Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

by James H. Hallas (Author)

32 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0275947262

ISBN-10: 0275947262

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On May 12, 1945, the 6th Marine Division was nearing Naha, capital of Okinawa. To the division's front lay a low, loaf-shaped hill. It looked no different from other hills seized with relative ease over the past few days. But this hill, soon to be dubbed, Sugar Loaf, was very different indeed. Part of a complex of three hills, Sugar Loaf formed the western anchor of General Mitsuru Ushijima's Shuri Line, which stretched from coast to coast across the island. Sugar Loaf was critical to the defense of that line, preventing U.S. forces from turning the Japanese flank. Over the next week, the Marines made repeated attacks on the hill losing thousands of men to death, wounds, and combat fatigue. Not until May 18 was Sugar Loaf finally seized. Two days later, the Japanese mounted a battalion-sized counterattack in an effort to regain their lost position, but the Marines held.

Ironically, these losses may not have been necessary. General Lemuel Shepherd, Jr., had argued for an amphibious assault to the rear of the Japanese defense line, but his proposal was rejected by U.S. Tenth Army Commander General Simon Bolivar Buckner. That refusal led to a controversy that has continued to this day.

Killing Ground on Okinawa: The Battle for Sugar Loaf Hill

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sugar Loaf Hill, 50 feet high and 900 feet long, was a key to the Japanese position on Okinawa during WWII. On the hill, the Japanese manned 25 sophisticated defenses with grim tenacity, supported by the heaviest firepower since Pearl Harbor. On the American side, the 6th Marine Division, which attacked the hill in the spring of 1945, may have been the best division in the Corps at the time. Even so, as Hallas (The Devil's Anvil, 1994) details in this intellectually and emotionally compelling account, it took all the raw courage and tactical skill of the division's junior officers and enlisted men to crack a Japanese position that might better have been flanked by an amphibious end run. Hallas uses firsthand accounts by Marine participants to depict the sustained close-quarter fighting that tested the Americans to their physical and moral limits as they engaged in a battle that saw 2000 Marine casualties in seven days. At Sugar Loaf, as on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue; Hallas's chronicle of the former battle's many instances of grace under fire will enhance all collections devoted to war's human dimensions.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Meticulously researched and based on interviews with nearly 100 survivors, this is a fitting tribute to the struggle, largely unknown to most Americans."- Amazon.com Books

"Hallas's chronicle of the battle's many instances of grace under fire will enhance all collections devoted to war's human dimensions."-Publishers Weekly

?Hallas's chronicle of the battle's many instances of grace under fire will enhance all collections devoted to war's human dimensions.?-Publishers Weekly

?Meticulously researched and based on interviews with nearly 100 survivors, this is a fitting tribute to the struggle, largely unknown to most Americans.?- Amazon.com Books

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Product details

Age Range: 1 - 1 year
Hardcover: 237 pages
Publisher: Praeger (March 11, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0275947262
ISBN-13: 978-0275947262
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 32 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1043 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Military
- #3990 in Books > History > Military > World War II
- #79031 in Books > Children's Books

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Top customer reviews

It really helped me trace my Dads movements in the ...

ByC. Edbergon December 2, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It really helped me trace my Dads movements in the battle. He never told me the details of what happened as it greatly affected him. Just what Battalion and division he was in. My Dad's outfit had (110% casualties in his outfit 4th Regiment counting the total replacements of the men either killed or wounded!!!!!!) The book is with personnel accounts and detailed information to a level I have not seen yet in a book about the biggest last battle with the Japanese!!! This battle should (never be forgotten or overshadowed) by Iwo Jima or even Normandy as (it is in history) because of Rossevelt's death in the last days of the battle for Okinawa !!! The reason was the taking of Okinawa showed up on page two of the papers when Roosevelt died at the time. They need to make a movie about Okinawa!!

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Killing Ground at Sugar Loaf Hill

ByDave Schranckon August 15, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Using historical records of 6th Marine Div, many interviews and other primary and secondary sources, the author reenacts a battle so horrible it defys imagination. This book is a tribute to all the brave men who fought on that island.
The story begins in 1879 with Japan annexing the Ryukyus Islands which has a mixed Chinese/Japanese hertage and quickly evolves into the preparation and disposition of the island by General Ushijima in 1945. The Japanese forces would be deployed along three major defense lines. In the deep south, the Yuza-Dake and Yaeja Dake Escarpment made an ideal defense. A little further north the main defense line called the Shurri Line consists of Sugar Loaf in the west, Shuri Castle in the center and Conical Hill in the east. North of the Shurri Line but still in the southern quadrant would be the Kakuzu Ridge - Nishibaru Ridge - Tanabaru - Ouki Line.
After the introduction, the author delivers a brief overview of the landings and the dispositions of the four divisions and the gains made for the first month. Its not until 6th MarDiv secured Motobu Peninsula to the north and is then inserted into the Shurri line not far from Sugar Loaf that the narrative becomes almost exclusively 6th Marine Division.
The description of the fanatical defense with its many suicidal bombers and the horror that the marines went through in those 10 days of May is incredible. The author does a good job of describing the terrain including the two supporting hills, one on each side of Sugar Loaf that made it so impossible to take. The marines finally figured out that to take one hill , all the hills had to be taken and thats how it was done.
There is only one minor complaint and it concerns the controversey of General Buckner's obstinate refusal of additional help from the 2nd Marines. With thousands of his people dying and making very little progress and with pressure from all sides to change tactics, Buckner refuses and continues to slug it out with a frontal attack. The author mentions this event but doesn't expound or shed new light on it nor does he commit his thoughts on the topic. It would have been nice to hear his views on it. I grant that an impromptu amphibious landing would be difficult but not impossible and it would have prevented Ushijima from consolidating his forces on the Shurri Line, making it easier for 6th Marines to break through.
The last chapter gives the cost of the campaign with the author stating that with the high cost of taking these islands, these brave warriors should never be forgotten.
Even before going very far into the book, you can tell the author had spent much time in accumulating a wealth of first hand information in order to be able to deliver so much action. This is confirmed with you peruse the Source list.
If you're a Okinawa Buff, this is a "must have" story for your collection for it delivers more battlefield action and bravery in this important sector than any other book on the market and it will complement anything that you might already have. Its highly recommended.

