The Battle of Midway was a naval battle between the United States and Japan around and over the island of Midway, about 1,300 miles west of Hawaii. It was a clear US victory, sinking multiple of Japan’s capital ships, including 4 of the 6 Japanese aircraft carriers used in the Pearl Harbor attacks. It put a stop to the Japanese offensive plans and forced them to focus on defense as the United States would begin its island-hopping campaign.

The most decisive naval battle of World War 2, it was a result of Japan’s decisive battle doctrine – winning in a single, large battle rather than combat raids throughout the Pacific – and Japan’s low fuel reserves. Isoroku Yamamoto led the Japanese fleet and had drawn up insanely detailed and intricate plans for the assault on Midway. Despite his complicated plans designed to defeat the US forces and outmanuver them, there was one major flaw: the US had broken Japan’s cipher. They knew exactly what ships were part of which forces and what the plan was for the invasion. The US even knew when the battle was going to happen. So the US had a major advantage, and Japan had no idea that the US had the faintest idea of what was going to happen.

The battle was marked by mostly aircraft bombers taking out enemy capital ships. While the Japanese airfleet would launch in one large wave, the US favored sending piecemeal attacks, in hopes that the bombers would hold off the full Japanese waves from launching. While the number of ships were roughly equal, American bombers were sent out without fighter support or any cover, which led to heavy casualties from the air teams. Bombs and torpedoes dropped were also critically faulty, with many of the bombs hitting the ships would just hit the ship with a *clunk*, no explosion. The bombs that did explode, though, would prove to be fatal.

The Japanese navy saw many of their major ships damaged beyond repair and had to be scuttled. 6 capital ships were destroyed and two destroyers, as compared to the US losing one fleet carrier and one destroyer. This was a definitive US victory and Midway would continue to be a major refueling station for submarines attacking Japanese shipping lines. Japan’s loss at Midway was kept under wraps by the government and many of the Japanese survivors were redeployed in order to conceal the defeat.

This week, I want to talk about a lesser-known campaign that took place during World War 2. As we all know, America was a whole ocean away from either Germany or Japan, and that’s what prevented any attempt of an invasion. But did you know the Japanese actually put troops on US soil?

The Aleutian islands are the group of small islands extending out of Alaska. The islands are pretty uninhabited, with only natives in the islands. The Japanese actually landed on Attu island and Kiska island. The landings were supposed to coincide with the Battle of Midway, but it happened a day prior due to miscommunication. Troops landed the 3th of June, 1942 and met little resistance. The natives didn’t bother fighting back and the Japanese mostly left them alone because of it.

This is a picture of Japanese troops raising the Japanese flag on Kiska island. It was the first time the continental United States was invaded since the British attacked DC in 1815. The American public was shocked and apalled. The Japanese harbored multiple ships in the harbors and continued to supply the soldiers.

The United States Air Force and Navy would continuously raid the Japanese when there was good weather, sinking ships and bombing the Japanese bases. The Japanese would remain on Attu Island until May 1943, when the US landed troops to retake the island. The Japanese had laid booby traps and were relatively dug in. Combat would continue from the 11th of May to the 29th, when the Japanese would launch a banzai charge deep into the American line, with Americans in the far rear having to engage in hand-to-hand combat. All but 29 of the Japanese on this island were killed in the final banzai charge out of the 1,100-2,900 forces estimated to have occupied the island. Kiska was invaded in mid-August after weeks of aerial bombings, but it was found that the Japanese abandoned the islands 3 weeks ago.

For more information, here is an extremely detailed article on the campaign.

The Aleutian Islands War: June 3, 1942 – August 24, 1943 (explorenorth.com)

December 1944: The Germans are losing ground in both the East and the West. D-Day has the enemy in France and the Low Countries. Operation Barbarossa failed at the gates of Moscow and the Russians were pushing back into their land. Germany needed a big victory, so for the second time in the war, they looked to the Ardennes. The plan was simple: push through the Ardennes forest, take the 7-way crossroads at Bastogne, then push the Allies back with another Blitzkrieg.

The initial attack on the 16th of December is sucessful, but fierce American resistance limits their land gains. By the 19th, German armored divisions are to the north, south, and east of Bastogne. General McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne Division orders his troops to dig in, and to take any supplies from soldiers routing through Bastogne. When a soldier told Major Dick Winters, CO of the 2nd battalion that they would be surrounded in Bastogne, Winters famously said “We’re paratroopters, we’re supposed to be surrounded.”

The siege started the following morning, the 20th of December. The 101st Airborne Division was completely surrounded and outnumbered by German armor by the 21st. Supplies were low, food was scarce, most medical supplies had been captured by German forces earlier in the campaign.  The weather had been full of sleet, rain, and snow, so much so that supplies could not be accurately airdropped. The few attempts that were made landed the supplies in German-occupied territory. There wasn’t much of anything but the cold, and the soldiers knew of their predicament. The German general sent a letter demanding surrender, lest the 101st be completely annihilated.

When General McAuliffe read this, he responded by saying “Nuts”. This was what was relayed back to the Germans as the answer to the surrender demand. The weather cleared up on the 24th, and desperately needed supplies were airdropped into the defensive area.

The 101st Airborne was surrounded until the 26th of December, when elements of Patton’s 3rd Army came up from the south and reopened their access to the rest of the army. Fighting continued until the 6th of January for the 101st, but the Germans never took Bastogne. This is a crucial reason why the Battle of the Bulge was a failure for the Germans.

General McAuliffe was known for the rest of his career by the nickname “Nuts”, and all soldiers defending Bastogne were awarded the Presidentail Unit Citation for their defense of the critical juncture. Germany had to set aside considerable armor and artillery forces to take the town, but their attacks were fought off with a mix of entrenchment, mobile defenses, and sheer willpower. The American forces at Bastogne stopped the Germans at every assault, every combat. Multiple Regiments afterwards were known as the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne” because of their refusal to surrender, even in sub-zero temperatures.

The map of action in Bastogne. The inner blue circle is the front line the Americans holded against the Germans between the 19th and the 23rd.