Battle of Attu

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Attu


caption=American troops on Attu during the battle.
partof=the Pacific Theater of World War II
date=May 11, 1943 – May 30, 1943
place=Attu Island off Alaska
result=United States victory
combatant1=flagicon|United States|1912 United States
combatant2=flagicon|Japan|alt Empire of Japan
commander1= flagicon|United States|1912 John L. DeWitt
flagicon|United States|1912Thomas C. Kinkaid
flagicon|United States|1912 Albert E. Brown,
flagicon|United States|1912Eugene M. Landrum
commander2=flagicon|Japan|alt Yasuyo Yamasaki
strength1=15,000
strength2=2,900
casualties1= 549 killed,
1,148 wounded,
2,100 evacuated for disease or climate-related injury
casualties2= 2,850+ killed,
29 captured

The Battle of Attu took place May 11, 1943 – May 30, 1943 on Attu Island off of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the Pacific War of World War II.

Battle

In the battle, a force of primarily United States Army soldiers landed on Attu with the goal of retaking the island from Japanese forces who had occupied the island since October 1942. The American forces on the island were led in turn by Albert E. Brown and Eugene M. Landrum. The Japanese forces on Attu were led by Yasuyo Yamasaki.

The Japanese troops on the island put up a more effective defense than the Americans anticipated. Also, the arctic weather conditions caused many cases of frostbite and other exposure-related injuries among the American troops, who were not accustomed to the climate conditions. With some difficulty, the Americans were able to push Yamasaki's men into a pocket near the coast of the island. In desperation, Yamasaki and his remaining troops launched a surprise counterattack, executing a frontal charge that broke through the American frontline defenses and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with shocked American rear area defenders before most of the Japanese troops were killed. Most of the Japanese survivors from this charge then committed suicide, effectively ending the battle for the island. Only 29 of the 2,900 Japanese defenders survived the battle to be taken prisoner.

Attu was the last ground combat in the campaign. The Japanese successfully evacuated their garrison on nearby Kiska on July 28, 1943 ending the Japanese presence in the Aleutian Islands.

See also

* Castner's Cutthroats
* Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi

References

Notes

Books

*cite book | last = Cloe | first = John Haile | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1990 | chapter = | title = The Aleutian Warriors: A History of the 11th Air Force and Fleet Air Wing 4 | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. and Anchorage Chapter – Air Force Association | location = Missoula, Montana | isbn = 0929521358 | oclc = 25370916
*cite book | last = Dickrell | first = Jeff | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2001 | chapter = | title = Center of the Storm: The Bombing of Dutch Harbor and the Experience of Patrol Wing Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942 | publisher = Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc. | location = Missoula, Montana | isbn = 1575100924 | oclc = 50242148
*cite book | last = Feinberg | first = Leonard | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1992 | chapter = | title = Where the Williwaw Blows: The Aleutian Islands-World War II | publisher = Pilgrims' Process | location = | isbn = 097106098-3 | oclc = 57146667
*cite book | last = Garfield | first = Brian | authorlink = Brian Garfield | coauthors = | year = 1995 | origyear = 1969 | chapter = | title = The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians | publisher = University of Alaska Press | location = Fairbanks | isbn = 0912006838 | oclc = 33358488
*cite book | last = Goldstein | first = Donald M. | authorlink = | coauthors = Katherine V. Dillon | year = 1992 | chapter = | title = The Williwaw War: The Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World War | publisher = University of Arkansas Press | location = Fayettville | isbn = 1557282420 | oclc = 24912734
*cite book | last = Hays | first = Otis | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2004 | chapter = | title = Alaska's Hidden Wars: Secret Campaigns on the North Pacific Rim | publisher = University of Alaska Press | location = | isbn = 188996364X | oclc =
*cite book | last = Lorelli | first = John A. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1984 | chapter = | title = The Battle of the Komandorski Islands | publisher = United States Naval Institute | location = Annapolis | isbn = 0870210939 | oclc = 10824413
*cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison | coauthors = | origyear = 1951 | year = 2001 | chapter = | title = Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, "vol. 7 of" History of United States Naval Operations in World War II | publisher = University of Illinois Press | location = Champaign | isbn = 0316583057 | oclc = 7288530
*cite book | last = Parshall | first = Jonathan | authorlink = | coauthors = Tully, Anthony | year = 2005 | title = Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway | publisher = Potomac Books | location = Dulles, Virginia | id = ISBN 1574889230 | oclc = 60373935
*cite book | last = Perras | first = Galen Roger | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2003 | chapter = | title = Stepping Stones to Nowhere, The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867 - 1945 | publisher = University of British Columbia Press | location = Vancouver | isbn = 1591148367 | oclc = 53015264
*cite book | last = Urwin | first = Gregory J. W. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2000 | chapter = | title = The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle as Told by the Men Who Fought There | publisher = Bison Books | location = | isbn = 080329557X | oclc =
*cite book | last = Wetterhahn | first = Ralph | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2004 | chapter = | title = The Last Flight of Bomber 31: Harrowing Tales of American and Japanese Pilots Who Fought World War II's Arctic Air Campaign | publisher = Da Capo Press | location = | isbn = 0786713607 | oclc =

External links

* [http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues/MayJun03/MS778.htm Logistics Problems on Attu] by Robert E. Burks.
* [http://users.commkey.net/fussichen/otdaleu.htm Aleutian Islands Chronology]
* [http://www.explorenorth.com/library/military/aleutian_war-usarmy.html Aleutian Islands War]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-Aleutians/ Aleutian Islands The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II]
* [http://www.alaskainvasion.com/ Red White Black & Blue - feature documentary about The Battle of Attu in the Aleutians during World War II]
**PBS Independent Lens presentation of [http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/redwhiteblackandblue/index.html Red White Black & Blue] - The Making Of and other resources
* [http://www.robsmith.org/184th-inf/ Soldiers of the 184th Infantry, 7th ID in the Pacific, 1943-1945]
* [http://www.army.mil/cmh/brochures/aleut/aleut.htm World War II Campaign Brochure for Aleutian Islands, U.S. Army Center of Military History.]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-InfCombat/index.html#attu US Army Infantry Combat pamphlet- Part Two: Attu]