PERFECT BOMBING BASE

Evening Star, Issue 25522, 28 June 1945, Page 5

PERFECT BOMBING BASE

i USEFULNESS OF OKINAWA AIRFIELDS WITHIN REACH OF JAPANESE PLANES NEW YORK. June 26. "Okinawa's closeness to the Japanese main islands makes it a perfect base for heavy bombers, but at the same time puts our airfields within reach of any type of Japanese plane," says the Guam correspondent of the ' New York Times.' This was indicated when the Japanese raiding the Okinawa area on June 25 and 26 included obsolescent float planes, which are vulnerable but capable of carrying bomb loads. " The Tactical Air Force based on Okinawa revealed that in the two months it has been operating from the island it shot down 59C enemy iplanes. This total does not include planes shot down by carrier planes operating in conjunction or by flak. " The ability of the Japanese to raid Okinawa from the home island so long as tliey have any planes led to hesitation by some air force officers in using the island as a Super-Fortress base. This was quickly over-ruled, and plans for the use of Super-Fortresses in the area were made long before the .island was taken. This means that a. constant strong patrol of day and night fighters will have to be maintained over the area as soon as the carriers are withdrawn. Air force officers are confident it can be done, and the fields protected, as those in England were against German attacks." ENEMY COMMANDERS BODIES FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVES NEW YORK, June 26. The fate of Lieutenant-general Mitshuru Ushijima, the Japanese commander on Okinawa, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant-general Isama Cho, has been determined. According to information obtained from prisoners both committed hara-kiri ceremoniously at dawn on June 22. The bodies of both generals were found in_ shallow graves on the southern sea cliff. A prisoner, who had been General Ushijima's cook, said the generals decided to die after the last stronghold of the inter-connecting caves on the Mabuni Ridge had been surrendered on June 21. While United States tanks were climbing the steep slopes of the ridge, the generals ate a final, speci-ally-prepared meal. At 4 a.m. on June 22, both generals, dressed in full field uniform, wearing medals and polished boot 6, approached a narrow ledge where a white sheet was spread, symbolishing death. They knelt on the sheet and bared their abdomens. .General Ushijima's aide handed a knife to each, half of each blade being wrapped in white cloth. General Ushijima thrust the knife deep into his abdomen, and at the same time an adjutant, who was standing behind, slashed him across the back of the neck with a sword, severing his spinal cord. A moment later General Cho died in a similar manner.