World War II

[robycop3]

At Iwo Jima, Gen. Kuribayashi had had almost a year to prepare his defenses. He stepped up the pace after hearing of the Saipan invasion. He had a warren of interconnected caves and tunnels made thruout the island, with a heavy concentration in Mt. Suribachi, a 550-foot hill.

His defense plan greatly displeased some of his subordinates-at first, as he planned to allow the Allies to land mostly unopposed on the beaches. But he knew the Allies would pound those beaches and the areas immediately behind them with massiveartillery salvoes from their ships, and a huge bombardment from the air, which would obliterate any above-ground beach defenses. His subordinates saw his wisdom while they waited out the Allied bombardment snug in their tunnels. Also, Kuribayashi had forbidden any suicidal bonzai charges, knowing they had no chance against well-prepared US Marines. He also forbade his men to kill themselves if surrounded, as many japanese on other islands had done, making Allied victory easier. He told them that their most-glorious death would be to die while actively fighting the enemy.

However, the Japanese were foredoomed to defeat from the start, as they had no hope of reinforcement nor any way to retreat. They knew that, but they chose to fight as long and as hard as possible to delay the inevitable attack on their home islands. Kuribayashi had over 500 pillboxes on Suribachi alone, as well as 320 MM mortars whose shells spread a large amount of shrapnel and rock fragmants over a vast radius. They had mortar pits and MG nests everywhere on the island, interconnected by tunnels, so they could quickly rush more firepower to any threatened area.

Suribachi proved easier to take than many other parts of the island, being accomplished on the 5th day of the battle, with the famous flag-raising photo being made on that 5th day. Only a few hundred of the over-1200 defenders escaped Suribachi to fight again. But the battle took 35 days, and was very costly to the Allies. However, only 216 enemies survived the battle, mostly conscripted laborers from Korea or elsewhere. Most of the captured soldiers had been found while unconscious or wounded too badly to fight. And the Allies never found the body of Kuribayashi, whom the Japanese said died fighting, and was buried by them in a place they wouldn't reveal.

The USN was criticized for this costly battle, the ctitix saying they coulda just captured the airfields without bothering to capture the whole island, and also, the US coulda captured some other easier-to-take islands & accomplished the same purpose, but such criticism is misplaced, as Iwo was directly in the flight path of the B-29s from the Marianas to Japan, and over 22000 American airmen landed their disabled aircraft safely on Iwo.(Read all about Rocky Stone's Roadside Service Station) Had the Japanese not been conquered, they coulda bombarded the airfields at will, as they still woulda had mucho artillery left.

Air Force General Curtis Le May, who usually didn't have too many kind words for the Navy, praised their capture of Iwo. He told Adm. Spruance, "Without Iwo, I could not effectively bomb japan."

A Side Note: Gen. Mac Arthur roundly criticized the Navy for its costly battle for Okinawa, but this criticism was misplaced as well. Mac said the Marines coulda cordoned off the southern tip of the island, where almost all the japanese were, Again, the enemy had a large amount of artillery, with which they coulda blasted the only airfields on the island at will, as well as Allied ships as far as 20 miles offshore. Even though Okinawa is over 50 miles long, the Japanese coulda kept it almost useless to the Allies had they not been conquered.

[noreply66]

Rhine March 24,1945

Location: Wesel, Germany

Results: Allied Victory

Allies..... United States,United Kingdom, Canada

Axis.....Germany

Top Commanders: Allies.....Bernard Montgomery, Eric Bols, Mathews B. Ridgway......Axis .....Gunther Blumentritt

Strength: Allies 16,870.....Axis 8,000

Total Killed, Wounded and Captured.....Allie 2,378.....Axis 3,500

[noreply66]

Okinawa April 1, 1945----June 23,1945

Location: Okinawa, Japan

Results: Allied Victory

Allies: United States, United Kingtom.....Axis: Empire of Japan

Top Commanders: Allies.....Simon Buckner, Joseph Stilwell, Chester Nimitz.....Axis.....Mitsuru Ushijims, Minoru Ota

Strength: Allies 548,000.....Axis 130,000

Total Killed, wounded and captured.......Allie 82,600.....Axis 124, 755

[courier]

At Iwo Jima, Gen. Kuribayashi had had almost a year to prepare his defenses. He stepped up the pace after hearing of the Saipan invasion. He had a warren of interconnected caves and tunnels made thruout the island, with a heavy concentration in Mt. Suribachi, a 550-foot hill.

