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00:00Previously, on the last days of World War II, the Western Allies crossed the Rhine,
00:05cutting off Germany's vital Ruhr industries and pushing on into the heart of the Third Reich.
00:11But Eisenhower halted the Allied advance at the Elba.
00:15Berlin is for the Red Army.
00:19In the Pacific, Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima was wiped out,
00:23but not before one last desperate suicide charge against US forces.
00:30This week, in the Ruhr Valley, vast numbers of German troops surrender to the Allies.
00:38The US 4th Division, under the command of General Patton, reaches the Ordruf concentration camp,
00:44the first camp to be liberated by the Western Allies.
00:49In the Pacific, the invasion of Okinawa begins,
00:52and Japan's desperate strategic position forces a suicidal sortie from the biggest warship in the world.
01:00The US 4th Division, the first of April 1945.
01:27Allied forces in the west and Soviet forces in the east
01:30continue to tighten the noose around Berlin and the Third Reich.
01:36From the west, Allied troops had broken through the heavily fortified Siegfried Line in the autumn of 1944.
01:44In March, they had crossed the Rhine, Germany's last natural defensive barrier,
01:49despite capturing only one bridge intact at Remargen.
01:52Now, they are 75 miles east of the Rhine, along the Elbe, deep within Germany.
02:00In the east, over the past two weeks, Stalin's forces have advanced 100 miles
02:04from the Baltic near Kohlberg in Pomerania to the Oder fortresses of Kustrin and Frankfurt.
02:10The Red Army is within 50 miles of Berlin.
02:15The Germans fight on desperately, and open talk of defeat can still result in a death sentence.
02:22General Eisenhower's decision to halt the Allied advance at the Elbe,
02:27less than 100 miles from Berlin, hands the Soviets the chance to take the city.
02:37Eisenhower instead sends American troops towards the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany,
02:42where it's rumoured the Nazis planned to make their last stand.
02:46He wanted to make sure that he had sufficient forces in the south, away from Berlin,
02:51to deal with any possibility of increased German resistance around the Alps.
02:55So it was simply the right thing to do to slow American armies.
02:59On the 28th of March, Eisenhower had sent a message to Stalin about his change in strategy.
03:06He had not consulted the British chiefs of staff,
03:09nor had he told his British deputy, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder.
03:14His decision outraged Field Marshal Montgomery and Winston Churchill.
03:19Churchill accused Eisenhower of straying into intergovernmental affairs,
03:23in which he had no authority.
03:24Churchill reacted furiously,
03:27because this was entirely a private enterprise by Eisenhower on a political matter,
03:34in which, of course, Stalin ran round him in circles,
03:37because, politically, he was very naive.
03:42In Moscow, Stalin meets with his two top generals, Zhukov and Konev,
03:47and presents them with a fake telegram
03:48that claims both Patton and Montgomery are about to attack Berlin.
03:52Stalin demands of them,
03:54who is going to take Berlin?
04:02Later that day, in his own bit of April foolery,
04:05Stalin sends his response to Eisenhower.
04:07Their plans are in agreement, he writes,
04:10and he agrees that Berlin has lost its strategic importance.
04:13On the Eastern Front, German soldiers are digging themselves in,
04:24braced for the inevitable Soviet assault across the Oder.
04:32German troops do not have enough food or ammunition.
04:35Drinking water is scarce, and dysentery is rampant.
04:38Some soldiers commit suicide,
04:41as bad news from their homes makes its way to the front.
04:47The 1st of April, 8pm, Berlin.
04:50A Nazi broadcast goes out to the German people,
04:53exhorting them to rise up against the invaders.
04:56Few are moved.
04:57The Americans would go into a village,
05:02and the villagers would lean out of a window
05:05and put out a white bedcloth
05:07to show surrender or don't blow up this house.
05:10Nobody showed their face,
05:11but white flags all over the place,
05:14bedsheets, anything.
05:16They made sure they had the white flag out,
05:19surrender, which meant
05:21they're not going to shoot at us,
05:22we're not going to shoot at them,
05:24and just pass by.
05:28A few days later,
05:29Nazi leaders issue another order.
05:32Every male in a house where a white flag appeared
05:34would be shot.
05:37Now, only the most hardline Nazis
05:39see any point in prolonging the war.
05:42Berliners, weary and anxious,
05:44give their city a morbid nickname.
05:47Reichscheiterhafen.
05:48The Reich's funeral pyre.
05:49As they struggle for survival,
05:56over 300,000 German troops
05:58are now completely trapped in the Ruhr pocket.
06:02The 1st of April, on the Western Front.
06:04The U.S. 1st and 9th armies link up at Lippstadt.
06:11Their encirclement of the Ruhr,
06:13Germany's industrial heartland,
06:15is complete.
06:16The Ruhr pocket was like the completion of a campaign.
