http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/5/21.htm
June 21st, 1945 (THURSDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Submarine HMS L-23 paid off.
JAPAN: Hill 69 on Okinawa falls to US forces. General Ushijima’s body is found near his HQ located there.
Okinawa is declared secured at 1330 hours local time after 82 days fighting.
The Twentieth Air Force, XXI Bomber Command flies Mission 214: 25 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses mine the sea approaches around Fushiki, Senzaki, Nanao, and Yuya Bay, Japan during the night of 21/22 June; 2 others mine alternate areas.
U.S. Navy Consolidted PB4Y-2 Privateers of Patrol Bombing Squadron One Hundred Eighteen (VPB-118) operating from Yontan Airfield, Okinawa mine the waters of the Korean Archipelago, between Hakin Do, Iion Do and Gantai Do.
Tokyo: With US troops now only 400 miles from Japan, Emperor Hirohito yesterday urged senior ministers and service chiefs to find a way to end the war by diplomatic means. The emperor took the unusual initiative after a final farewell radio message from Okinawa indicating that collapse was imminent. It was sent by Generals Sho and Ushijima before they committed ritual suicide together by leaning on their sabres as they faced north to Tokyo. In a death-note General Sho wrote: “I depart without regret, shame or obligations.”
Okinawa: The three-month-long battle for Okinawa, the bitterest campaign so far in the Pacific is over. Admiral Chester Nimitz’s HQ declared today that the stubborn Japanese defence force, reduced to 30,000 men in the last week, has finally disintegrated. About 1,700 surrendered today and 1,000 yesterday. Hundreds of Japanese committed suicide by jumping from the cliffs into the sea, but most chose to follow their own code of honour and fight to the death. At least 9,000 Japanese have died in the last three days, since the final US push began with the arrival of reinforcements of the 8th Marine Regiment. One of the final victims was the US Tenth Army commander, Lt-Gen Buckner, killed by shrapnel as he inspected the ridgeline that the enemy had chosen for its final stand.
Okinawa now becomes the forward base for invading Japan, 400 miles away; B-29s bombing Japan from here will carry more bombs as they will need less fuel than is required for the 3,000-mile round-trip from the Marianas.
The human price of the 82-day conquest of Okinawa dwarfs all other battles in the Pacific. US total casualties are 49,151 with 12,520 killed or missing and 36,631 wounded. American losses on Okinawa nearly exceeded the total for the six Pacific campaigns that led to it. For the Japanese, Okinawa has been a struggle to the death with approximately 110,000 killed and only 7,400 taken prisoner. Civilian casualties are 80,000. US estimates fear that invading Japan will spark a worse death struggle, with 250,000 dead.
Kamikazes are still active off Okinawa. A kamikaze sinks a medium landing ship (LSM) and damages three other ships. A kamikaze attacks the destroyer escort USS Halloran (DE-305); the ships gunners shoot the plane down but it lands 75 yards (68.6 m) from the ship and an exploding bomb kills three crewmen and causes considerable damage to hull and superstructure. Two seaplane tenders are damaged by Kamikazes. An aircraft crashes USS Curtiss (AV-4) and its bomb rips two holes in her hull and exploded on the third deck, killing 35 and wounding 21 of her crew. Effective damage control keeps her afloat and four days later she was underway for the U.S. USS Kenneth Whiting (AV-14) shoots down a kamikaze but part of the plane hits the ship, causing minor damage and wounding five men.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES: Aparri, the last Japanese port on Luzon, falls to the US.
CANADA:
HM S/M L23 paid off.
HMC ML 081 paid off.
HMC MTB 735 paid off.
Corvettes HMCS Galt and New Westminster paid off Sorel, Province of Quebec.
U.S.A.: The 20-minute black and white documentary “Fight for the Sky” is released in the U.S. This film, produced by the USAAF and narrated by Ronald Reagan, depicts the exploits of the American fighter pilots who destroyed the German Luftwaffe and allowed the Allies to proceed with the invasion of Europe.