User:Cgeorgan
| The Pinnacle | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Battle of Okinawa, World War II, the Pacific War | |||||||
 Advance of American XXIV Corps showing approximate Japanese positions north of Shuri, April 1945 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States} |
 Empire of Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Lt. Col. Daniel G. Maybury, Commander 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry, U.S. 7th Marines |
1st Lt. Seiji Tanigawa, Commander 1st Company, 24th Independent Infantry Battalion, Japanese 62d Division † | ||||||
The Pinnacle was the name given to a 30 foot spire, atop a 450 foot ridge of coral approximately 1,000 yards southwest of Arakachi, Okinawa[1] . Heavily fortified by the Japanese 62d Division, this outpost to Japan's main defenses at Shuri held up the U.S. 7th Marine Regiment on 5 April 1945 with accurate and well-concealed machine gun, mortar and artillery fire.
The Pinnacle As A Defensive Position
Lieutenant Tanigawa had built his defenses around eight light and two heavy machine guns sited at the base of the hill. In trenches and pits riflemen well-supplied with grenades covered the dead spaces in front of the machine guns. The defenses were connected by the usual tunnels and trenches, affording underground mobility. On the top of the ridge were four 50-mm. mortars, and on the reverse slope to the south were three more. Artillery check points had been established for 62d Division field pieces to the south. Barbed wire and mine fields protected the major approaches. Lieutenant Tanigawa could hardly have hoped to stop the Americans, but undoubtedly he expected to make the price of victory high.
5 April, 1945
As the American 96th Infantry Division advanced south along Okinawa's Highway 1 on 4 April, it came under increasing fire from the south and from the ridges on their left (east). Three medium tanks from the 763d Tank Battalion were destroyed by a carefully sited and well-concealed Japanese Type 1 47 mm anti-tank gun. Firing twenty rounds, Japanese gunners set the three tanks afire. Japanese Army commanders later described this feat as an illustration of the effectiveness of 47 mm guns. "Great results," Japanese combat instructions stated, "can be obtained by concealing the guns and opening surprise fire on the tanks at close range."[2]
5 April, 1945
By 5 April, the 383d regiment indicated that its forward elements were receiving fire from 20 machine guns and from 15 to 20 mortars, besides artillery pieces.[3] As movement progressed, it encountered a series of fortified positions, the approaches to which were often covered by minefields. Dislodging the Japanese from these positions required coordinated enveloping movements, and resulted in numerous American casualties.
On the afternoon of 5 April, well-camouflaged Japanese troops, supported by tanks, attacked elements of the 382d, but were broken up by combined machine gun, mortar and artillery fire. Ultimately, the 382d gained approximately 1,300 yards of east-west ground by the evening of 5 April.
To the west, the 383d was focusing its efforts on what came to be known as Cactus Ridge. The initial direct assault by a single infantry company, supported tanks, proved to be disastrous. Cactus Ridge was protected by a tank ditch, barbed wire, and a long mine field.[4] When American tanks tried to pass through a gap in the mine field, they came under direct 47 mm fire. Two were hit and had to be abandoned. Heavy Japanese machine gun, rifle and mortar fire halted the assault and American forces were forced to withdraw.
6 - 7 April, 1945
On the following day, 6 April, the fortified Japanese positions on Cactus Ridge continued to hold up the 383d. Attempts were made to dislodge the defenders with an airstrike early on that morning, but subsequent troops assaulting the targeted positions found defensive enemy fire as intense as ever. American forces continued to make direct frontal assaults, through heavy Japanese mortar fire, against the ridge. Such assaults ultimately resulted in charging and reducing Japanese positions with hand grenades and small arms fire.
By the end of 6 April, these "banzai" type charges by the 2d Battalion enabled the 383d to ultimately gain first the western half of Cactus Ridge. On 7 April, similar tactics by the 2d Battalion allowed the 383d to capture the rest of Cactus Ridge.
As a result of the offensive actions of 4 - 7 April, the 383d Infantry found itself assembled against the formidable Japanese positions on Kakazu Ridge.
References
- Appleman, Roy E. (2000). Okinawa: The Last Battle. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History.
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