Battle of Kiska

Operation Cottage
American troops landing on Kiska.
Date August 15, 1943 Location Kiska, Territory of Alaska Result Allies ceasefire and secure Kiska unopposed by Japanese forces
Belligerents
United States  Canada	Japan (not present)
Commanders and leaders
Charles Corlett E.A. Potts	N/A
Strength
United States 7th Infantry Division 4th Infantry Regiment 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment 1st Special Service Force US Navy (T.G. 16.22) 6th Infantry Division 13th Infantry Brigade	None, all forces evacuated before battle
Casualties and losses
92 killed and 221 wounded. (Over 313 Allied casualties)	None
USS Abner Read struck a stray Japanese mine during the operation, totaling 118 casualties. The friendly fire incident left 50 wounded on either side.

 United States 7th Infantry Division

6th Infantry Division

Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver which completed the Aleutian Islands campaign. On August 15, 1943, Allied military forces landed on Kiska Island, which had been occupied by Japanese forces since June, 1942. The Japanese, however, had secretly abandoned the island two weeks prior, and so the Allied landings were unopposed. Despite this, after over two days in thick fog and in a confused state of affairs, U.S. and Canadian forces mistook each other for the enemy. Allied forces suffered over 313 casualties in total during the operation, due to stray Japanese mines, friendly fire incidents, and battlefield combat.

The Japanese under Captain Takeji Ono had landed on Kiska at approximately 01:00 on June 7, 1942, with a force of about 500 Japanese marines. Soon after arrival, they stormed an American weather station. Here they killed two and captured eight United States Navy officers. The captured officers were sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Another 2,000 Japanese troops arrived, landing in Kiska Harbor. At this time, Monzo Akiyama, a Rear-Admiral, headed the force on Kiska. In December 1942, additional anti-aircraft units, engineers, and a negligible number of reinforcement infantry arrived on the island. In the spring of 1943, control was transferred to Kiichiro Higuchi.

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