06:22And there were other soldiers who were there
06:25to pick up the surrendered troops
06:27and take them somewhere while we moved ahead.
06:31Field Marshal Walter Modell is a defensive specialist.
06:34So often sent to fix strategic disasters,
06:37he is nicknamed the Führer's fireman.
06:40But this is one crisis he can't solve.
06:43And now he and his army Group B are cut off.
06:51Relentless Allied attacks on supply lines,
06:54synthetic oil manufacturing plants and oil refineries
06:57mean the German army has virtually run out of fuel.
07:00Tanks are abandoned.
07:01And the logistics system is paralysed.
07:04Around 20,000 Wehrmacht soldiers
07:10are now surrendering daily.
07:15They were weary.
07:17I think they were glad to be out of it.
07:20And they showed no resistance.
07:24They were pretty well beaten.
07:27And they knew that for them, the war was over.
07:30And that's a big, big thing for anybody.
07:33Against a current of thousands of German prisoners of war,
07:37Allied tanks speed along the Autobahn,
07:39deeper into Germany.
07:46Field Marshal Montgomery diverts his 21st Army Group
07:50to the Netherlands.
07:51Now it will not be needed to capture Berlin.
07:53The devastation the Nazis have wrought on the Netherlands is horrifying.
07:58Over 100,000 Dutch citizens have been deported to labour or extermination camps.
08:05There are terrible food shortages in many cities.
08:07The 4th of April.
08:12Patton's 4th Armoured Division reaches the Nazi concentration camp at Ordruf,
08:16near the town of Gotha.
08:17It is the first camp to be liberated by the Western Allies.
08:21American troops describe an overpowering stench of quicklime,
08:30dirty clothing, faeces and urine,
08:33and are revolted to find the corpses of hundreds of slave labourers,
08:37some machine-gunned by the retreating Nazis.
08:39It was a tremendous shock.
08:45This was the first visible proof of what the Nazi regime was really like.
08:50The troops find only a handful of dazed prisoners
08:53who had managed to hide from the massacre.
08:58Bradley, Patton and Eisenhower visit the camp one week later.
09:02All three are deeply affected.
09:05The sights and smells make Patton vomit.
09:08The 6th of April, retreating SS soldiers
09:10move more than 11,000 Jewish prisoners
09:13out of the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp.
09:16They knew that an order had come from Berlin, from Himmler,
09:20saying that the camp was to be, quote, evacuated.
09:23Well, evacuation was another word for extermination.
09:27There were no gas chambers at Buchenwald.
09:29The fear was that the SS guards would simply murder them, shoot them.
09:38Many are forced to march on foot from the camp.
09:45Others are packed into trains without food.
09:48These conditions will prove fatal
09:50for thousands of the sick, emaciated prisoners.
09:55The 7th of April, as Allied troops push on into central Germany
09:59from the West, on the Eastern Front,
10:01the battle for Vienna is about to begin.
10:06Joseph Stalin sends a message to President Roosevelt.
10:10German resistance in the East, he tells him,
10:12is proving much tougher than it is in the West.
10:15Stalin suspects that the Germans are surrendering to the Allies
10:18in order to let the British and Americans in,
10:21to spare Germany the horrors of Soviet conquest.
10:24The 1st of April, landing craft packed full of U.S. Marines
10:31prepare to hit the beaches of Okinawa.
10:33Operation Iceberg, the greatest amphibious undertaking
10:36of the war in the Pacific, is about to begin.
10:43172,000 American servicemen will soon be engaged
10:47in a fight to the death with 130,000 Japanese troops.
10:50It will prove to be a brutal, 11-week battle
10:54for the control of the island.
11:02The island holds immense strategic importance.
11:05Known as the jewel of the Ryukyu Islands,
11:07Okinawa sits about 350 miles south of Kyushu,
11:11the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.
11:14Its capture would provide the Allies
11:16with essential airfields and naval bases
11:19for the final attack on the Japanese homeland.
11:28Okinawa was seen as a stepping stone
11:30towards the eventual invasion of the main islands themselves.
11:33You can't imagine launching a major assault
11:36if Okinawa itself is not taken.
11:38You need to have control of the air bases on Okinawa
11:40in order to prevent them being used against you
11:42in the eventual invasion.
11:44Aerial reconnaissance had shown the island
11:47to be largely uncultivated, mountainous
11:49and forested in the north-west.
11:51The low ground in the south-west
11:53was home to most of the civilian population,
11:56around 500,000 people.
12:04Operation Iceberg will require
12:06a massive coordination of forces
12:08from land, air and sea.
12:10Two weeks prior to the landing,
12:18a huge invasion fleet consisting of 1,500 vessels,
12:22including 430 landing craft,
12:2540 aircraft carriers,
12:2718 battleships and 200 destroyers had arrived.
12:30It is the most powerful armada in history.