His defense plan greatly displeased some of his subordinates-at first, as he planned to allow the Allies to land mostly unopposed on the beaches. But he knew the Allies would pound those beaches and the areas immediately behind them with massiveartillery salvoes from their ships, and a huge bombardment from the air, which would obliterate any above-ground beach defenses. His subordinates saw his wisdom while they waited out the Allied bombardment snug in their tunnels. Also, Kuribayashi had forbidden any suicidal bonzai charges, knowing they had no chance against well-prepared US Marines. He also forbade his men to kill themselves if surrounded, as many japanese on other islands had done, making Allied victory easier. He told them that their most-glorious death would be to die while actively fighting the enemy.

However, the Japanese were foredoomed to defeat from the start, as they had no hope of reinforcement nor any way to retreat. They knew that, but they chose to fight as long and as hard as possible to delay the inevitable attack on their home islands. Kuribayashi had over 500 pillboxes on Suribachi alone, as well as 320 MM mortars whose shells spread a large amount of shrapnel and rock fragmants over a vast radius. They had mortar pits and MG nests everywhere on the island, interconnected by tunnels, so they could quickly rush more firepower to any threatened area.

Suribachi proved easier to take than many other parts of the island, being accomplished on the 5th day of the battle, with the famous flag-raising photo being made on that 5th day. Only a few hundred of the over-1200 defenders escaped Suribachi to fight again. But the battle took 35 days, and was very costly to the Allies. However, only 216 enemies survived the battle, mostly conscripted laborers from Korea or elsewhere. Most of the captured soldiers had been found while unconscious or wounded too badly to fight. And the Allies never found the body of Kuribayashi, whom the Japanese said died fighting, and was buried by them in a place they wouldn't reveal.

The USN was criticized for this costly battle, the ctitix saying they coulda just captured the airfields without bothering to capture the whole island, and also, the US coulda captured some other easier-to-take islands & accomplished the same purpose, but such criticism is misplaced, as Iwo was directly in the flight path of the B-29s from the Marianas to Japan, and over 22000 American airmen landed their disabled aircraft safely on Iwo.(Read all about Rocky Stone's Roadside Service Station) Had the Japanese not been conquered, they coulda bombarded the airfields at will, as they still woulda had mucho artillery left.

Air Force General Curtis Le May, who usually didn't have too many kind words for the Navy, praised their capture of Iwo. He told Adm. Spruance, "Without Iwo, I could not effectively bomb japan."

A Side Note: Gen. Mac Arthur roundly criticized the Navy for its costly battle for Okinawa, but this criticism was misplaced as well. Mac said the Marines coulda cordoned off the southern tip of the island, where almost all the japanese were, Again, the enemy had a large amount of artillery, with which they coulda blasted the only airfields on the island at will, as well as Allied ships as far as 20 miles offshore. Even though Okinawa is over 50 miles long, the Japanese coulda kept it almost useless to the Allies had they not been conquered.

I've been to the island on 3 different occasions. It is truly a "rock" with an airfield/radar site in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There are still remnants of ships along/near the shoreline and they are very visible on final approach. I was amazed at how small Suribachi looked. The island is inaccessible for the avg civilian. Japanese and American military maintain, work and live on the island as it is still a refueling spot for certain aircraft flying from Japan to the Marianas and elsewhere.

[noreply66]

Midway.....June 07,1945

Location: Midway,Atoll

Results: Decisive Allied Victory

Allies: United States..........Axis: Empire of Japan

Top Commanders: Allies......Chester Nimitz, Frank Fletcher and Raymond Spruance.....Axis.....Yamamoto Isoroku

Strength: Allies 3 carriers, 357 aircraft.....Axis 4 carriers, 248 aircraft

Total Killed, Wounded and captured.....Allies 307.....Axis 3,057