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The
Islands
There
are approximately 120 islands comprising the
Aleutian chain that stretches from the tip of the
Alaskan peninsula to within 90 miles of Kamchatka,
Russia. The easternmost island, Unimak, is also the
largest, measuring 65 by 22 miles. To the southwest
is Unalaska, on the north coast of which is located
Dutch Harbor. Unalaska is about 2,000 miles from
both San Francisco and Honolulu. Continuing
westward, in order, lie Umnak, Atka, and Adak. Kiska
is 610 miles west of Dutch Harbor. Further west you
will find Shemya, a small island located about 35
miles east of Attu. The Shemya landmass is only two
by four miles, with the highest point being about
240 feet. Attu, the westernmost American island, is
nearly 1,100 miles from the Alaskan mainland and 750
miles northeast of the northernmost of the Japanese
Kurile Islands. Attu is about 20 by 35 miles, and
has some fairly high mountainous terrain beginning
just a short distance from its shore line, rising
abruptly to altitudes of 3000 feet, and stretching
through to the interior of the island. One writer of
the time wrote, "Attu is the lonesomest spot
this side of hell."
All
the Aleutians are volcanic in origin. They are
uniformly rocky and barren, with precipitous
mountains (usually covered with snow) and scant
vegetation. There are no trees on the islands, with
the exception of a few stunted spruces at Dutch
Harbor, and no brush. The lowlands are covered with
a spongy tundra or muskeg as much as three feet
thick, making walking very difficult. Below the
tundra is volcanic ash, finely ground and water
soaked to the consistency of slime. In many places
water is trapped in ponds under the tundra. A man on
foot may readily break through the tundra, sinking
in watery mud up to his knees. Men have fallen into
these bogs and have been lost. Motor vehicles, even
those with caterpillar treads, quickly churn the
tundra into a muddy mass in which sunken wheels and
treads spin uselessly.
The
Aleutians, being unsuitable for agriculture, lacking
in mineral resources, and with little possibility of
commercial exploitation, received only slight
attention after their acquisition from Russia in
1867. A chart of the coast lines were prepared by
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey office.
The Aleutian island's shorelines are jagged with
submerged rock formations rendering navigation
hazardous. The better anchorages, such as Dutch
Harbor, are located in the easternmost islands,
while the worst are located in the westernmost
islands. Attu has four relatively unguarded
bays...Holtz, Chichagof (the best), and Sarana on
the northeast side, with Massacre Bay on the
southeast side.
The
Weather
Aleutian
weather becomes progressively worse as you travel
from the easternmost islands to the west. Attu
weather is typified by cold, damp fog, often
accompanied by snow or icy rain. The winds often
reach velocities of more than 100 miles an hour.
There are many days during the year where working
outside is impossible. On Attu, five or six days a
week are likely to be rainy, with hardly more than
eight or ten clear days a year. The rest of the
time, even if rain is not falling, fog of varying
density is the rule rather than the exception.
Shemya, located a short distance from Attu, suffers
the same fate, but to not as great an extent due to
the lack of mountainous terrain. This weather is
highly localized, however, and areas of high
visibility can be found within 20 miles of fog
concentration! The average rainfall is around 40 to
50 inches throughout the islands, with the heaviest
rains in fall and early winter.
Squalls,
known as "williwaws," sweep down from the
island's mountainous areas with great force,
sometimes reaching gale proportions within 30
minutes. The mountains are concentrated on the north
sides of the islands, which results in strong
off-shore winds that in turn make it difficult to
find a lee along the north coasts. The columns of
spray and mist resulting from the williwaws
frequently resemble huge waterfalls. In the winter,
the williwaws can cause snow to be blown right up
your pant legs, with many having observed the
phenomenon of snow blowing from the ground up!
The
Aleutian weather turned out to be a constant
impediment to the military operations of the United
States and Japan alike. Japan, however, enjoyed one
advantage: the weather in this theater moves from
west to east, resulting in Japan always knowing in
advance the conditions which were likely to prevail
in the islands.
