Page 29 - catalog 2014
P. 29
Documents relating to the Battle of Okinawa, fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and the largest
amphibious assault in the Paci c War of World War II. The battle lasted from early April until mid- June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were approaching Japan and planned to use Okinawa, as with Iwo Jima, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese homeland. Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army and two Marine Divisions fought on the island. The battle has been referred to as the “typhoon of steel” in English, referring to the ferocity of the ghting. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Paci c Theater during World War II. Japan lost more than 77,000 soldiers, and the Allies lost more than 14,000.
Documents here include the Okinawa surrender document of the Japanese Imperial Forces, signed by Japanese of cers and the American Commanding General Joseph “Vinegar Joe”
Stillwell at Yokohama on September 2, 1945.
