Okinawa - Item Pocket

Item Pocket, Okinawa, 20 April 1945: General Griner ordered the 165th Infantry Regiment to take over the right of the Division line during the afternoon of April 19th. By H-hour at 0730 hours Colonel Gerard W. Kelley had his command on line with the 1st and 2nd Battalions abreast. The boundary line between battalions ran straight down the crest of Charlie Ridge, angled a little to the left, and ran in a straight line to the eastern edge of Machinato Airfield. The attack was launched with little known of the terrain, maps of the area did not suggest that a junction between battalions would pose a problem. Prior to kicking off the attack, spirits were high. On the morning of April 20th, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. Hart, regimental executive officer, got out a sign on which were printed the words, “Conroy Field” and announced that by nightfall he expected to nail it up on Machinato Airfield. He further announced that the regiment would, “hold a dance in Naha on Saturday night.” With full expectations of success both battalions moved off at H-hour, 0730 hours, on the morning of April 20th, only to find themselves embroiled in a full-scale battle within the hour. The first unit to be involved in the battle was ‘C’ Company, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas P. Fleming, moving south along Charlie Ridge. The unit quickly pushed a deep salient into enemy positions, moving against negligible opposition. Fifteen minutes into the operation they were taken under heavy machine-gun fire from positions in Item Pocket, the enemy firing down pre-determined fire-lanes along Anderson Gulch. A mortar barrage quickly followed. Within the space of a few minutes Fleming had lost five killed and twenty-two wounded. Among the wounded was Fleming’s XO, leaving only one other officer in the company. At this point Captain Lawrence J. O’Brien, battalion S-3 (intelligence), worked his way up, using his leadership to get the unit moving. By 1430 ‘C’ Company infiltrated to a ridge just opposite Gusukuma, practically outflanking the pocket, without killing a single enemy soldier.

Welcome to ASLComp OKINAWA: ITEM POCKETTM, a new variant historical module that provides an investigation of one of the most challenging battlefields of the battle for Okinawa, The war in Europe was almost over but the Empire of Japan had no intentions of giving up the fight. It would take the U.S. Army units days, weeks... to grind over every last defender.

Includes:

• 1 Color Wraparound Cover Sheet
  
• Twelve 18” x 12” Color Cardstock Maps
  
• One Countersheet of 88 Counters
  
• Three ASL Special Rules Sheets
  
• 12 Scenarios
  

Scenarios included:

• Hidden Foe – Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 20th 1945
  
• Company A’s Change - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 20th 1945
  
• Potter’s Ridge - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 20th 1945
  
• Rebuffed at Ryan’s Ridge - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 20th 1945
  
• Schoeff’s Stand - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 20th 1945
  
• Smoke Them Out - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 21st 1945
  
• Humped Guns - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 21st 1945
  
• Fists and Fury - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 25th 1945
  
• Item Pocket Reduced - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 26th 1945
  
• Item Pocket Cleared - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 27th 1945
  
• Into the Mouth of Death - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 21st 1945
  
• Amtracs on the Horizon - Item Pocket, Okinawa, April 21st 1945