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In the late 16th century, the island was discovered by the Japanese. 43. Before World War II Iwo Jima was administered as Iōjima village and was (and is today) part of Tokyo. A census in June 1943 reported an island civilian population of 1,018 (533 males, 485 females) in 192 households in six settlements.
Oct 25, 2024 · Iwo Jima, island that is part of the Volcano Islands archipelago, far southern Japan. The island has been widely known as Iwo Jima, its conventional name, since World War II (1939–45). However, Japan officially changed the name to its Japanese form, Iō-tō (Iō Island), in 2007.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Iwo Jima Is Small
- It Is Situated Slap Bang Between Japan and The Nearest Us Territory
- The Japanese Defence Was commanded by Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
- The Japanese Constructed An Elaborate Network of Tunnels
- America’s Pre-Landing Bombardments Were Largely Ineffective
- Japan’s Tunnel System Allowed Its Troops to Reoccupy Bunker Positions
- Flamethrowers Became A Key Weapon For The Us Invaders
- Navajo Code Talkers Played A Vital Part
- Us Victory Came at A Grave Cost
- An Unprecedented Number of Us Marines Were Awarded A Medal of Honour
The island has an area of just eight square miles, making it all the more surprising that the battle lasted 36 days.
Located in the north-west portion of the Pacific Ocean, Iwo Jima is 660 miles south of Tokyo and roughly equidistant from Japan and the US territory of Guam.
Kuribayashi’s radical departure from established Japanese strategy shaped the engagement, leading to a drawn out, punishing battle. Prior to Iwo Jima, Japan had defended more directly, opting to face US troops on the beaches in the Gilbert, Marshall and Mariana Islands. This time Kuribayashi opted to hang back and defend from deeper positions, deli...
Kuribayashi’s deep defence strategy involved the construction of 11 miles of fortified tunnels that connected 1,500 rooms, artillery emplacements, bunkers, ammunition dumps and pillboxes. This enabled Japanese soldiers to conduct their stubborn defence from concealed positions and limited the impact of American air and naval bombardment. Kuribayash...
Ahead of the amphibious assault the US launched a three-day bombardment. This was significantly shorter than the 10-day heavy shelling bombardment requested by Maj. General Harry Schmidt and had limited impact due to the Japanese troops being so thoroughly dug-in.
US forces were frequently surprised to find that bunkers they’d apparently cleared with grenades or flamethrowers were swiftly reoccupied thanks to the Japanese network of tunnels.
The M2 flamethrower was considered by US commanders to be the single most effective weapon in the Iwo Jima engagement. Each battalion was assigned a flamethrower operator and the weapons became the most effective means of attacking Japanese troops in pillboxes, caves, buildings and bunkers.
From May 1942, the US utilised Navajo code talkers. Because Navajo grammar is so complex, mutual intelligibility and codebreaking is virtually impossible. The speed and accuracy of the Navajo code talkers was indispensable at Iwo Jima – six code talkers sent and received over 800 messages, all without error.
Over the course of the 36-day engagement there were at least 26,000 US casualties, including 6,800 dead. This made Iwo Jima the only battle of the Pacific War in which American casualties outnumbered Japanese, although the number of Japanese soldiers killed – 18,844 – was almost three times greater than the US death count.
The ferocity of the fighting at Iwo Jima led to 22 US Marines and five members of the US Navy being awarded a Medal of Honour – the highest military decoration in America – for their bravery during the engagement. That figure makes up more than a fifth of the total 82 Medals of Honour awarded to Marines over the course of the entire war.
- Harry Atkins
Jul 24, 2021 · The 1,200 people removed from the island in 1944 were never allowed to return, and no permanent populations exist on Iwo Jima today. Iwo Jima is now inaccessible to civilians besides those...
- Sam Mills
Oct 22, 2024 · 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. A photo of Marines raising the American flag atop Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi became one of the Pacific War’s iconic images.
The 1945 battle for Iwo Jima was bitter and brutal: few of the 20,000 Japanese defenders survived it, while the attacking American marines suffered 25,000 casualties. Why was the US so committed to wresting this tiny island from Japanese control?
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May 5, 2019 · Iwo Jima wasn't officially declared secure until March 26. The last Japanese military personnel to surrender on the island did so in 1949, and one of those committed suicide on a return visit a...
