| Aleutian Islands Campaign | |||||||
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| Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
American troops hauling supplies on Attu in May 1943 through Jarmin pass. Their vehicles could not move across the island's rugged terrain. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States Canada |
Empire of Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| United States Navy: Thomas C. Kinkaid Francis W. Rockwell United States Army: Albert E. Brown Archibald V. Arnold Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. Canadian Army: George R. Pearkes Harry W. Foster |
Imperial Japanese Navy: Boshiro Hosogaya Kakuji Kakuta Imperial Japanese Army: Yasuyo Yamasaki † |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 144,000[1] | 8,500[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1,481 killed 225 aircraft destroyed[2] 640 missing 3,416 wounded US Navy losses: |
4,350 killed 7 warships sunk 9 cargo transport ships sunk[4] |
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The Aleutian Islands Campaign was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska, in the Pacific campaign of World War II starting on 3 June 1942. A small Japanese force occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska, but the remoteness of the islands and the difficulties of weather and terrain meant that it took nearly a year for a far larger U.S. force to eject them. The islands' strategic value was their ability to control Pacific Great Circle routes. This control of the Pacific transportation routes is why U.S. General Billy Mitchell stated to the U.S. Congress in 1935, "I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world." The Japanese reasoned that control of the Aleutians would prevent a possible U.S. attack across the Northern Pacific. Similarly, the U.S. feared that the islands would be used as bases from which to launch aerial assaults against the West Coast.
On the other hand, Walt Disney in "Victory Through Air Power"[5] suggested using long-range bombers such as the B-36 Peacemaker, whose prototypes were ready as early as 1943, to bomb Japan from American territory in the Aleutian Islands. Perhaps the fear of aerial attack was mutual and motivated capturing the islands.
The battle is known as the "Forgotten Battle", due to being overshadowed by the simultaneous Guadalcanal Campaign. In the past, most western military historians believed it was a diversionary or feint attack during the Battle of Midway meant to draw out the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor, and was in fact launched simultaneously under the same overall commander, Isoroku Yamamoto. However, historians Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully have made an argument against this interpretation, stating that the Japanese invaded the Aleutians to protect the northern flank of their empire and did not intend it as a diversion.[6]
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Before Japan entered World War II, its navy had gathered extensive information about the Aleutians, but it had no up-to-date information regarding military developments on the islands. Admiral Yamamoto provided the Japanese Northern Area Fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya, with a force of two small aircraft carriers, five cruisers, twelve destroyers, six submarines, and four troop transports, along with supporting auxiliary ships. With that force, Hosogaya was first to launch an air attack against Dutch Harbor, then follow with an amphibious attack upon the island of Adak, 480 miles to the west. Hosogaya was instructed to destroy whatever American forces and facilities were found on Adak—the Japanese did not know the island was undefended. Hosogaya's troops were to return to their ships and become a reserve for two additional landings: the first on Kiska, 240 miles west of Adak, the other on the Aleutian's westernmost island, Attu, 180 miles west from Kiska.
Because United States Naval intelligence had broken the Japanese naval cypher code, Admiral Nimitz had learned by 21 May of Yamamoto's plans, including the Aleutian diversion, the strength of both Yamamoto's and Hosogaya's fleets, and that Hosogaya would open the fight on 1 June or shortly thereafter.
