Combat· World War II
Okinawa L-Day Easter Sunday
The assault on the Hagushi Beaches opened the campaign and proved a near-bloodless surprise.
Ushijima had chosen not to contest the landing, conserving his forces for the fortified interior, so the assault waves found no mines on the beaches, the main river bridge intact, and the nearby airfields lightly held. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions landed abreast on the northern half of the beachhead with four regiments forward, swept over the seawalls, and seized Yontan Airfield far ahead of schedule. Together with the Army's XXIV Corps to the south, the Tenth Army put tens of thousands of troops ashore in a single day and drove inland against negligible opposition. The Marines were half the assault landing force, executing the amphibious ship-to-shore movement that the entire campaign was built upon.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 584