Combat· World War II
Kiyamu Peninsula Breakthrough
The Kiyamu Peninsula at the island's southern tip held the Thirty-second Army's third and final ring of prepared underground defenses, to which Ushijima withdrew the remnants of his army from the breached Shuri Line.
The Tenth Army pursued through incessant rain and deep mud, the Marines driving down the west while the Army pressed the east toward the Yuza-Dake and Yaeju-Dake escarpments. When those peaks fell, coherent Japanese resistance collapsed and both flanks were turned, squeezing the survivors into coastal pockets. Within this final phase the 6th Marine Division reduced the Oroku Peninsula in an amphibious assault and the 1st Marine Division fought through Kunishi Ridge. The Marines of III Amphibious Corps drove the western advance to the south coast, closing the ring as the last organized defense gave way.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 874