6th Marine Division on Okinawa
Encyclopedia
The 6th Marine Division on Okinawa is a 1945 Kodachrome
color documentary film
produced about the action of its 6th Division during the Battle of Okinawa
. The film was released shortly after the event.
The film begins by outlining the strategic and psychological importance of Okinawa, including its use as a supply base for Japanese forces in Malaya, the Marianas and the Philippines, as well as a "choke hold" over China. It also informs the audience that Okinawa is an actual part of the Japanese homeland, only a few hundred mile from Kyushu.
The movements of the units and their order of battle is carefully traced, from the landings on April first to the assault on Naha. Some interesting footage is also shown on life in northern Okinawa soon after liberation, with the locals setting up a democratic government under the US military and opening up schools while the battle raging in the south.
Some of the footage includes the use of flame-throwing tanks and close air support in an attempt to dislodge heavily dug-in Japanese defenders. The film ends with a eulogy for all those who died attempting to secure the island, as Marines visit a gigantic graveyard prior to departing for their next objective.
Kodachrome
Kodachrome is the trademarked brand name of a type of color reversal film that was manufactured by Eastman Kodak from 1935 to 2009.-Background:...
color documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
produced about the action of its 6th Division during the Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
. The film was released shortly after the event.
The film begins by outlining the strategic and psychological importance of Okinawa, including its use as a supply base for Japanese forces in Malaya, the Marianas and the Philippines, as well as a "choke hold" over China. It also informs the audience that Okinawa is an actual part of the Japanese homeland, only a few hundred mile from Kyushu.
The movements of the units and their order of battle is carefully traced, from the landings on April first to the assault on Naha. Some interesting footage is also shown on life in northern Okinawa soon after liberation, with the locals setting up a democratic government under the US military and opening up schools while the battle raging in the south.
Some of the footage includes the use of flame-throwing tanks and close air support in an attempt to dislodge heavily dug-in Japanese defenders. The film ends with a eulogy for all those who died attempting to secure the island, as Marines visit a gigantic graveyard prior to departing for their next objective.
See also
- List of Allied Propaganda Films of World War 2