12:33On the Karama Islands,
12:3720 miles off the south-west coast of Okinawa,
12:40strikes by carrier aircraft
12:41and naval bombardment
12:42allow U.S. forces to establish
12:44a naval repair and supply base.
12:49To further protect U.S. vessels
12:52and troops during the invasion,
12:54airfields on Japan's mainland
12:55are attacked.
12:56At sea,
12:59American aircraft carriers
13:00are accompanied by fleet trains,
13:02made up of hundreds of supply vessels.
13:05They carry everything
13:06the warships and troops ashore will need,
13:08from ammunition and food
13:10to clean socks and cigarettes.
13:12The U.S. 10th Army
13:29will lead the storming of the beach.
13:31Its four army and two marine divisions
13:34will be under the command
13:35of the outspoken
13:36Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner.
13:42Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.
13:45was the son of a Confederate general
13:47who had famously surrendered
13:49to Ulysses Grant
13:50in one of the first Union victories
13:52of the American Civil War.
13:56In 1941,
13:58Buckner established
13:58the Alaskan Defense Command
14:00in the Aleutian Islands,
14:02knowing that if they fell to the Japanese,
14:04Seattle and other targets
14:05within the United States
14:06would fall within range
14:08of enemy aircraft.
14:12After the attack on Pearl Harbor
14:14and the U.S. entry to the war,
14:16Buckner's bases were used
14:17as staging grounds
14:18for attacks on northern Japan.
14:23He was responsible
14:25for beating the Japanese
14:27sufficiently to drive them
14:29from two Aleutian islands
14:32that they had occupied.
14:33In 1944,
14:37General Buckner was promoted
14:39to command the newly formed
14:40U.S. 10th Army
14:41and plan the ground invasion
14:43of Okinawa.
14:46During the battle,
14:47he would frequently make bold trips
14:49to the front line
14:50to encourage his troops.
14:51At Okinawa,
15:00the Allies face
15:00an implacable,
15:02well-prepared
15:02and fanatical enemy.
15:06Japan's 32nd Army
15:08is commanded
15:09by the legendary
15:10General Mitsuru Ushijima.
15:14Ushijima does not intend
15:16to contest the American landings
15:17with his regular forces.
15:19The Japanese strategists
15:21had determined
15:22that it was not a good use
15:23of their resources
15:24to actually try
15:24and keep the Americans
15:25from landing.
15:26They would instead
15:26allow the Americans
15:28to land
15:28and then begin an assault
15:29on them.
15:30The idea being
15:31that if they were
15:32to expose their positions
15:33to the American firepower
15:34when the invasion
15:35is actually taking place,
15:36they would be subject
15:37to the overwhelming firepower
15:38of the Americans.
15:46General Ushijima
15:47decides to create
15:48a fortified line
15:49north of the island's
15:50capital, Shuri.
15:52Rugged terrain
15:53will protect his men
15:54from the full effect
15:55of Allied aerial
15:56and naval bombardment.
16:01He's going to let
16:02the Americans
16:02come to him.
16:04He's going to let them
16:05blunder into
16:06camouflaged defences.
16:07He's going to try
16:08and kill as many of them
16:09as he can.
16:11The Shuri line
16:12was an intricate system
16:13of fortifications
16:14designed to repel
16:15the American attack
16:16as bloodily as possible.
16:19Ushijima also planned
16:20to launch opportunistic
16:21counterattacks
16:22from this position.
16:23They were waiting for us
16:29in their prepared
16:30elaborate
16:32defensive positions
16:33on the high ground
16:35and with plenty
16:37of cover
16:38in caves
16:39and underground
16:40installations,
16:41pillboxes
16:42for their own troops.
16:45To augment
16:46the island's defences,
16:48the Japanese
16:48turn to the local
16:49Okinawan population.
16:50The Okinawans
16:52are regarded as
16:53provincial and backward
16:54by the Japanese.
16:55But now,
16:56everyone works together
16:57to face the threat
16:58of invasion.
17:00In order to motivate
17:01the civilian population,
17:03Japan spins
17:03a terrifying
17:04propaganda campaign.
17:06American soldiers
17:07are described
17:08as ruthless killers
17:09who want nothing more
17:10than to annihilate
17:11Okinawa,
17:12its people
17:12and its culture.
17:15The Japanese authorities
17:17tell them that
17:18when the Americans
17:18come ashore,
17:19they'll murder them,
17:20they'll rape their women,
17:22they'll barbecue
17:22and eat their children.
17:2520,000 Okinawans,
17:26including many youths,
17:28form a militia
17:28that will fight
17:29alongside the army.
17:31They help build
17:31fortifications
17:32on the island.
17:34Many others,
17:35fearing capture
17:35or torture
17:36at the hands
17:36of the Americans,
17:37will choose suicide.
17:39It is a disturbing
17:40trend that will escalate
17:41during the battle
17:42for Okinawa.
