The princess left hospital later in the evening

England have

Diana, Princess of Wales, has given birth to a boy sixteen hours after checking in to St Mary's Hospital, in London.

The boy, who has been named William, was born at 21:03 BST, weighing 7 lb.

He is second in line to the British throne after his father the Prince of Wales, who accompanied Princess Diana to the hospital at 0500BST this morning and stayed with her throughout the day.

Outside the hospital crowds had gathered to wait for news of the birth, with some saying they would wait through the night if necessary. Flowers arrived all day long and were taken into the hospital.

Thousands also gathered outside Buckingham Palace, where the birth was formally announced.

"Delighted"

The Queen had continued with her scheduled programme, inspecting an RAF regiment on their 40th anniversary at Wittering in Cambridgeshire.

A Palace official said she had looked "absolutely delighted" on hearing that the Princess had gone intolabour.

The Princess went into labour earlier than expected, but only by a few days.

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, Geoffrey Chamberlain, told BBC News the long labour period should not present cause for concern.

He said: "Just over half of women expecting their first baby deliver inside 12 hours but another fifth go onto about 18 hours, and another fifth go even longer.

"There is nothing abnormal with a labour going into 24 hours."

The Queen's own surgeon gynaecologist, George Pinker, who has looked after the Princess throughout her pregnancy, was in charge of the delivery.

Thousands of US troops have been killed or wounded in the conflict

It is estimated more than 90,000 Japanese troops were killed in the 82-day conflict.

"I personally saw one Kamikaze hit one of (the aircraft carriers) whilst I was operating the plot for incomingbandits."

People's War memories


America also suffered heavy losses - at this stage 6,990 servicemen have been reported killed or missing and 25,598 wounded.

Mopping up

In a statement issued today Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester W Nimitz, said: "After 82 days of fighting the battle of Okinawa has been won.

"Organised resistance ceased on June 21. Enemy garrisons in two small pockets are being mopped up."

The Japanese fought a desperate battle until the bitter end with many hiding out in caves on the southern-most tip of the island.

As the US forces closed in many threw themselves off 150ft (45.7m)cliffs orwadedinto the sea to drown rather than be taken prisoner.

More than 4,000 Japanese have so far been captured.

The conflict began on 1 April, when America's newly-formed 10th Army, led by Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner, landed on Okinawa's western coast.

By 21 April most of the island had been taken by US troops but a stalemate developed in the south around Okinawa's capital city, Naha.

The Japanese were able to secure a strong defensive position in the rugged, cave-riddled terrain and it took several weeks to finally win the battle.

labour:undergo the efforts of childbirth（分娩）

bandit: a robber （強盜；土匪）

wade:to walk in or through water or something else that similarly impedes normal movement（跋涉）