Background
While
the exact objectives of Japan's attack on the
Aleutian Islands in 1942 isn't known, there are two main
possibilities to ponder. One possibility is that Japan wanted to conquer
the Aleutians to obtain access to Canada and America's northwestern
states by way of Alaska. Many of Japan's military leaders considered
these poorly defended outposts to be the logical route for an invasion
of North America. Why Japan clung to its positions in the Aleutians
after the battle of Midway is not known, but it is probable that Attu
and Kiska were either going to provide the jumping-off places for future
invasions of the North American continent, or merely provide advanced
eastern observation posts and defenses for the Empire. General Simon Buckner had
proposed to attack Japan via a northern route, through the Aleutians,
thus giving some credence to Japan's concerns about protecting their
northern flank, which formulates the second reason for Japan's wanting
to hold on to Kiska and Attu. A line drawn from Kiska through Attu and
down to Midway Island would define Japan's eastern line of homeland
defense.
It was
clear to the Allied Forces that the Japanese
occupation in the Aleutians provided a continuing
threat to America's (and possibly Canada's)
security. Any plans for Allied Forces to seize
the offensive in the Central Pacific would be
difficult to execute while Japan maintained flanking
positions in the Aleutians. One should also consider
that every day Japan's troops remained on American
soil was beneficial to Japanese morale (especially after the losses
incurred at the Battle of Midway), while it was
deleterious to that of the American's. Perhaps this was the primary
reason for what became the total blackout of news relating to events in
the Aleutians...to keep the American public from becoming too overly
concerned about events in Alaska that were perceived by some higher
military and government authorities to be of not much importance
considering the scope of WWII. Would the American public panic if they
knew that Japan had actually occupied American soil at this time?
Because of America's commitments elsewhere, the means of quickly
resolving these issues were far from adequate.
The
War In The Aleutians
Lieutenant
General Hideichiro Higuda, commander of the Japanese
Northern Army, said they wanted to break up any
offensive action the Americans might contemplate
against Japan by way of the Aleutians, to set up a
barrier between the United States and Russia in the
event Russia joined with the United States in its
war against Japan (Russia at this time was neutral
in terms of the Japanese conflict with America), and
to make preparations through the construction of
advanced airbases for future offensive actions.
Japan's
intent was brought to light on June 3, 1942, when
Japanese carrier-borne aircraft flew out of the
Aleutian fog and bombed the American installations
at Dutch Harbor on the island of Unalaska. There
were few casualties incurred with only minor damage
to the Dutch Harbor facilities. Nevertheless, WWII
now became more personal to those who lived in
Alaska. News of this event took an inordinate amount of time to reach
Americans living on the mainland's "lower 48."
On the 6th of June, 1942 at 22:27 hrs, the Japanese No. 3 Special
Landing Party and 500 Marines went ashore at Kiska.
The Japanese captured a small American Naval Weather
Detachment consisting of ten men, including a
Lieutenant along with their dog. One member of the detachment escaped for
50 days. Starving, thin, and extremely cold he
finally surrendered to the Japanese.
At nearly the
same time, 03:00hrs on the 7th of June 1942, Admiral Omori's Attu
invasion force, the Japanese 301st Independent Infantry
Battalion, landed on Attu via Holtz Bay, ending up eventually at
Massacre Bay and Chichagof Harbor. At this time Attu's population consisted of several
Blue Fox, forty-five native Aleuts, and two
Americans: Charles Foster Jones, a sixty year old
ham radio operator and weather observer, and his
62 year old wife Etta Jones, a teacher and trained nurse. They lived in
the little village of Chicagoff, Attu, consisting of frame houses around
Chichagof Harbor. They maintained a precarious existence by fishing,
trapping the foxes, and weaving baskets. Missionaries, as well as
government patrol boats and small fishing craft, provided the
inhabitants with their only direct link with the outside world...except
for the small radio operated by Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones lost his life at
the beginning of the invasion, while Mrs. Jones along with the remaining
Aleut population were held prisoners.
[FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION REGARDING THE JONES, CLICK
HERE.]
For a short time, the Japanese occupational
forces maintained the services of the Aleut
fishermen to supply them with food. As the Japanese
forces became more entrenched on Attu, Mrs. Jones
and the entire Aleut population of the little
village of Chichagof was transported in the hold of
a freighter to Hokkaido, Japan for internment.
Additional information indicates that Mrs. Jones was
separated from the native Aleuts and interred at
Yokohama (along with U.S. Navy personnel captured by
the Japanese on Kiska), while the Aleuts were
interred at Otaru, Hokkaido. The Japanese garrison
now had the island of Attu entirely to themselves, and began setting up
defensive positions.
[For an account of the
Aleut captivity, please click
HERE]
By the
11th of June 1942 it was evident that Japan had
landed substantial forces on Kiska and Attu. The
U.S. Navy's PatWing 4 (Patrol Wing 4) consisting of
PBY Catalina's flying out of Atka, bombed the Japanese
held positions on Kiska that same day.
On the
12th of June, 1942, the U.S. Army's 11th Air Force
heavy bombers made their first run over Kiska at
1200 feet, claiming hits on two Japanese cruisers
and one destroyer. One B-24 Liberator was lost to
the intense anti-aircraft fire originating chiefly from the
Japanese ships in the harbor.
On the 20th of June a Japanese submarine, I-26, torpedoed a Canadian
lumber ship off Cape Flattery and shelled a
telegraph station on Vancouver Island. The next day
it bombarded the naval base at Astoria,
Oregon...three days later, Fort Stevens was shelled.
(B. Garfield, "Thousand Mile War.")
On the
30th of August, 1942, the allied forces captured
Adak during a raging storm that prevented air cover
during the assault. The first plane to land on the new Adak runway on 10
September 1942 was piloted by Col. Eareckson. This brought the Aleutian war
uncomfortably
closer to the Japanese occupying the islands of Kiska and Attu.
Kiska
came to be regarded as the primary objective for
re-conquest by American Forces. Not only was Kiska
the most advanced Japanese threat to those Aleutian
Islands remaining in America's possession and to the
Alaskan/Canadian mainland, but it provided better
potential air facilities from which to launch attacks against Japan, a more satisfactory
harbor, and terrain more suitable for a base. In December, 1942 Rear Admiral F. W.
Rockwell, Commander Amphibious Force Pacific Fleet
was directed by CINCPAC to submit an estimate of the
situation along with a plan for the reduction and
occupation of Kiska. On 24 January 1943 Admiral
Rockwell reported to CINCPAC that the earliest date
of troop readiness would be about 1 May, 1943.
Due to
a severe shortage of equipment and transport,
Admiral Kinkaid recommended on 3 March 1943 that the
Kiska operation be tabled for the time being, and
that an attack on Attu be substituted. The
Commanding General, Alaska Defense Command, Maj.
Gen. Simon Buckner agreed and CINCPAC
directed Admiral Rockwell to plan an operation
against Attu.
The
plan as it evolved was to land the 7th Division on
Attu in two forces. One would land north and the
other south of the enemy positions. They would then
converge at the top of a peninsula which would
isolate the enemy.
January
11th, 1943 saw the beginning of events that would
place Amchitka Island in the hands of the allied
forces.
On
January 26th, 1943, Japan's aircraft strafed
Amchitka's Constantine Harbor.
January
28th, 1943 brought Jack Chennault and his squadron
of P-40s to Amchitka's new airfield, with P-38s
joining soon after. The 36th Bombardment Squadron
also moved to Amchitka.
On
January 30th, 1943, a B-17 crew attacked an
unidentified submerged object in Alaskan waters.
They dropped four depth charges and one bomb. It
turns out the target was a very disgruntled whale.
