News from Japan and the Far East for May 20, 1945.
Superfortress squadrons smashed industrial targets at Tokyo and Hamamatsu, Japan’s big pre-war textile center, Saturday with demolition bombs. American headquarters said the raids were made by more than 400 B-29s. Radio Tokyo contributed an unconfirmed report that 30 more Superforts visited Japan’s strategic waters, sowing mines in Wakasada bay, Honshu island, and in Bungo strait at the southwestern gate of the Inland sea. The Tokyo Hamamatsu raids plowed up more vital war areas, adding to the 59.58 square miles of devastation spread by since last November in half a dozen of Nippon’s largest cities. The bombed-out districts included 17 square miles in Tokyo and 11.3 square miles of Nagoya, Nippon’s third largest city. Twenty-first bomber command headquarters in Guam reported that some 300 of the big planes unloaded 2,000 tons of demolition bombs in their heaviest strike yet against the Hamamatus industrial area, about 60 miles southeast of su, on war-battered Honshu Nagoya.
Meanwhile, Marines of the 6th division beat back a strong Japanese counterattack yesterday east of Takamotoji village in the battle for vital Sugar Loaf hill, fiercest single action in the Okinawa campaign in which 48,103 Japanese have been killed through Thursday. Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced American casualties for the Okinawa campaign, including fleet losses since it began carrier attacks on the enemy’s inland sea March 18, total 30,526. Of these, 8,310 were killed or missing and were wounded. Many wounded have returned to combat.
Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr’s.6th division leathernecks were thrown off Sugar Loaf hill a fourth time Thursday night but occupied it again Friday morning. This strategic promontory guards which cannot be occupied safely by American troops until totally occupied and all Japanese artillery entrenched in its southern slopes silenced.
And finally, An official of the British Military Government for Germany Sunday disclosed that under Allied plans to decentralize the Reich Berlin’s former political and administrative powers will be divided among the various provinces According to a Reuters dispatch from British Second Army Headquarters Col B K Thomas of the British Military Government’s operations and planning department said that the vast powers formerly7 concentrated in the Ger man capital would be shared by the great industrial agricultural and maritime provinces previously tied to Berlin under the Nazis’ centralized system of government A government of Germans functioning under the direction of occupation authorities was the goal of the occupying forces he said adding that German taxes will pay the cost of military government Colonel Thomas explained that exact delineation of the area to come under British control has not yet been decided In general the British area spread over what was once Prussia includes the provinces of Hanover Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
All that, and continuing reports from Japan for May 20,1945 as reported by CBS World News Today.
