The capture of the island of Okinawa in the summer of 1945 provided the U.S. with a large place to begin the staging of an invasion into Japan.
In the Pacific these were the islands:Iwo Jima: Famous for the picture of the six soldier who rose the flag on the mountainGuadalcanal and the Solomon Islands: Prevented Japan from invading AustraliaPhilippines: We controlled the Philippines and MacArthur vowed to take it backOkinawa: Base where launched our B-29's and the A-Bomb. Staging ground for planned mainland invasion of JapanJapan: People who started the warIf there are more, feel free to edit
Japan has approxomently 2,865 islands
See "The Planned Invasion of Japan: Bibliography of works by D. M. Giangreco" at http://www.waszak.com/giangreco_bibliography.htm .
it would prevent high casualties that would be caused by an invasion of mainland japan
It became clear that an invasion of Japan would be extremely costly.
The Ryuku Islands, Port Arthur, Manchuria, Formosa (Taiwan, and Mongolia
yes
Because of their physical proximity to Japan they could be used as staging areas for an invasion, and they could be used to launch bombing raids. Obviously the Japanese wanted neither one of these things.
In the Pacific these were the islands:Iwo Jima: Famous for the picture of the six soldier who rose the flag on the mountainGuadalcanal and the Solomon Islands: Prevented Japan from invading AustraliaPhilippines: We controlled the Philippines and MacArthur vowed to take it backOkinawa: Base where launched our B-29's and the A-Bomb. Staging ground for planned mainland invasion of JapanJapan: People who started the warIf there are more, feel free to edit
japan is a country so it's not possible to have another country inside of it. it is made up of many islands
General MacArthur strategy to defeat Japan would go through the occupied islands held by Japan. The Marines had amphibious training. So it made sense for MacArthur to utilize the Marines to defeat Japan. So the Marines did not have a unit at the invasion of Normandy.
It was one of the bloodiest Pacific battles of the war.
The alternative was to invade Japan with conventional forces. For the US, the bloodiest land battle in the pacific, was Okinawa. An invasion of the Japan Islands themselves, would have been double or triple the casualties.
Japan has approxomently 2,865 islands
The Allies attempted to reagin control of the Pacific by using a strategy of island hopping. Basically, they would capture islands of strategic value, dodging arounds those that weren't that important. The Allies adopted General Douglas MacArthur's strategy to reach Japan, which was the capture of the Philippines and then Okinawa, over Nimitz's strategy, the capture of the Marianas and then Formosa. Eventually, the importance of the Marianas as a base for logistical and aerial support was realized, leading to it's capture, and Iwo Jima, which could serve as a base for escort fighters for B-24s, 25s and 29s coming from Saipan (in the Marianas) as well as an airfield for premature landing of planes and a possible staging area for an invasion of Japan, was soon captured by the Allies. From then on, a strategy of heavy Bombing of Japan before an ultimate invasion occurred . This ended with Japan's surrender to the Allies.
Japan has 6852 islands.
it has 4 Japan has 4 MAIN islands, (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku) but Japan actually has over 1000 islands. Only around 30 or more of those islands have citizens. Other islands include Okinawa, Bonin islands, and the Ryuku Islands