February
4, 1943 saw American P-40's strafing Japanese
installations on Kiska, while five of Japan's
bombers attacked American positions on Amchitka.
On 11
March, 1943, CINCPAC made available three
battleships, three heavy cruisers, three over-aged
light cruisers, one escort carrier, nineteen
destroyers, plus tenders, oilers, mine-sweepers,
etc., and four attack transports. The Army commander
was Commanding General 7th Division. The forces
assigned Navy were Task Forces KING and ROGER. Army
forces, assault, reserve, and initial occupation
troops were as follows: Assault on Attu, 7th
Division Combat Team, consisting of the 17th
Infantry, one battalion field artillery, one
battalion engineers for shore parties, one battery
AA automatic weapons, three detachments 75th Special
Signal Company, one company 7th Division Organic
Combat Engineers, one medical collecting company,
7th Division. One Platoon 7th Division Medical
Clearing Company, Detachment HQ 7th Division
Battalion, detachment 7th Division Quartermaster
Battalion, detachment 7th Division Organic Signal
Company. For the initial occupation of the selected
site in the Near Islands, 18th Combat Engineers from
Adak, 4th Infantry Composite Regiment from Adak. The
floating reserve was one regimental combat team
consisting of the 32nd Infantry with reinforcements
similar to those for the 17th Infantry indicated
above. The garrisons for Attu and the selected site
in the Near Islands are to be designated by the
Commanding General Western Defense Command, and are
to include 17th Infantry Combat Team, 32nd Infantry
Combat Team, 78th CAAA and 2nd Battalion 51st CAAA.
The target date is May 7th, 1943.
In
early February of 1943 it was realized that since
Japan knew of America's occupation of Amchitka,
Japan would be taking countermeasures. There
appeared to be an increase in Japanese forces and
installations located at Holtz Bay and Chichagof
Harbor areas of Attu. With a desire to remove the
Japanese from the Aleutians, Rear Admiral McMorris's
Task Group Mike was directed to isolate Attu and
Kiska from Japan with a blockade formed by his
seemingly inadequate fleet of old, incapable, and
far too few ships, and to proceed with direct naval
bombardment of these islands. Knowing he didn't have
the resources to intimidate both Kiska and Attu at
the same time, Adm. McMorris decided to concentrate
on Attu. This way he could also blockade Japan's
re-supply efforts of both Attu and Kiska. On the
18th of February the shelling of Attu began without
opposition.
On a
social/political note: a headline read, "on
March 25, 1943, Mme. Chaing Kai-shek was welcomed by
members of the Chinese Six Companies in Chinatown,
San Francisco."
On
March 26, 1943 Rear Admiral McMorris's Task Group
Mike engaged the Japanese Northern Pacific Fleet
which was attempting to re-supply the Japanese
garrisons located on Attu and Kiska. This
engagement, 150 miles west of Attu's Cape Wrangle,
was to become known as the Battle of the
Komandorskies. The defeat of the Japanese Northern
Fleet by Task Group Mike ended Japan's attempts to
gain a greater foothold in the Aleutians, and
seemingly left the Japanese garrisons on Attu and
Kiska to fend for themselves. U.S. airpower wasn't
able to engage the Japanese during this skirmish as
U.S. aircraft had been loaded with bombs with which
to bomb Kiska. By the time the aircraft had
changed-out their arsenal with weapons more suitable
for naval engagements, the battle of the
Komandorskies was over. This was the last pure navy
fleet Vs. navy fleet battle to occur during WWII.
Subsequent WWII naval engagements made heavy use of
air power assisting the naval fleets to overcome the
enemy. U.S. Bombers and fighters continued to bomb
and strafe the islands of Kiska and Attu as the
weather permitted. During March of 1943, 39 raids
were made against Kiska.
On the
1st of April, 1943, a joint directive from CINCPAC
and Commanding General Western Defense Command
orders preparations for Operation LANDGRAB, the
invasion of Attu Island.
In
early April a spell of stormy weather with winds up
to 108 m.p.h. grounded all planes for five days.
