HiTech Creations likes to bring a little of the history of World War II to our loyal customers. We figure if you are going to play the best World War 2 flight simulator on the market you may as well be told a little something about the major battles. With that in mind today we bring you a thumbnail sketch of the Battle of Okinawa.
Fought for 82 days between April 1st and June 21st, 1945, the Battle of Okinawa was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II and resulted in the highest number of casualties of any battle in the Pacific Theater.
Also known by its codename Operation Iceberg, this battle was the successful attempt by the United States and the United Kingdom to capture this large island and use it as a base for air operations when the final attack on mainland Japan took place. Needless to say, the Japanese understood all too well the importance of holding onto Okinawa and in fact, shortly after losing this battle (three weeks) the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped effectively ending the war against Japan.
In the end it was a very costly battle for both sides as well as civilians living on Okinawa. Japan suffered over 100,000 casualties while the United States tallied 50,000; tens of thousands of civilians were killed or wounded during the eighty-two days of fighting. Estimates of civilian losses have ranged between 40,000-150,000.
The battle has also been called the “Typhoon of Steel” because of the sheer numbers of combatants and the intensity of fighting. Whatever you choose to call it, this battle saw ferocious combat as four divisions of the U.S. 10th Army and two divisions of the Marines (the 1st and 6th) saw almost continual fighting for the entire 82 days of battle.
We at HiTech tip our hats to the brave soldiers who gave their all so that we can enjoy the trappings of freedom here in America. We hope that Aces High is a lasting tribute, a flight simulator game that beautifully captures the memories of that war. It was with a sense of awe and respect that we designed this combat flight simulator and that respect is always in our thoughts as we continue to revise this war game. Stay tuned till next week when we will review another of the great World War 2 battles.