17:43They will witness cases
17:46of suicide,
17:48not just men
17:49killing themselves,
17:50but whole families,
17:52parents killing
17:53their children
17:53and then killing
17:54themselves.
17:55To combat
17:56the Allied naval armada,
17:58the Japanese
17:59will launch
17:59a massive wave
18:00of kamikaze attacks.
18:01meaning divine wind,
18:12the kamikaze
18:13was a much feared
18:14tactic of the Pacific War.
18:18Japan's air force
18:19had once dominated
18:20the skies over the Pacific,
18:21but following the battle
18:22of Midway in 1942,
18:25the tide began to turn.
18:27The Japanese lost
18:28many veteran air crew,
18:29whilst the Americans
18:30gained combat experience
18:31in new, superior aircraft.
18:35They couldn't train
18:37naval air crews
18:38as quickly as the Americans.
18:40It took them longer.
18:41And by the end of the war,
18:42they've sustained
18:43such heavy losses
18:43among their experienced airmen
18:45that they're not able
18:47to effectively drop bombs
18:49or launch torpedoes
18:51against ships.
18:54Additional losses
18:55to their naval fleet
18:56and the growing
18:57strategic crisis
18:58prompted the Japanese
18:59to resort
19:00to suicide attacks.
19:03They have to find a way
19:04to inflict heavy damage
19:06with poorly trained airmen.
19:08So in effect,
19:09they turn airplanes
19:10into bombs.
19:13They train airmen
19:14to crash their planes
19:16onto enemy ships.
19:18The motto becomes
19:20one plane, one ship.
19:22The concept was introduced
19:23on the last day
19:24of fighting
19:24at Leyte Gulf
19:25in the Philippines
19:26in 1944
19:27when Admiral Takajiro Onishi
19:30called on volunteers
19:31to fly the remaining aircraft
19:33into enemy targets.
19:36Kamikaze pilots
19:37were mostly idealistic young men
19:39set upon achieving heroic status.
19:42So disconcerting
19:43were these new Japanese tactics
19:45that MacArthur and Nimitz
19:47ordered a news blackout
19:48to prevent American sailors
19:50panicking
19:50and to keep the Japanese
19:51from knowing
19:52how effective they were.
19:54The kamikaze
19:55was an odd thing
19:56in that sailors
19:58would look at this
19:59and just not understand
20:00how a pilot
20:02could sacrifice himself
20:04that way.
20:04In the Western tradition
20:05people have gone
20:06on suicide missions
20:07but it's always been
20:08couched in terms of
20:10you know
20:10some of you
20:11may not come back.
20:13Over 2,500 kamikaze attacks
20:16were made during the war
20:17damaging or sinking
20:19nearly 500 allied ships.
20:24Kamikaze attacks
20:25would reach
20:25a terrifying crescendo
20:26at the Battle of Okinawa.
20:28The 1st of April
20:348.30am.
20:41After a week-long bombardment
20:43from allied aircraft
20:44and warships
20:45four American divisions
20:46stormed the western beaches
20:47of Okinawa
20:48near the village
20:49of Hagushi.
20:51The Okinawa campaign
20:52was a long hard trudge.
20:54It started April 1st
20:551945
20:56which was Easter Sunday
20:58and a lot of troops
20:58noted it was
20:59April Fool's Day
21:00which they took
21:00as a bad omen.
21:02The soldiers
21:03have heard about
21:04the artillery
21:05and machine guns
21:06which welcomed
21:06the U.S. Marines
21:07ashore at Iwo Jima.
21:09They are braced
21:09for a similar reception
21:11on what has been
21:12codenamed Love Day.
21:16But as they land
21:17and move across the beach
21:18there is no sign
21:20of the enemy.
21:24Fortunately
21:24we got into
21:25on the beach
21:26and there wasn't
21:27a soul there.
21:28surprisingly
21:29the Japanese
21:30changed their
21:31tactics
21:32and did not
21:33strenuously resist
21:35us on the beach
21:36and we moved forward
21:38with unexpected ease
21:39so everything
21:40really went well
21:41on Love Day
21:43April 1st 1945.
21:478.39 a.m.
21:48all the division's
21:50assault waves
21:50are ashore
21:51but this unopposed
21:53landing is all part
21:54of the enemy's strategy
21:55the calm
21:56before the storm.
21:59At sea
22:00the armada
22:01of Allied ships
22:01continues unloading
22:03men, supplies
22:04and weapons.
22:07But at 8.40
22:08everything changes.
22:09Out of nowhere
22:10the Japanese launch
22:11a surprise kamikaze attack.
22:13flying low
22:18dozens of suicide bombers
22:19close in
22:20on Allied ships
22:21off Okinawa.
22:22They came in
22:23signal file
22:24and they hit
22:26this wall
22:26of anti-aircraft fire
22:28and one went
22:29down in flames
22:30the next one came
22:31went down in flames.
