Hundreds of hidden artillery, mortar, machine gun and sniper positions were set up. The surf was violent and the steep beaches were made of soft volcanic ash that made driving or walking across them difficult, and digging in almost impossible. Why did WW2 end the way it did? What American leadership estimated would take mere days stretched into five bloody weeks in a fight against the Japanese Imperial Army over a small volcanic island. A second patrol of marines climbed to the summit and as five of them, plus one navy corpsman, set up the second flag they were photographed by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press. The Japanese sphere of control extended west to Burma (Myanmar), south to the Dutch East Indies (now Malaysia) and New Guinea, and east to Wake Island. Ernest King, Adm. William Leahy, Gen. George Marshall, and Gen. Henry (“Hap”) Arnold—was created in 1942 to provide a body of high command to direct U.S. operations during the war. The battle marked the first time since entering the war that the United States had gone on the offensive and attacked the Japanese. Even then, however, there was contention over how to make progress toward the Japanese homeland. Finally, in a break from traditional Japanese defensive strategy, Kuribayashi gave his men strict orders to abandon the often-suicidal banzai charges and instead kill 10 Americans each from their hideouts. It is believed that this is when General Kuribayashi met his death, although his body was never identified because he had removed his insignia and fought as a common soldier. The losses of this battle never discriminated, as noted combat figure John Basilone, a gunnery sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient, was killed during his earliest moments on Iwo Jima. Early in the morning the last remaining Japanese soldiers quietly advanced from their caves and killed many P … The Japanese were merely waiting for the beaches to fill up with targets before opening fire. #9 It is the only battle by U.S. Marine Corps in which U.S. casualties exceeded Japanese The Battle of Iwo Jima resulted in the death of 18,844 out of 22,060 Japanese soldiers on the island. After a staggering loss of life on Iwo Jima, American military leaders scrambled to justify the invasion. But those who thought that this was because the preliminary naval bombardment had silenced their enemy were in for a shock. Most concerning, though, was the fact that the JCOS did not consider either the opinion of the Marines or the doubts of their planners ahead of ordering the invasion. By late 1944, the war in the Far East had turned decisively against the Japanese. Painfully inching their way across a largely barren landscape of rocks and craters, they often found themselves under fire from positions they thought they had cleared as the Japanese used their tunnel network to reoccupy them after the US forces had passed by. The United States mounted an amphibious invasion of the island of Iwo Jima as part of its Pacific campaign against Japan. U.S. intelligence had reported only 13,000 Japanese defenders and excellent beach terrain for landing, so planners chose to have the Marines land on the southeastern beach in seven sections (listed southwest to northeast): Green, Red 1, Red 2, Yellow 1, Yellow 2, Blue 1, and Blue 2. The brief period of shelling was blighted by poor weather, and, when compounded with the island’s well-protected defenses, the bombardment did little to soften up the Japanese. Rez Hester and his dog Butch during the Battle of Iwo Jima. The 27th Regiment at Red 1 and 2 would head northward past Motoyama 1, which would be taken by the 23rd Regiment at Yellow 1 and 2. Hardly. The 23rd Regiment managed to take Motoyama 1 by February 24 and Motoyama 2 by February 27, but progressing past that point proved exceedingly difficult. When the marines reached the summit they set up a small US flag on a metal pole. Similarly, the 21st Regiment managed to take Hill 362C near the island’s northeast shore, leaving only a small but resilient group of Japanese soldiers in that sector holding out at a site known as Cushman’s Pocket. Some were burned alive by flame throwers or torn apart by explosives thrown into their bunkers. It did, however, give rise to one of the most famous war photographs ever taken. On the morning of 19 February, the attack began. Before landing his Marines on the beaches, Schmidt had requested that the Navy bombard the island for 10 consecutive days. By March 10 U.S. troops had finally cleared the Amphitheater and Turkey Knob of its defenders. United States Marine Corps rocket trucks in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima, February 28, 1945. Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19–March 16, 1945), World War II battle fought between the United States and Japan over a strategically important island some 760 miles (1,220 km) south of Tokyo. The 7th War Dog Platoon was attached to the 25th Regiment, which saw some of the harshest fighting during the battle. A task force was assembled to capture it and a two-month bombing campaign was mounted to soften it up. In World War II the Japanese military forces quickly took advantage of their success at Pearl Harbor to expand their holdings throughout the Pacific and westward toward India. He is expected to graduate from the University of Chicago in 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in English language and literature and political... U.S. Marines raising the American flag over Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, in February 1945. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. He then had his troops erect hundreds of pillboxes, blockhouses, and gun sites for aboveground coverage, many of which were so well constructed that only a direct hit from a battleship could cause serious damage. Iwo Jima and Okinawa had shown the Americans just how far the Japanese would go to defend their country. Iwo Jima is located about 760 miles (1,220 km) from Tokyo. In 1944 the JCOS agreed on a two-pronged plan that combined both strategies. Even Kuribayashi refused to surrender in the end, by some accounts preferring to commit seppuku rather than fall into American hands alive. At the time of the U.S. invasion, there were two airfields in the middle of the island, Motoyama 1 and 2. United States Marine Corps Pvt. A small group of defenders managed to battle their way out and somehow made it to the main Japanese headquarters further north. But as Inouye raised the weapon, his aides wrestled it from his hands. He was convinced that Iwo Jima (now Iō-tō) in particular, being halfway between the Mariana Islands and the Japanese capital, would place his fighters in range of the city so that they could support bombing operations in the region. With the other pockets of defenders killed or captured, that night attack marked the last major engagement at Iwo Jima. You will shortly receive a receipt for your purchase via email. Julian Humphrys is a historian and development officer at the Battlefields Trust, This content first appeared in the January 2015 issue of BBC History Revealed. On this date every year I pledge to honor my late friend, Marine Pfc Rhea Hudson, who at age 19 fought the last battle on Iwo Jima at Kitano Point. The primary postwar justification was Iwo Jima’s capacity to provide emergency landings, but, while 2,251 B-29s landed on the island throughout the rest of the war, the majority of them were not strictly emergencies. Robert Burrell found that the provision of fighter escorts on bombing raids—the principal reason for Operation Detachment—was minimal overall, as only 10 escort missions ever occurred. They were surprised to encounter embankments of volcanic ash towering some 15 feet (4.6 meters) high. The 11 most significant battles of the Second World War. The battle for Iwo Jima: why did it happen and why was it so hard fought? Omissions? By entering your details, you are agreeing to HistoryExtra terms and conditions and privacy policy. Each member was a four-star officer from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Army Air Forces (AAF). Myles Hudson was an Editorial Intern at Encyclopædia Britannica. Marines twice raised the American flag on Suribachi’s summit. The main reason for the eventual Allied victory was more so economic in nature than military. For the United States, the Pyrrhic victory at Iwo Jima provided the AAF with important airfields that would be used throughout the rest of the Pacific War, but the impetus for the battle has drawn criticism from both high-ranking generals and prominent historians. U.S. Marines on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima (1945). The US wants to use the island as an airbase from which to attack Japan’s home islands. Schmidt sent in U.S. The 25th Regiment at Blue 1 and 2 would head east to secure the right flank. Battle of Iwo Jima, (February 19–March 16, 1945), World War II conflict between the United States and the Empire of Japan. His attack proved futile, however, and the casualties inflicted provided an opening for the Marines. Every type of Marine fought on this island from the most decorated, to a 16-year-old that experienced some of the hardest warfare. 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