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Okinawa was the site of the only land battle in Japan during the War. After the capture of Iwo Jima in March 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area, turned his attentions to the island of Okinawa. American forces landed on the Kerama Islands in Okinawa on March 26, 1945, then moved onto the main island of Okinawa on April 1st. Lying just 563km (350 miles) from the Japanese mainland, it offered excellent harbour, airfield and troop-staging facilities. It was a perfect base from which to launch a major assault on Japan. For that reason it was well defended, with 120,000 troops under General Mitsuru Ushijima. The Japanese also committed some 10,000 aircraft to defending the island. Unable to rely only on the strength of its soldiers, the Japanese side drafted civilians into a "volunteer corps" and sent them into battle. As a result, a vast number of citizens in the region, including both elderly residents and children, fell victim to the war. Okinawa was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific campaign and the last major campaign of the Pacific War. In fact, the number of civilian deaths exceeded the loss of military personnel in this battle. While the residents were fighting for their homes and lives, the Japanese authorities were using the Battle of Okinawa to buy time for what they thought would be the decisive battle of the war, the awaiting battle for mainland Japan. The U.S.
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