22:35Sporadic kamikaze
22:36attacks are made
22:37on Allied warships
22:38throughout the day.
22:40Many of the aircraft
22:41loaded with fuel
22:42and bombs
22:42are brought down
22:43over the sea
22:44but some make it through.
22:46The battleship
22:47USS West Virginia
22:48is hit.
22:49Only four are killed
22:50as the kamikaze's
22:52bomb fails to explode.
22:54The British carrier
22:54HMS Indefatigable
22:56is also hit
22:57but is operational
22:58again within the hour.
23:06I think it's the worst
23:07moment of my life.
23:08I've been frightened
23:09many times
23:10in the war
23:12but that was about
23:13the worst time.
23:15The guns were going.
23:17The face was black
23:17with smoke up there
23:19where the thirst
23:19had been going on
23:20and there were
23:21occasional splashes
23:22in the sea
23:23where some kamikaze
23:24had been hit.
23:28As chaos reigns
23:29offshore
23:30US forces continue
23:31their trek
23:32across the island.
23:33Within an hour
23:3416,000 men
23:35are safely on land.
23:37They are soon
23:37followed by
23:38thousands more
23:39backed up with
23:40a steady stream
23:40of tanks
23:41and artillery.
23:42By midday
23:43US forces
23:44take two Japanese
23:45airfields
23:46Cadena
23:46and Yontan.
23:48Here too
23:49soldiers are surprised
23:50to find little resistance.
23:51while the Americans
23:58survey the shattered
23:59planes and abandoned
24:00supplies
24:01a Japanese pilot
24:02unaware of the
24:03airfield's change
24:04in ownership
24:05lands right in the
24:06hands of amused
24:07American soldiers.
24:10American troops
24:11vehicles and equipment
24:12pour ashore
24:13throughout the day.
24:14By nightfall
24:17US forces have
24:18established
24:19an 8 mile long
24:20beachhead.
24:2160,000 troops
24:22from two US
24:23Marine
24:23and two US
24:24Army divisions
24:25are now on the
24:26island
24:26unaware
24:27of the savage
24:28fighting that
24:29awaits them.
24:36The 2nd of April
24:37US forces
24:38continue the
24:39arduous task
24:40of unloading
24:40everything they'll
24:41need for the
24:41campaign.
24:43Marine General
24:43Pedro Del Valle
24:44is astounded
24:45by the relative
24:46ease of the
24:47invasion so far.
24:50The Puerto
24:51Rican born
24:52Pedro Del Valle
24:53was the first
24:54Hispanic in the
24:55US Marines
24:56history to become
24:57a three-star
24:57general.
25:03Years of sea
25:04duty and
25:05expeditionary
25:06campaigns led
25:07Del Valle
25:07to focus on how
25:08Marines might work
25:09better with the
25:10Navy.
25:11He literally wrote
25:12the book on it,
25:13writing essays and
25:14developing doctrines
25:15on amphibious assault.
25:19During World War
25:20II, Del Valle
25:21was appointed
25:22commander of
25:23Marine forces.
25:27He was a vital
25:28part of the
25:29successful recapture
25:30of Guam in 1944
25:32before being appointed
25:33the commanding
25:34general of the
25:351st Marine
25:35Division.
25:36His leadership
25:37at Okinawa
25:38would earn him
25:39a distinguished
25:39service medal.
25:40Del Valle
25:43would later
25:43remark,
25:44I can't offer
25:45you any good
25:46reason why they
25:46let us come
25:47ashore so easily.
25:49On land,
25:50casualties by the
25:50end of the second
25:51day are only
25:52three killed and
25:5318 wounded.
25:57At sea,
25:59it is a different
26:00story as Japanese
26:01kamikaze attacks
26:02multiply.
26:0310 kamikaze planes
26:05bear down on 15
26:06ships anchored
26:07off Haguchi
26:07beach.
26:08The destroyer
26:09Dickerson takes
26:10a direct hit.
26:1153 are killed.
26:13Two other warships
26:14are hit but
26:14escape with
26:15lesser damage.
26:17The way we
26:18stopped them
26:19was just to fill
26:20the air with
26:20flak.
26:21and if there
26:22was ever
26:22an opening
26:23in the flak,
26:24they were
26:25on you.
26:27And we
26:28had a number
26:29of them
26:29just barely
26:30miss us
26:30at Okinawa.
26:32In just
26:33two days,
26:34over 30
26:35ships are
26:35destroyed,
26:36over 300
26:37damaged,
26:38and over 500
26:39men are killed
26:40by kamikaze
26:40attacks.
26:42Back on land,
26:43Okinawa has
26:44already been
26:45effectively cut
26:46in half
26:46by Allied
26:47forces.
26:51The 3rd of
26:52April.
26:54General
26:54Douglas MacArthur
26:55is appointed
26:56Commander-in-Chief
26:57of all ground
26:57forces in the
26:58Pacific.
