Battle of the Aleutian Islands

Aleutian Islands Campaign
Part of the American Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II
American troops hauling supplies on Attu in May 1943 through Jarmin pass. Their vehicles could not move across the island's rugged terrain.
Date 3 June 1942 – 15 August 1943 Location Aleutian Islands, Alaska Territory 52°5′51.34″N 173°30′4.32″W / 52.0975944°N 173.5012000°W / 52.0975944; -173.5012000Coordinates: 52°5′51.34″N 173°30′4.32″W / 52.0975944°N 173.5012000°W / 52.0975944; -173.5012000 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  Canada	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Thomas Kinkaid Francis Rockwell Albert Brown Archibald Arnold Simon Buckner, Jr. George Pearkes Harry Foster	Boshiro Hosogaya Kakuji Kakuta Monzo Akiyama Yasuyo Yamasaki †
Strength
144,000	8,500
Casualties and losses
1,481 killed 225 aircraft destroyed 640 missing 3,416 wounded 8 captured US Navy vessels heavily damaged USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) USS Abner Read (DD-526) US Navy vessels lost USS S-27 (SS-132) USS Grunion (SS-216)	4,350 killed 28 captured 7 warships sunk 9 cargo transport ships sunk
1 civilian killed, 46 captured

The Aleutian Islands Campaign was a military campaign conducted by the United States in the Aleutian Islands, part of the Alaska Territory, in the American theater and the Pacific theater of World War II starting on 3 June 1942. A small Japanese force occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska, where the remoteness of the islands and the challenges of weather and terrain delayed for nearly a year a larger U.S./Canadian force to eject them. The islands' strategic value was their ability to control Pacific transportation routes, which is why U.S. General Billy Mitchell stated to 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." The Japanese reasoned that control of the Aleutians would prevent a possible U.S. attack across the Northern Pacific. Similarly, the U.S. feared that the islands would be used as bases from which to launch aerial assaults against the West Coast.

A battle to reclaim Attu was launched on May 11, 1943 and completed following a final Japanese banzai charge on May 29. On 15 August 1943, an invasion force landed on Kiska in the wake of a sustained three-week barrage, only to discover that the Japanese had withdrawn from the island on July 29.

The campaign is known as the "Forgotten Battle", due to its being overshadowed by the simultaneous Guadalcanal Campaign. In the past, many Western military historians believed it was a diversionary or feint attack during the Battle of Midway, meant to draw out the U.S. Pacific Fleet from Midway Atoll, as it was launched simultaneously under the same commander, Isoroku Yamamoto. However, historians Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully have argued against this interpretation, stating that the Japanese invaded the Aleutians to protect their northern flank, and did not intend it as a diversion.

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