Alaskan Islands Campaign

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)

2 thoughts on “Alaskan Islands Campaign”

  1. I think this post is really interesting as I never knew that the Japanese ever landed in America (asides from the Philippines) and am surprised that I have never heard of this, probably because it was overshadowed by Midway. It is also a really interesting reminder of how different war is today by comparison as an attempted invasion like that would have been noticed by satellites well before it happened and a simple landing like that would not have been possible. Beyond that, I also find it really funny how the Japanese had just left weeks before and America just bombed the everloving crap out of the island.

  2. Woah dude. I had no idea that the United States was also invaded during World War II, and while it is a seemingly irrelevant island, I can imagine how shocking that must have been for Americans at the time. That being said though, it is war and shouldn’t be that surprising. You would just think that this invasion would be more well known.

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