26:59Admiral
27:00Chester Nimitz
27:00is put in
27:01charge of all
27:01naval operations
27:02in the region.
27:04Both are told
27:04to prepare for
27:05the forthcoming
27:06invasion of
27:07mainland Japan.
27:08Thursday,
27:10the 5th of
27:10April.
27:11Soviet
27:12Foreign Minister
27:12Vyacheslav Molotov
27:14gives the
27:15Japanese
27:15ambassador
27:15a diplomatic
27:16note.
27:17The Soviet
27:18Union will
27:18not renew
27:19the 4-year-old
27:20neutrality pact
27:21with Japan.
27:24Japan's
27:25alliance with
27:26Nazi Germany,
27:27the Soviet
27:27Union's
27:28mortal enemy,
27:29is cited
27:29as the cause
27:30of this
27:30rupture.
27:32Given the
27:33importance of
27:34the Soviets
27:34to the
27:35Japanese
27:35thinking at
27:36this point,
27:37that the
27:37Soviets are
27:37really are
27:38the only
27:38country that
27:39isn't allied
27:39against them
27:40at this
27:41point.
27:42This
27:42announcement
27:43does not
27:43bode well.
27:44The Allies
27:45are pleased
27:45by this
27:46expected news.
27:48Stalin will
27:48eventually open
27:49a new front
27:50in Manchuria,
27:51but not
27:51for four
27:52months.
27:53The situation
27:54is desperate
27:54for Japan.
27:56US and
27:56British carriers
27:57have formed
27:58a steel barrier
27:58around the
27:59Ryukyu Islands.
28:00It's thought
28:01that Japanese
28:02warships might
28:03try to launch
28:03hit-and-run
28:04raids.
28:04several
28:09US ships
28:10are equipped
28:10with smoke
28:11generators,
28:12which are
28:12used to
28:13hide anchored
28:13vessels from
28:14incoming Japanese
28:15air attacks.
28:22Outlying
28:23ships constantly
28:24sweep the
28:24area with
28:25radar.
28:26With all
28:27Okinawa airfields
28:28now under
28:28their control,
28:29US aircraft
28:30mount round-the-clock
28:31patrols.
28:36Two carriers
28:37maintain watch
28:38on shipping lanes
28:39as far out
28:40as 300 miles
28:41to prevent
28:41Japanese submarines
28:42or warships
28:43sneaking through
28:44the naval net
28:45that now
28:46encloses the
28:47island.
28:51From the
28:52high ground
28:52around the
28:53medieval town
28:54of Shuri,
28:54the rapid
28:55advance of
28:55US forces
28:56is observed
28:57by General
28:58Ushijima.
28:58Ushijima
29:07sends a
29:07message to
29:08Tokyo
29:08calling for
29:09a major
29:09sea and
29:10air attack
29:11from Japan.
29:12The
29:12Imperial
29:13headquarters
29:13responds
29:14with
29:14Operation
29:1510
29:15Ishigo.
29:17Admiral
29:18Toyota,
29:19commander-in-chief
29:20of the
29:20Japanese
29:20combined fleet,
29:21orders the
29:22Navy's
29:22most prized
29:23ship,
29:24the Yamato,
29:25to head
29:25for Okinawa.
29:27When Japan
29:27entered the
29:28war,
29:28its Imperial
29:29Navy was
29:29amongst the
29:30most powerful
29:30in the
29:31world.
29:34But crushing
29:35defeats at
29:35Midway,
29:36the Philippine
29:37Sea and
29:37Leyte Gulf
29:38have decimated
29:39the Imperial
29:40Navy.
29:44The Yamato,
29:45the biggest
29:46warship in the
29:47world, is the
29:48crown jewel of
29:48the Japanese
29:49Navy.
29:50She displaces
29:51over 70,000
29:52tons and is
29:53862 feet long
29:55and cruises
29:56at 27 knots.
29:58Her
30:00massive guns,
30:01the biggest
30:02afloat,
30:03can throw a
30:03shell the
30:04weight of a
30:04car over
30:0525 miles.
30:09The side of
30:10the hull and
30:11the ship's vital
30:11organs are
30:12protected by a
30:1316-inch thick
30:14armour belt.
30:15The deck is
30:16protected by
30:17nine inches of
30:18armour.
30:19Her
30:20sister ship,
30:21the Musashi,
30:21had been sunk
30:22during the
30:23Battle of Leyte
30:23Gulf in
30:24October 1944.
30:26Tremendous hopes
30:27now rest on the
30:28Yamato.
30:33The Japanese are
30:34counting on her
30:35and her escort
30:36group of cruisers
30:37and destroyers to
30:38wreak havoc on the
30:39Allied armada
30:40off Okinawa.
30:41Friday,
30:45the 6th of
30:45April.
