The advance on Japan

In June 1944 the US occupied the Marianas Islands and now, for the first time, American bombers could launch constant raids on Japan itself. In December the Philippines were recaptured after the biggest sea battle in history at Leyte Gulf. Four more Japanese carriers were sunk despite the efforts of Japanese kamikaze pilots. These pilots packed their planes with explosives and flew straight at the US ships on suicide missions. The most important result of the capture of the Philippines was that the Japanese were now cut off from their oil supplies in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

Once the island of Okinawa fell to the Americans (June 1945), an invasion of Japan could take place. But it had taken four months to take the island and 13,000 US lives had been lost along with 130,000 Japanese. In Japan itself waited another 2 million troops, defending their homeland. How many more Americans would have to die before victory?

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 54