OKL The Japanese counterattacked on May 4, then withdrew to an even deeper set of fortifications on Oroku The fighting was close and intense, with flamethrowers an essential weapon used to winnow out bitterender resistance On June 22 Okinawa was formally declared secure Over the course of the land battle the Japanese lost an astonishing 7,800 planes, and a lesser number of pilots Over 7,000 U.S troops died in their bloodiest battle of the Pacific War The Americans took 49,000 total casualties, including 4,907 sailors killed or wounded by kamikaze, the highest loss rate in any battle of the war Japan lost 107,539 military dead, over one-quarter of whom were blasted or incinerated to death or sealed inside caves About 11,000 Japanese military prisoners were taken, first truly significant Japanese surrender in the Pacific War About one quarter of all civilians on the island also died, some 75,000 souls in all Many had been encouraged—and some were forced—by Japanese officers to seal themselves in death caves or to hurl their children and themselves into the sea The death agony of whole families was captured on fi lm See also Hiroshima; Nimitz, Chester Suggested Reading: E B Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (1981; 2007) OKL “Oberkommando der Luftwaffe.” German Air Force High Command OKM “Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine.” German Navy High Command OKW “Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.” German Armed Forces High Command The overarching headquarters of the German armed forces, comprising all three services: Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), and Luftwaffe (Air Force) It was established in 1938 when Adolf Hitler purged the Wehrmacht of top generals who opposed his aggressive war plans OKW was supposed to work on grand strategy, but it never developed one Instead, from the onset Hitler merged political and military authority in his own person while consulting on operational matters, planning for which became the main function of OKW He thus reduced the military leadership to little more than a technical elite without a policy role Nevertheless, within that context the strategic policies Hitler pursued usually enjoyed support from top military men From 1938 to 1945 the key officer was Wilhelm Keitel The “Wehrmachtsfuehrungsstab” (Armed Forces Operations Staff, or WFST), was headed by Alfred Jodl It advised on operations until Hitler took over direction even of detailed field movements, as well as what remained of strategy late in the war OKW oversaw only the southern and western fronts during the second half of the war, while Hitler personally and the OKH (“Oberkommando des Heeres.”) took charge of the Soviet or Eastern Front The Luftwaffe remained largely independent of the OKW due to the political clout of Hermann Göring with Hitler and within Nazi circles, though that was a waning reality from 1942 to 1945 In December 1941, upon the failure of BARBAROSSA and in the midst of the great Soviet counteroffensive in front of Moscow, Hitler took personal charge of OKW as his own commander in chief and director of operations However, it 812