30:46Japanese Imperial
30:47Headquarters orders a
30:48two-pronged attack on
30:49Allied ships off
30:50Okinawa.
30:52By 5.20pm,
30:53phase one of the
30:54plan is underway.
30:57The Yamato and its
30:59escort ships, the
31:00light cruiser
31:00Yahagi and eight
31:01destroyers, slip
31:02anchor near
31:03Kurei, 600 miles
31:05from Okinawa.
31:05There are 3,332 men
31:10aboard the Yamato.
31:12Despite her
31:13importance and
31:14awe-inspiring power,
31:15the Yamato does not
31:16carry enough fuel for
31:17the return journey.
31:19This is a one-way
31:21trip.
31:23There have been
31:24certain reports that
31:25she was only, say,
31:26half full of fuel.
31:28They scraped
31:29literally the bottom
31:30of the barrel to get
31:31fuel in her so that
31:33she would have enough
31:34fuel so that when she
31:35got off Okinawa, she
31:37could maneuver
31:38against the fleet.
31:39However, it still was
31:40a kamikaze mission.
31:41It was going to be a
31:43one-way mission.
31:44They'll fill it with
31:44just enough fuel to get
31:45to Okinawa, and they
31:47hope it can get within
31:48gun range of American
31:50warships and take a
31:51number of warships out.
31:53It's a desperate
31:54throw of the dice, but
31:56the commander-in-chief of
31:57the Japanese fleet,
31:58Admiral Toyoda, feels
31:59he has no other
32:00options.
32:01He declares, the fate
32:03of our empire depends on
32:04this one action.
32:07As the Yamato gets
32:08underway, her position and
32:10heading are reported by
32:11an American sub.
32:13The Allied fleet will be
32:14ready and waiting.
32:17Meanwhile, the Japanese
32:18air force refines its
32:20kamikaze strategy.
32:22From bases in Taiwan and
32:23Kyushu, suicide planes
32:25approach in large
32:26formations called
32:27Kekosui, or floating
32:28chrysanthemum.
32:32The standard way to get
32:36to the U.S. fleet was to
32:38fly as many aircraft as you
32:39could towards the fleet.
32:42And the Japanese knew that
32:45we could shoot down some,
32:46but we couldn't shoot down
32:47all.
32:48Sooner or later, there were
32:50going to be some that were
32:51going to leak through.
32:52This battle will be the
32:54greatest kamikaze action of
32:56the Pacific War.
32:58Many of these planes are
32:59obsolete, slow-moving, and
33:01unmanoeuvrable, but they
33:02come on regardless.
33:07American sailors and
33:09marines try desperately to
33:11defend themselves against the
33:12onslaught.
33:17The kamikaze, it was a
33:19saturation type thing.
33:20I mean, there was one, and
33:21then there were two, and
33:22then there were three, and
33:23they just keep coming.
33:25And eventually, of course,
33:27we knew they would get us,
33:28but we hoped, and I think
33:30our gunners hoped, that
33:31they'd shoot down enough of
33:32them that they might pick
33:33another target.
33:35700 aircraft swooped down
33:38on the Allied fleet.
33:42American F4U Corsair
33:44fighters play their part in
33:46shooting down most of the
33:47kamikazes before they can
33:48find a target.
33:53The first American aircraft
33:55to break the 400-mile-per-hour
33:56barrier, the F4U Corsair,
33:59was one of the most powerful
34:00and effective fighters of
34:01World War II.
34:04The Corsair was designed
34:05with short, stout legs for
34:06its landing gear, but the
34:08Corsair's prop created a
34:10challenge.
34:11If it were shortened to
34:12accommodate the landing gear,
34:13the plane's horsepower would
34:14be wasted.
34:18Like all carrier aircraft, it had
34:22to have immensely strong
34:25landing gear.
34:27Landing on an aircraft carrier
34:28is very akin to a controlled
34:31crash.
34:33So engineers devised the
34:35inverted gull wing design,
34:37which would forever characterize
34:38the Corsair and give it its
34:40nickname, the bent wing bird.
34:43Poor cockpit visibility led to
34:46a decision to restrict the Corsair
34:47to land bases for two years.
34:51And initially, the aircraft flunked
34:54its carrier landing qualifications
34:57because they couldn't see over the
34:58nose.
34:59It was the Royal Navy's fleet
35:01air arm that proved the Corsair
35:03was suitable for carrier
35:04operations, and it was adopted
35:06by the U.S. Navy in 1944.
35:09The Japanese nicknamed the Corsair
35:11Whistling Death, but to the troops
35:13on the ground, it was the sweetheart
35:15of Okinawa.
35:17Its wartime kill ratio was 11 to 1,
35:20a record unmatched in aviation
35:22history.
35:228 p.m.
35:32Two U.S. submarines, the Threadfin
35:34and the Hackelback, are tracking the
35:36movements of Yamato as she sails
35:38towards Okinawa.