Sixteen B-24, five B-25, and twelve P-38 sorties
were ultimately flown against Kiska Island from Adak
and Amchitka Islands. Antiaircraft fire damaged two
bombers. During the month of April, the 73rd
bombardment Squadron (Medium), 28th Composite Group
with B-25s transferred from Elmendorf field,
Anchorage, Alaska to Umnak Island.
On the
12th of April, 1943, 3 B-25's, 24 P-40's, and 13
P-38's flew 7 missions to Kiska. The fighters also
strafe Little Kiska. AA fire damaged 1 P-40 and 1
P-38. The P-38 force-lands safely.
On the
13th of April, 1943, 15 B-24's 15 B-25's, 28 P-38's
and 20 P-40's flew 11 attacks to Kiska; 43 tons of
bombs were dropped. Fighters attacked the Main Camp
causing large fires, and also strafed aircraft on
the beach. Heavy AA fire damaged 2 P-38's, 1 of
which later crashed into the sea, and 1 B-25.
The
14th of April, 1943 saw 30 P-40's 17 P-38's, 9
B-24's and 6 B-25's fly 10 missions to Kiska,
bombing and strafing the runway, North Head area,
installations, parked seaplanes, and facilities on
Little Kiska.
The
16th of April, 1943 saw Kiska bombed and strafed 13
more times. A total of 13 B-24's, 12 B-25's, 32
P-40's, 29 P-38's, and 2 F-5A's cover targets which
include installations in the Holtz Bay area and gun
positions on North Head.
April
17th saw 7 B-24's bomb and score 8 direct hits on
the runway and gun emplacements at Attu. One B-24
and 2 F-5A's abort due to weather. Four B-25's, 31
P-38's, and 14 P-40's hit Kiska 9 times, bombing
installations and strafing gun emplacements and 3
parked airplanes.
On
Sunday, April 18th, 1943 22 P-38's (some flown by
Royal Canadian Air Force pilots) and 37 P-40's hit
Kiska 9 times. The submarine base and gun
emplacements on North Head were bombed and gun
emplacements near the submarine base were silenced.
On
Monday, April 19th, 1943 9 missions involving 14
B-24's, 12 B-25's, 32 P-40's, and 23 P-38's were
flown to Kiska. The first mission was weathered out
of the primary target, Attu, and directed to Kiska.
Bombing and strafing concentrated on 4 grounded
ships and the submarine base area where fires were
started. One ship, believed to serve as a power
station, was set on fire.
The
20th of April 1943 included 10 bombing and strafing
missions by 15 B-24's, 16 B-25's, 10 P-38's, and 32
P-40's. They hit shipping in the harbor at Kiska and
gun positions in North Head. Other targets included
buildings in the Main Camp area and the runway.
By the
21st of April Kiska had been attacked 83
times.
The
24th of April 1943 saw 2 P-38's bomb Kiska and
strafe personnel near Mutton Cove. Weather canceled
other missions.
Strong
Naval reinforcements began to reach the Aleutians
for the eventual assault on Attu. On Sunday, the
25th of April 1943, another naval bombardment was
conducted against Attu. There were no signs of
personnel or activity ashore. A number of small
buildings and huts testified to the continuing
presence of the Japanese. Fifteen B-24's, 12 B-25's,
32 P-40's, 23 P-38's, and 1 F-5A fly 12 missions to
Kiska and Attu. Targets included Holtz Bay, North
Head, South Head, the beach areas, the runway,
shipping and the submarine base.
On the
27th of April, 1943 an American B-25 unsuccessfully
investigated a reported submarine 4 miles west of
Bay Island. Four P-38's bombed the Main Camp, then
scouted Buldir.
The
30th of April, 1943 saw 4 B-25's, 17 P-38's, and 7
P-40's fly four missions to Kiska. Only the P-38's
got through and blasted Gertrude Cove, Main Camp,
the Submarine base, and a ship.