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Outstanding book on a little known battle in Okinawa. Must read!

ByPoleaxeon January 9, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

outstanding book about a little known battle. Unbelievable what this "Greatest Generation" did. If you don't feel a tremendous sense of honor and gratitude to the Corps after reading this book, you are hopeless. An absolute must for any student of the USMC and the war in the Pacific. On par with The Old Breed. Read it!

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One of the most Comprehesive, detailed accounts of Okinawa ...

ByD Weidleon October 30, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

One of the most Comprehesive, detailed accounts of Okinawa I have ever read. Having lived on "Oki" for 3 years and having served with General Day and his son, then Capt. Day with 3rd Bn, 12th Marines, mentally walking that hallowed ground, living in Makimanado housing, and Knowing the history of Sugarloaf Hill and what Corporal Day did, brings the heroism and sacrifice of my brother Marines so sharply back in focus. "One a Marine, Always a Marine.......Semper Fi.

D. Weidle

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Outstanding.

ByRockinRodon June 4, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Outstanding account of this horrific battle. A preview of what an invasion of Japan would have been if Japan had not surrendered. Recommend all of James Hallas books. All are exhaustively researched & extremely well written.

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Excellent Combat Narrative

ByAussie Readeron February 14, 2003

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

James H. Hallas's book `Killing Ground on Okinawa' is one of those books that should be in any decent military history library. Having previously read his account of the fighting on Peleliu, `The Devil's Anvil' I couldn't wait to read this account of the battle for Sugar Loaf Hill. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed in this book.
The author allows the Marines who took part in the fighting tell the story and its incredible to read what these blokes went through for what looks like a very small piece of Pacific Island real estate. The accounts of the fighting men are detailed and to the point and you are forced to sit back and think of how these men endured this hell, it is almost beyond the comprehension of today's generation.
The narrative is full of details but the real guts of the book is the first-hand accounts by the men involved in the assaults against the well constructed Japanese defensive positions. Not only were the Japanese well dug in and protected but they used their firepower and weapons to great advantage. They wrought destruction upon the advancing marines. Men and machines were continually being knocked out with no gain being made against the determined Japanese defence.
Finally after a heroic night attack the marines secured a toehold on Sugar Loaf but then had to hold against Japanese counter attacks and massive counter fire from artillery, mortars, machine guns and snipers. The casualty list for the marine units were massively high causing some questioning of the strategy and tactics used by the Army High Command. In over seven days of fighting the 6th Marine Division suffered over 2,000 casualties fighting for this pimple of a hill which secured the Japanese Shuri Line.
The only fault that I could find with this book was the standard of the maps and photographs. I am sure that they could have been of a higher calibre. Overall this is a great story of combat, dedication, bravery and Espirt de Corp. I think it is one of the better combat accounts of the Pacific Theatre that I have read in some years and I am certain that anyone interested in the Pacific War would be fascinated by this account.

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Outstanding

What an great product and outstanding, fast, lighting, speed customer service.

Published 1 month ago by Anthony J Gonzales

Great detail about Sugar Loaf Hill battle.

If you can stand the horror and gore, this is a great way to find out exactly what happened on Okinawa during WWII

Published 8 months ago by steve

6th Marine, Fox Co, 2nd Batt. 22nd regiment

My Grandfather was in the 6th, Fox Co, 2nd battalion, 22nd regiment. He received the Bronze Star for acts of heroism on Okinawa.Read more

Published 9 months ago by Jimmy Clark

Four Stars

Good detailed account of the battle.

Published 1 year ago by Mark

Five Stars

Simply amazing!

Published 1 year ago by Juan Ferrer

This book was a real eye opener for me.

I've read lots of books about WWII, particularly the war in the Pacific. I suppose it's because I'm a former Marine myself (Vietnam was my war), but the island fights have always...Read more

Published 1 year ago by Sebuka68

Five Stars

A Great Read !!!!

Published on July 18, 2015 by chocolate labs

Five Stars

Cool

Published on June 22, 2015 by Books Books Books

Five Stars

Very good book on the fighting for Sugarloaf and the surrounding hill complexes

Published on June 2, 2015 by phlegm

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