35:40Upon hearing that the Yamato is
35:42headed his way, Admiral Spruance,
35:45commander of the fleet off Okinawa,
35:47gives the assignment of halting the
35:49Japanese to Admiral Mark Mitcher's
35:51Fast Carrier Task Force.
35:56The 7th of April, 10 a.m., with the
35:59Yamato approaching rapidly, 386 carrier
36:02aircraft are sent to stop her.
36:06The Yamato unleashes a torrent of
36:09anti-aircraft fire from more than
36:10150 guns.
36:12She zigzags violently to evade waves
36:15of torpedo bombers and dive bombers.
36:26The deck and bridge are raked with
36:29machine gun fire.
36:30The first two bomb hits are shrugged off.
36:37But Yamato is hit again and again.
36:40Well, she didn't make it.
36:41The United States Navy attacked her and
36:43sank her through bombs and torpedoes.
36:46They swarmed that ship.
36:48And it's sort of in dispute as to how
36:50many bombs and torpedoes she took.
36:53But she absorbed a tremendous amount of
36:54damage before she went down.
36:56But she did go down.
36:58No ship is unsinkable.
37:00At 2 p.m., the Yamato rolls over onto
37:02her port side after taking almost a
37:04dozen torpedo hits.
37:05Then her magazine explodes.
37:11The cloud of smoke is seen 100 miles away.
37:14As she capsizes to port and quickly sinks
37:16under the waves, the task force's commander,
37:19Admiral Itoshichi, goes down with the ship.
37:21Captain Aruga Kosaku also remains at his post.
37:30Over 3,000 perish with the Yamato.
37:33Only 269 survivors are picked up.
37:36Of the eight destroyers with her,
37:38two are sunk and two more are later scuttled.
37:42The Yamato slips beneath the waves at 2.23 p.m.
37:45The Ahagi, a light cruiser, is also sunk.
37:48Left dead in the water by a torpedo
37:51from the first attack wave,
37:52she is then pounded by 12 bombs
37:54and six more torpedoes.
38:00The sinking of the Ahagi claims another 445 lives.
38:05Only 10 American planes are lost.
38:07The Imperial Japanese Navy
38:09virtually ceases to exist as a fighting force.
38:12The once mighty fleet can no longer offer any challenge
38:17for command of the seas around Japan.
38:24The massive kamikaze air battle over Okinawa
38:27would continue for several days.
38:30335 Japanese aircraft are destroyed
38:32for the loss of only nine American planes.
38:35Three destroyers, two ammunition ships
38:38and a tank landing ship are sunk.
38:4024 other vessels are badly damaged.
38:46In the battle for Okinawa
38:48between the 6th of April and the 22nd of June,
38:51the Japanese will launch
38:5210 more massed kamikaze attacks.
38:57More than 30 Allied ships will be sunk
38:59and more than 300 damaged,
39:01including three U.S. carriers
39:03and the British carrier indomitable.
39:09That microsecond before
39:11the propeller hit the deck,
39:15I just couldn't believe it.
39:16It was something that was unreal.
39:20Something you'd never heard of somebody doing.
39:25And, uh...
39:26Ah, it's, uh, it's over now.
39:31The U.S. Navy will suffer 5,000 killed
39:35and another 4,800 wounded,
39:38making this the costliest battle in its history.
39:43The 7th of April.
39:45In Tokyo, Emperor Hirohito
39:47appoints a new prime minister,
39:50Admiral Kantaro Suzuki,
39:52who replaces Kuniaki Koizu.
39:56Suzuki appoints new, less militant ministers.
39:59His hope is that a peace settlement
40:02can be negotiated
40:03without too much loss of honour.
40:06The same day, B-29s attack mainland Japan,
40:09but for the first time,
40:10they're escorted by P-51 Mustang fighters
40:13from the bases on Iwo Jima.
40:19On the island of Okinawa,
40:21Japanese resistance will soon start to harden.
40:25Over the coming weeks,
40:26U.S. forces will have to fight
40:27every step of the way.
40:31Next, on the last days of World War II,
40:34on the island of Okinawa,
40:36the Japanese finally reveal their hand.
40:44Allied forces in Germany reach Buchenwald,
40:47the notorious Nazi concentration camp,
40:49and more horrors are revealed to the Allies.
40:53People suddenly find themselves saying
40:55they're not people like us.
40:56These are people who have corrupted
40:58science and industry
41:00to create an edifice of evil
41:02which the world has never known before.
41:06And while sitting for a portrait
41:07in Warm Springs, Georgia,
41:09President Roosevelt's record fourth term
41:11will be cut tragically short.
41:13We were beginning to accept
41:15that he was like a king.
41:17And the truth is, I cried.
41:19I remember that.
41:20I mean, it was just such a shock.
41:21I think it was just such a shock.
41:40I'm ready.
41:40I mean, it was just a shock.
41:45Or himself said...
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