By the
end of April, 1943, Adak, now the center of Army,
Air Force, and Navy operations in the Aleutians, was
maintaining a garrison of 19,067 Army personnel and
7,811 Navy. At Amchitka, where there were 10,260
Army and 903 Navy personnel, a 5,000-foot bomber
strip had been completed during the month. This
enabled America's air power to finally begin a
significant presence in the war. Many of the
buildings in the Main Camp area on Kiska, as well as
part of the submarine base, had been destroyed, but
despite the 1,000 sorties made by American planes
during April, new construction on Kiska and Attu
rapidly replaced damaged structures. By the end of
the April 640 tons of bombs had been dropped.
In May
of 1943 American Forces completed 35 strikes in 22
days with 17 of them against Kiska, 17 against Attu,
and one directed at the Rat Islands. American Forces
dropped 470 tons of bombs on the two major islands
with a loss of 28 planes, only three of which were
known to have been destroyed by enemy action, the
remainder succumbed to the weather or other mishaps.
The
Invasion of Attu
The
battle of Attu was essentially an infantry battle.
The climate greatly limited the use of air power as
the island was shrouded in fog and experienced high
winds almost every day. The terrain...steep jagged
crags, knifelike ridges covered with snow, boggy
tundra...made the use of mechanized equipment and of
all motorized vehicles impractical. The American
GI, thus reduced to moving only on foot, had to
blast his way to victory with only the weapons he
could carry with him. The American troops, some
trained and equipped for fighting in desert
climates, some totally inexperienced in combat, had
found a most formidable enemy in the Japanese who
were fully equipped, thoroughly acclimated, and
fanatically determined to hold their strong, well
chosen, defensive positions.
The
allied Attu attack force was originally scheduled to leave
Cold Bay on May 3rd, but bad weather postponed
sailing until the 4th of May, 1943. D-day was
re-designated to be 8 May, 1943, then, again as a
result of bad weather, D-day was postponed to 9 May,
1943, then to Tuesday, 11 May, 1943.
There
were numerous "firsts" experienced by the
U.S. Forces in the Aleutians. The American 7th
Division had embarked on the first Allied sea-borne
invasion of enemy-held territory. The 7th had
trained in the Mojave Desert expecting eventually
to fight the Germans in North Africa. Soon after the
defeat of the German Army in North Africa, the 7th
began to practice amphibious landings on San Clemente Island. With their
training completed and plans in place, the 7th eventually shipped out of San Francisco,
destination unknown. As the ships later set a northerly bearing, heading
for the Aleutians once out to sea, the GIs
were finally informed of their real destination. Cold
weather uniforms were then issued to the men,
including leather boots that would prove useless in
the wet snow and mud soon to be encountered on Attu.
The
arrival of American forces off Attu was uneventful.
A dense fog obscured the Island and surrounding
area. The 7th Scout Co. had safely landed at Beach
Scarlet, located on the northern shore of Attu, from their submarine
transport. The Northern Force landing took place at 1450 hrs
on Beach Red. The Southern Force landings at Massacre Bay
proved difficult to the extreme. Some landing craft
snagged on outcroppings of rock, sank, and dragged
their crews to the bottom. A few landing craft
collided with each other in the fog.
The
northern force followed the island's coast-line,
accompanied by a small flanking scout battalion to
their right. The southern force finally pushed
upwards from Massacre Bay through what was named
Massacre Valley. The first wave of Americans
found snow running all the way down the beach. The
first artillery pieces promptly sank into the tundra
after being fired. Air support from the nearby CVE
Nassau was eliminated by 90% cloud cover over the
island. Those fighters that were able to find their
way to the island more often than not strafed
friendly units. A flight of F4F Wildcats attempted
an attack against the Japanese defenders. As they
flew through what was to become known as Jarmin
Pass, a williwaw blew two of the planes against the
mountain. A thick ground fog persisted to a
considerable altitude that, while preventing the
American invaders from seeing the Japanese
defenders, provided protection for the Japanese (invisible in their white clothing) who could clearly
see American troop movements below them.
