it attained a speed of
400 to 500 miles per hour but was not very accurate.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: MEDIUM TANK M4A1 AND INFANTRYMEN blasting their way
through a minefield (top); hillside on Okinawa honeycombed with caves
and dugouts (bottom). The high ground held by the Japanese on southern
Okinawa was ideal for defense. The limestone hills were honeycombed
with caves and dugouts which were well manned and difficult to assault.
When the attacking U.S. troops had moved away from the beaches the
enemy offered strong resistance.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: ARMY NURSES ON OKINAWA washing in helmets (top); medics
at work in a hospital tent (bottom). During early April the U.S. troops
were able to make only limited gains against a well-entrenched enemy.
Heavy casualties were suffered.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: FLAME-THROWING MEDIUM TANK firing at the entrance of a
cave on southern Okinawa (top); Japanese prisoner being searched at the
entrance of a cave after he has surrendered (bottom).]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: TRUCKS MOVING THROUGH THE MUD (top); trucks bogged down
to the vehicle frames in mud (bottom). U.S. progress on Okinawa was
slow but advances were made until the middle of May when torrential
rains seriously interfered with the movement of supplies and equipment
to the front. The road system on southern Okinawa eventually broke down
and supplies had to be delivered to the front by hand or air. Armored
units were almost completely immobilized.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: AN ENLISTED MAN WASHING in a water-filled foxhole
following the heavy rains (top); drying clothes and digging a new
foxhole (bottom). The fighting continued on Okinawa until 21 June when
the island was declared secure.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: B-24 TAKING OFF FROM THE AIRSTRIP AT YONTANZAN for a
mission over Japan (top); Douglas C-54 Skymaster arriving at Yontanzan
airstrip on a flight from Guam (bottom). The construction of airstrips
on Okinawa and the nearby islands was carried out concurrently with
the operations, and attacks on the Japanese home islands were soon
started.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: PRISONERS WAITING ON A DOCK AT OKINAWA to be transported
to Hawaii. In addition to the loss of a great base on the doorstep
of Japan, the enemy lost 107,500 dead and 7,400 prisoners. U.S. Army
casualties numbered 39,430, including 7,374 killed.]
OKINAWA
[Illustration: THE FIRST BIG U.S. SHIP TO ENTER NAHA HARBOR, Okinawa
after the fighting ended. During the three-month conflict the U.S. Navy
lost a total of 386 warships, transports, and other ships. 763 aircraft
were lost in comparison with approximately 4,000 Japanese aircraft. The
losses to the enemy were very serious, and the Allies were in position
to threaten the islands of Japan.]
CHINA-BURMA-INDIA