As of 1 June 1942, United States military strength in Alaska stood at 45,000 men, with about 13,000 at Cold Bay (Fort Randall) on the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula and at two Aleutian bases: the naval facility at Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, 200 miles west of Cold Bay, and the recently built Fort Glenn Army Airfield 70 miles west of the naval station on Umnak Island. Army strength, less air force personnel, at those three bases totaled no more than 2,300, composed mainly of infantry, field and antiaircraft artillery troops, and a large construction engineer contingent, which had used in the construction of bases. The Army Air Force's Eleventh Air Force consisted of 10 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and 34 B-18 Bolo medium bombers at Elmendorf Airfield, and 95 P-40 Warhawk fighters divided between Fort Randall AAF at Cold Bay and Fort Glenn AAF on Umnak. The naval commander was Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, commanding Task Force 8 afloat, who as Commander North Pacific Force (ComNorPac) reported to Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii. Task Force 8 consisted of five cruisers, thirteen destroyers, three tankers, six submarines, as well as naval aviation elements of Fleet Air Wing Four.[7]
When the first inklings of a possible Japanese attack on the Aleutians were known, the Eleventh Air Force was ordered to send out reconnaissance aircraft to locate the Japanese fleet reported heading toward Dutch Harbor and attack it with bombers, concentrating on sinking Hosogaya's 2 aircraft carriers. Once the enemy planes were removed, Naval Task Force 8 would engage the enemy fleet and destroy it. On the afternoon of 2 June a naval patrol plane spotted the approaching Japanese fleet, reporting its location as 800 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. Eleventh Air Force was placed on full alert. Shortly thereafter bad weather set in, and no further sightings of the fleet were made that day.
According to Japanese intelligence, the nearest field for land-based American aircraft was at Fort Morrow AAF on Kodiak, more than 600 miles away, and Dutch Harbor was a sitting duck for the strong Japanese fleet, carrying out a coordinated operation with a fleet that was to capture Midway Island.
Making use of weather cover, the Japanese first raided the Naval Base at Dutch Harbor on 3 June 1942. The striking force was composed of Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers from the carriers Junyō and Ryūjō. However, only half of the striking force reached their objective.[8] The rest either became lost in the fog and darkness and crashed into the sea or returned to their carriers. Seventeen Japanese planes found the naval base, the first arriving at 0545. As the Japanese pilots looked for targets to engage, they came under intense antiaircraft fire and soon found themselves confronted by Eleventh Air Force fighters sent from Fort Glenn AAF on Umnak. Startled by the American response, the Japanese quickly released their bombs, made a cursory strafing run, and left to return to their carriers. As a result of their haste they did little damage to the base.
On 4 June the Japanese returned to Dutch Harbor. This time the enemy pilots were better organized and better prepared. When the attack finally ended that afternoon, the base's oil storage tanks were ablaze, part of the hospital was demolished, and a beached barracks ship was damaged. Although American pilots had finally located the Japanese carriers, attempts to destroy them proved fruitless. As bad weather again set in, all contact with the enemy fleet was lost. Foul weather forced the cancellation of Japanese plans to invade Adak with 1200 men.[9]
The Japanese invasions of Kiska on 6 June, and Attu on 7 June initially met little resistance from the local Aleuts. Much of the native population of the islands had been forcibly evacuated before the invasion and interned in camps in the Alaska Panhandle.
In August 1942, the U.S. established an air base on Adak Island and began bombing Japanese positions on Kiska. American submarines and surface combatants also began patrolling the area. Kiska Harbor was the main base for Japanese ships involved in the campaign and several vessels were sunk there, some were destroyed by American ships but most were lost in air raids. On 5 July, Lieutenant Commander Howard Gilmore—commanding the submarine Growler—attacked three Japanese destroyers off Kiska. One was sunk and two others heavily damaged. Over 200 Japanese sailors were killed or wounded while the U.S. sustained no damage or casualties. Ten days later on 15 July, Grunion was attacked by three Japanese submarine chasers in Kiska Harbor, in the ensuing battle, two of the patrol craft were sunk and one other was damaged. On 12 May 1943, the Japanese submarine I-31 was sunk in a surface action with the destroyer Edwards 5 mi (4.3 nmi; 8.0 km) northeast of Chichagof Harbor.
A U.S. Navy cruiser and destroyer force under Rear Admiral Charles "Soc" McMorris was assigned to interdict the Japanese supply convoys. After the significant naval battle known as the Battle of the Komandorski Islands in March 1943, the Japanese abandoned attempts to resupply the Aleutian garrisons using surface vessels. From then on, only submarines were used for Japanese resupply runs. One American cruiser was damaged along with two destroyers, seven men were killed. On the Japanese side, two cruisers were damaged with 14 men killed and 26 more wounded.
