JAPAN'S BATTLE OF OKINAWA APRIL-JUNE 1945 (Pbk)

The last campaign of the World War II in the Pacific. This account is based on Japanese sources and written from a Japanese point of view. The three months of bitter fighting between the 32nd Japanese and 10th US Armies are fully described and supported by numerous coloured maps. By the time organised resistance had ended on 21st June over 90,000 Japanese were dead and nearly 7,500 were prisoners. The US forces had suffered over 72,000 casualties. Originally published in 1990, when only a few copies were printed, however, it is considered one of the principal sources of information on this campaign: It is frequently included in bibliographies. In this new and expanded edition the maps have been redrawn and reproduced in colour. This edition has three additional chapters. One includes the interrogation reports of Colonel Yahara, the Operations Officer of the Japanese 32nd Army. Yahara had been ordered not to commit suicide but to attempt to escape to Japan, during this attempt he was captured. During his interrogations he freely discussed the campaign with American Intelligence officers. There is also the interrogation report of Mr Shimada who was the personal assistant to Lt General Cho, the Chief of Staff of the 32nd Army. In addition is a chapter written by D E Floyd describing the activities of US Army Engineers and their vital role in tackling the cave defence systems. The final additional chapter written by L Cole examines the impact of the US casualties and shipping losses during the Okinawa campaign and their relation to the planned invasion of Japan. It would appear from the lessons learnt that in all probability the invasion of Japan as envisaged would not have proceeded as conceived. The conclusions reached in this chapter will be controversial.