The Battle for Okinawa - Tapa dura

With losses mounting throughout the Pacific, the prospects for a Japanese victory during World War II at Okinawa were grim. The architect and executor of Japanese operations at Okinawa, Colonel Hiromichi Yahara, proposed abandoning traditionally aggressive Japanese military methods and instead fighting a battle of attrition. By prolonging the struggle, the Japanese would make the American capture of Okinawa as costly as possible. In this, Yaraha and the Japanese were successful. This is a personal record of the fateful battle and its aftermath. It offers intriguing insight into the Japanese military mind and the behaviour of the Japanese in a time of emergency.