The
beaches quickly jammed up with supplies and
bogged-down vehicles. The 7th soon realized they
wouldn't be able to get their artillery or tracked
vehicles across the muskeg. It was apparent the
battle would have to be fought by the foot soldiers
themselves. Troops in the front lines began to
suffer greatly from the effects of the bitter cold.
Hundreds of GIs would eventually have their feet amputated as a
result of frostbite and trench foot (roughly a
quarter of all casualties would be traced to
frostbite). American troops, lost in the fog, walked
into enemy cross-fires and would be pinned down for
hours with no reasonable shelter from the cold.
The
American's continued to slug it out for eight days
of nearly perpetual combat as the Japanese forged a
bloody withdrawal. Finally, on the 18th of May,
1943, with the added help of the "Fighting
Fourth," the American northern and southern forces linked up as per
the original plan objective.
Badly
outnumbered and sensing possible defeat, the
Japanese now killed their own wounded by injecting
them with morphine. To make sure the job was
completed, they then threw hand grenades into their
own medical tent.
On the
28th of May, 1943, Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki,
commander of the Japanese forces on Attu, formed a
plan that could possibly turn the tide of battle in
favor of the Japanese. In the middle of the night he
would lead his remaining force of 800 men (of an
initial 2600) through a weak point in the American
lines, capture an American Howitzer emplacement,
then use it to pin down the Americans long enough to
evacuate his surviving forces.
On the 29th of May, 1943 at
3:15a.m., Yamasaki's remaining
troops took advantage of the lingering fog and
managed to break through the American lines. Ten
minutes later, with the artillery battery located on
Engineer Hill in sight, the Japanese commander
ordered a Banzai attack. They killed several
American patients in their field hospital and
exploded a propane stove in the mess. The sleeping
Americans quickly rallied their forces and threw the
Japanese back into the fog after intense close
combat. The failure to carry out their plan
effectively destroyed the Japanese morale. Five
hundred of the remaining Japanese committed mass
suicide (gyokusai) with grenades held close to their
stomachs, chests, and foreheads. Yamasaki attempted
a final but fruitless charge later in the day with
what remained of his force. During this charge he
lost his own life to a .30-caliber bullet. The
battle for Attu was over.
The
casualties incurred during the invasion of Attu were
appalling. The Americans suffered 3829 casualties,
roughly 25% of the invading force, second only in
proportion to Iwo Jima. Of these, 549 were killed; 1148 injured; 1200
with severe cold injuries; 614 with disease; and a remaining 318 to
miscellaneous causes. On the Japanese side, 2351 men were counted by
American burial parties, and hundreds more were presumed already buried. Total prisoners
taken: 28 (none of whom were officers). The
Japanese fought to virtually the last man.
By May
30th, 1943, unknown to the allied forces at the time, all organized Japanese Army resistance
ended in the Aleutians.
On August 15th, 1943 the allied invasion of Kiska
finally began. There was no opposition to the invasion of Kiska by the
US and Canadian forces as there were no Japanese troops left on the
island. The Japanese had been secretly removed from Kiska by I-class
submarines and surface vessels prior to the allied attack. Allied
casualties during the invasion nevertheless numbered close to 200, all
from friendly fire, booby traps set out by the Japanese to inflict
damage on the invading allied forces, or disease. There were seventeen
Americans and four Canadians killed from either friendly fire or booby
traps, fifty more were wounded as a result of friendly fire or booby
traps, and an additional 130 men came down with trench foot.
The Japanese were finally ejected from the Aleutians
only after 15 months of arduous operations hampered by shortages afloat,
ashore, and in the air...not to mention the almost insuperable obstacles
of weather and terrain.
Click HERE
to view "The Attu Morning Sun," dated
August 10, 1945, regarding the surrender of Japan.
This is a PDF file, and will require you to have Adobe Acrobat Reader
installed.
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