Battle of Attu

Part of the American Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II

U.S. soldiers fire mortar shells over a ridge onto a Japanese position on 4 June 1943.

Date	11–30 May 1943
Location	Attu, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

United States

Canada

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Albert E. Brown

Yasuyo Yamasaki †

Strength

American:
15,000
Canadian:
3 RCAF squadrons

1 reconnaissance
2 fighter-bomber

2,900

Casualties and losses

549 killed,
1,148 wounded
2,100 American servicemen were evacuated from Attu for disease or climate-related injury.

2,850+ killed,
29 captured

American:
15,000
Canadian:
3 RCAF squadrons

The Battle of Attu, which took place from 11–30 May 1943, was a battle fought between forces of the United States, aided by Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support, and the Empire of Japan on Attu Island off the coast of the Territory of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the American Theater and the Pacific Theater and was the only land battle of World War II fought on incorporated territory of the United States. It is also the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in Arctic conditions.

The more than two-week battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final banzai charge broke through American lines.

The strategic position of the islands of Attu and Kiska off Alaska's coast meant their location could control the sea lanes across the Northern Pacific Ocean. Japanese planners believed control of the Aleutians would therefore prevent any possible U.S. attacks from Alaska. This assessment had already been inferred by U.S. General Billy Mitchell who told 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."

On 7 June 1942, six months after the United States entered World War II, the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion from the Japanese Northern Army landed unopposed on Attu. The landings occurred one day after the invasion of nearby Kiska. The U.S military now feared both islands could be turned into strategic Japanese airbases from which aerial attacks could be launched against the West Coast of North America.

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Wikipedia