On 11 May 1943, the operation to recapture Attu began. Included with the invasion force was a group of scouts recruited from the Alaska Territory, known as Castner's Cutthroats. A shortage of landing craft, unsuitable beaches, and equipment that failed to operate in the appalling weather made it very difficult to bring any force to bear against the Japanese. Many soldiers suffered from frostbite because essential supplies could not be landed, or having been landed, could not be moved to where they were needed because vehicles would not work on the tundra. The Japanese defenders under Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki did not contest the landings, but rather dug in on high ground away from the shore. This caused bloody fighting: there were 3,929 U.S. casualties: 580 were killed, 1,148 were injured, 1,200 had severe cold injuries, 614 succumbed to disease, and 318 died of miscellaneous causes, largely Japanese booby traps and friendly fire.
On 29 May, the last of the Japanese forces suddenly attacked near Massacre Bay in one of the largest banzai charges of the Pacific campaign. The charge, led by Colonel Yamasaki, penetrated U.S. lines far enough to encounter shocked rear-echelon units of the American force. After furious, brutal, often hand-to-hand combat, the Japanese force was killed almost to the last man: only 28 prisoners were taken, none of them an officer. U.S. burial teams counted 2,351 Japanese dead, but it was presumed that hundreds more had been buried by bombardments over the course of the battle.
On 15 August 1943, an invasion force of 34,426 Allied troops landed on Kiska. Castner′s Cutthroats were part of the force, but the invasion force was made up of units primarily from the U.S. 7th Infantry Division. The invasion force also included about 5,300 Canadians. The Canadians primarily came from the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division. The Canadian forces also included the Canadian component of the 1st Special Service Force, also known as the "Devil′s Brigade".
The invasion force landed only to find the island abandoned. Under the cover of fog, the Japanese, who decided that their position in Kiska was vulnerable after the fall of Attu, had successfully removed their troops on 28 July without the Allies noticing. The Army Air Force had been bombing abandoned positions for almost three weeks. On the day before the withdrawal, vessels of the U.S. Navy fought the inconclusive and possibly meaningless Battle of the Pips 80 mi (70 nmi; 130 km) to the west.
Even though the Japanese were gone before the invasion of Kiska was launched, Allied casualties during the operation nevertheless numbered 313. All of these casualties were the result of friendly fire, booby traps set out by the Japanese, disease, or frostbite. As was the case with Attu, Kiska offered an extremely hostile environment.
Although plans were drawn up for attacking northern Japan, they were not executed. Over 1,500 sorties were flown against the Kuriles before the end of the war, including the Japanese base of Paramushiro, diverting 500 Japanese planes and 41,000 ground troops.
The battle also marked the first time Canadian conscripts were sent to a combat zone in World War II. The government had pledged not to send draftees "overseas", which it defined as being outside North America. The Aleutians were considered to be North American soil, thus enabling the Canadian government to deploy conscripts without breaking its pledge. There were cases of desertion before the brigade sailed for the Aleutians. In late 1944, the government changed its policy on draftees and sent 16,000 conscripts to Europe to take part in the fighting.[10]
The battle also marked the first combat deployment of the 1st Special Service Force, though they also did not see any action.
The Americans recovered the Akutan Zero, an almost intact Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter. This enabled the Americans to test fly the Zero and contributed to improved fighter tactics later in the war.
During the campaign, two cemeteries were established on Attu to bury those killed in action: Little Fall Cemetery, located at the foot of Gilbert Ridge, and Holtz Bay Cemetery, which held the graves of Northern Landing Forces. After the war, the frozen tundra began to take back the cemeteries, so in 1946 all American remains were relocated as directed by the soldier′s family or to Fort Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska. On May 30, 1946, a Memorial Day address was given by Captain Adair with a Firing Squad Salute and the playing of Taps. The Decoration of Graves was performed by Chaplains Meaney and Insko.[11]
The 2006 documentary film Red White Black & Blue features two veterans of the Attu Island campaign, Bill Jones and Andy Petrus. It is directed by Tom Putnam and debuted at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland on August 4, 2006.
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