The Aleutians Operations 1942-1943

When the Japanese occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians in Alaska in June 1942, the Allies had to remove them before they could attack the Kuriles. The Aleutians would be the only land battles in North America during World War II. The cold weather and remote location would make resupply of the Japanese garrison difficult, while the Americans would send thousands of highly trained soldiers to attack the outpost that conceivably could threaten Canada and the Western coast of the United States.

When the Dutch Harbor installations were attacked on June 3, 1942, the Americans were not fully prepared for an invasion. But occupying Attu and Kiska was a feint for the Midway operation, with little value other then the tactical goal of drawing the US Pacific Fleet into a major surface engagement. Reading the Japanese codes, the US Navy ignored the landings on Attu and Kiska and went to the defense of Midway, sinking most of the First Air Fleet.

The Americans left the Japanese garrisons in the Aleutians alone until a sufficient fleet with effective land units could be assembled. In January 1943, an attempt to reinforce the Japanese garrisons was repulsed with heavy losses in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. In March 1943, the US Army 7th Division landed on Attu, and killed all but 30 of Attu's 4700 defenders. The end came in the form of a disorganized, drunken charge, called “Banzai”by the Americans, who heard the word screamed by the advancing Japanese.

In May 1943, the crack 10th Mountain Division and a Canadian force landed on Kiska, and after some sporadic fighting, the Americans found the island deserted. The Japanese had abandoned the island, except for a covering force that committed suicide.

From June 1943 until the end of the war, aircraft from the Aleutians attacked the Kurile Islands, Japan's northernmost possessions. The Aleutians saw cold-weather fighting that was bitter and protracted, and largely ignored by the American public.

Internal Links

The Battle of Midway

Imperial Japanese Navy

United States Navy

The Loss of Mitchell B-25J 336128

 

Internet Links

USN Combat Narrative: The Aleutians Campaign
The Aleutians Campaign (USN Combat Narrative)

Pacific War Maps

Sitka, Alaska WWII Site

HyperWar: US Army in WWII: Guarding the United States
US Army in World War II--The Western Hemisphere: 'Guarding the United States and Its Outposts' [Chapter 9]

HyperWar: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: : Aleutian Islands
The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II: 'Aleutians Islands' -- A brief history of US Army operations in the Aleutian Islands in 1942 and 1943.

Internet Archive: Details: Report From The Aleutians
Video online of 1943 film narrated by John Houston

The Aleutians

Battle of the Aleutian Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kiska - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History of World War II in the Aleutians "Experience your America"

Aleutian World War II National Historic Area - Stories (U.S. National Park Service)

Alaska Pictures - Aleutian Peninsula And Islands - World War II
Pictures from 1941 to 1945 about Will R. Eubank in military servicein Alaska, primarily in the Aleutian area including Adak while he served assurgeon for the 404th Bomber Squadron, Air Corps, United States Army.

WarMuseum.ca - Democracy at War - The Aleutians Campaign, 1942-1943 - Operations
The Canadian War Museum's World War 2 Online Newspaper Archives - In June 1942, some 8,500 Japanese personnel, supported by naval forces, occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska, American parts of Alaska at the western end of the Aleutian island chain.

The Aleutian Islands War: June 3, 1942 - August 24, 1943 - ExploreNorth
With help from the Japanese Army, Admiral Yamamoto intended to invade and occupy the Western Aleutians as well as Midway Island, seeing these sites as anchors for a defensive perimeter in the north and central Pacific.

Fact Sheets : Aleutian Campaign, 1942-1943 : Aleutian Campaign, 1942-1943

Aleutian Islands
The battles for the Aleutian Islands in World War II.

The Forgotten Theater U.S. Submarine Operations in the Aleutians in World War II

American Experience | Building the Alaska Highway | People & Events | PBS

Aleutian Islands in World War II Photograph Collection - Special Collections, UW Libraries

Aleutian WWII National Historic Area

Bibliography From Amazon.com

 

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