Military - Battle of Okinama, Japan - amphibious landings - US postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  World War II - Okinawa - Battleship softens up enemy positions for a marine amphibious landing
• Publisher:  none given 'World War II No. 121' - but I think these cards were published in the US
• Postally used:  n/a
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg,^[4] was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II.^[5][6] The 82-day-long 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, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan, as a base for air operations on the planned invasion of Japanese mainland (coded Operation Downfall). Four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army (the 7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th) and two Marine Divisions (the 1st and 6th) fought on the island. Their invasion was supported by naval, amphibious, and tactical air forces.

The battle has been referred to as the ""typhoon of steel"" in English, and tetsu no ame (""rain of steel"") or tetsu no bofu (""violent wind of steel"") in Japanese.^[7][8][9] The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and to the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Based on the names listed on the Okinawan government sources,^[10] mainland Japan lost 77,166 soldiers, who were either killed or committed suicide, and the Allies suffered 14,009 deaths (with an estimated total of more than 65,000 casualties of all kinds). Simultaneously, 149,193 local civilians were killed or committed suicide, more than one third of the total local population. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan to surrender less than two months after the end of the fighting at Okinawa.

Overall Allied command authority for battle was Fifth Fleet (under Admiral Raymond A. Spruance).^[11] Fifth Fleet was divided into several task forces and groups:

• Fast Carrier Force (TF 58) under Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher with 88 ships (including 11 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 7 battleships and 18 cruisers);^[11]
• British Carrier Force (TF 57) under Vice Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings with 4 carriers, 2 battleships, 5 cruisers, 14 destroyers and fleet train;^[11]
• Gunfire and Covering Support Group (TF 54) under Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo with 10 old battleships, 11 cruisers and 30 destroyers.^[12]
• Task Force 51 (TF 51; also Joint Expeditionary Force) under Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner (who was holding position of Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific):^[13]
  • Amphibious Support Force (TF 52) under Rear Admiral William H. P. Blandy^[13]
    • TG 52.1: 18 escort carriers with 450 aircraft;^[13]
    • Special Escort Carrier Group: 4 escort carriers with Marine Aircraft Group 31 and 33;^[13]
    • Mine Flotilla (TG 52.2)
    • Underwater Demolition Flotilla (TG 52.11): ten 100-men UDT aboard a destroyer escort^[13]
    • 170 fire support landing craft
  • Western Islands Attack Group (TG 51.1) under Rear Admiral Ingolf N. Kiland with 77th Infantry Division, 17 attack and attack cargo transporters, 56 LSTs and support vessels;^[13]
  • Northern Attack Force (TF 53) under Rear Admiral Lawrence F. Reifsnider, Commander Amphibious Group 4, aboard USS Panamint (AGC-13) with III Amphibious Corps (Major General Roy Geiger) on 40+ attack and attack cargo transporters, 67 LSTs and support vessels;^[13]
  • Southern Attack Force (TF 55) under Rear Admiral John L. Hall with XXIV Corps (Major General John R. Hodge);^[13]
  • Demonstration Group (TF 51.2) with 2nd Marine Division;^[13]
  • Expeditionary Troops (TF 56) under Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. with Tenth Army.^[13]

TF 56 was the largest force within TF 50 and was built around the 10th Army. The army had two corps under its command, III Amphibious Corps, consisting of 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, and XXIV Corps, consisting of the 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions. The 2nd Marine Division was an afloat reserve, and Tenth Army also controlled the 27th Infantry Division, earmarked as a garrison, and 77th Infantry Divisions. In all, the Army had over 102,000 Army (of these 38,000+ were non-divisional artillery, combat support and HQ troops, with another 9,000 service troops),^[13] over 88,000 Marines and 18,000 Navy personnel (mostly Seabees and medical personnel).^[14] At the start of Battle of Okinawa 10th Army had 182,821 men under its command.^[14]

Although Allied land forces were entirely composed of U.S. units, the British Pacific Fleet (BPF; known to the U.S. Navy as Task Force 57) provided about ¼ of Allied naval air power (450 planes). It comprised a force which included 50 warships of which 17 were aircraft carriers, but while the British armored flight decks meant that fewer planes could be carried in a single aircraft carrier, they were more resistant to kamikaze strikes. Although all the aircraft carriers were provided by Britain, the carrier group was a combined British Commonwealth fleet with British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian ships and personnel.^{[citation needed]} Their mission was to neutralize Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands and provide air cover against Japanese kamikaze attacks. Most of the air-to-air fighters and the small dive bombers and strike aircraft were U.S. Navy carrier-based airplanes. The U.S. Navy sustained greater casualties in this operation than in any other battle of the war.^{[citation needed]}

type=printed postcards

theme=military

sub-theme=world war ii

county/ country=japan

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted