Tenth Army

CCmlO AFPAC to CmlO s, Sixth, Eighth, ind Tenth Armies, FEAF, AFWESPAC, 2 Aug 45, sub ... 

The commander of the Tenth Army, which formed in Hawaii for the Ryukyu Campaign, was senior to General Richardson, Central Pacific commander. 

Cml unit files, i47ch and 148th Cml General Serv Cos and 231st Cml Depot Co. (2) Lcr, CG Tenth Army to CG Island Comd, 20 Jan 45, sub Plan for CWS Sup. Tenth Army AG 473 Cml. 

The mortar units in combat soon discovered that fuzes had corroded in many of the shells, causing premature bursts. Tenth Army called for replacement fuzes. The USAFPOA responded to eleven emergency requests by air, shipping 46,502 pounds of fuzes from the United States and from Hawaii. 

CWS-trained Navy crewmen manned a total of 60 LCI(M) s which supported Tenth Army in the Ryukyus Campaign. Six days before the main assault of Okinawa, two 6-boat mortar groups supported the diversionary effort against Kerama Retto made by the 77th Infantry... 

The amphibious use of the 4.2-inch mortar was one of the major contributions of the CWS to the Pacific war. The mortar boat proved extremely effective for close infantry support just before, during, and immediately after amphibious landings. It was then that the assault troops, running the gantlet of enemy fire while attempting to secure a foothold on the beach, benefited from all the support fire that could be provided. The effectiveness of the mortars in this support is best reflected in the steady increase in the number of mortar boats committed to Pacific assault operations. Only four LCI(M) s saw action in the Palau fighting in September 1944 seven months later a total of sixty supported Tenth Army operations in the Ryukyus. 

Standard i -inch rubber fire hose to a flame thrower tank and attained a range of 6o yards. Following a demonstration of the device in February 1945 Tenth Army ordered three sets of these hoses, all of which were to see service on Okinawa. ... 

Okinawa was the last battle of the war and one of the hardest. Conducted by Tenth Army on the very doorstep of Japan, it was to involve more CWS equipment than any other Pacific campaign. Each of the four Army divisions of XXIV Corps had 141 portable flame throwers each of the three Marine divisions of III Amphibious Corps had 243, the same number as had been taken to Iwo Jima. The 713 th Tank Battalion, converted to a provisional flame thrower unit for the operation, received a complement of 34 POA main armament flame throwers. ... 

The Tenth Army and the 713th Tank Battalion agreed that the 7 5-mm. gun should be retained in flame tanks and mounted coaxially with the flame thrower, but that there should be no reduction in fuel capacity and no decrease in the effectiveness of the flame gun. ... 

Ltr CmlO Tenth Army to CmlO CPBC, 9 Jun 45, sub Mechanized Flame Throwers. History,... 

Each of the four Army tank battalions had eighteen periscope flame throwers each Marine tank battalion carried sixteen E4R2-jRi s. Tenth Army Action Rpt, Ryukyus, 26 Mar-30 June 4J, p. 4< 713th Tank Bn Armored Flame Thrower (Provisional) AAR ch. IX, in McKinney, Mechanized Flame Thrower Opns, app. 6, p. 374. 

Ltr, CofS Tenth Army to CG POA, 27 May 45, sub Recommended Changes in Construction of POA CVS-Hi Mechanized Flame Thrower. Tenth Army 400 Cml. 

The CWS contracted for the manufacture of 1,000 recoilless mortars, 100 of the weapons being completed before the end of the war. Recoilless mortars reached the Tenth Army in the Pacific theater in time for the Okinawa campaign, but otherwise they were produced too late for battle... 

In September the Tenth Army, planning an attack—later canceled— on Formosa, requested that large capacity flame throwers be installed in fifty-four M4 medium tanks. In the first model the company installed a Ronson gun like that used on Satan. The Tenth Army pointed out that the silhouette was different from the 75-mm. gun of the regular M4 tank, and this would permit the enemy to spot flame tanks. The problem then arose of obtaining 75-mm. gun tubes to enclose the flame gun. Ordnance did not wish to sacrifice new tubes for the manufacture of flame throwers, and only a few salvaged tubes were available. Seabees machined these items to hold the flame gun, and in the meantime the ASF shipped fourteen salvaged tubes under high priority. Later, Colonel Unmacht obtained authority to use forty-two serviceable tubes for the purpose. 

One hundred and seventy-six of these were completed for the Tenth Army. They were on hand for the Okinawa and Iwo Jima campaigns, but they were not used extensively because Hawaiian-produced main armament flame throwers, preferred for their large fuel capacity and greater range, were also available for these battles. ... 

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