West European Studies

The Second World War saw the United States and Japan take opposite sides, setting the scene for one of the most destructive wars in the history of mankind. The U.S., having taken control of the Marianas and the Phillipines, was intent on taking the battle to the Japaneses soil, an occurrence which the Japanese military was prepared to delay, if not stop. The U.S. military had positioned some of its military resources in the Marianas Islands and its next target was Okinawa. This would be the first time that the U.S. attacked Japan on its own soil. A tiny volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean stood between Okinawa and the Marianas Islands.

Iwo Jima Island is an almost barren island standing about 1,121 kilometres to the south of Tokyo. The only notable feature on the island is the 169 metre tall Mt Suribachi, a volcanic cone from whose belly the Japanese fighters launched stiff resistance to the American invaders.  The Japanese had had three runways on Iwo Jima and its geographical location made it an ideal launch-base for air raids on the U.S. forces based in the Marianas. Iwo Jima also served as an early warning base from where the home islands were warned of impending aerial attacks. Due to its importance, the Japanese fortified the island heavily to keep off attackers. About 23,000 Japanese soldiers were positione d on the island. However, the same strategic reasons which attracted the island to Japan also attracted the U.S. Whether the price the U.S paid for the island was worth it or not has been the subject of spirited debates, attracting as much support as criticism.

The U.S. employed the strategy of softening up the Japanese soldiers before sending in the Marines. In June 1944 and about 74 days before the U.S. landing force arrived, U.S. bombers started bombing the island heavily. The pre-landing bombing was so heavy that one of the commanders observed that no other island had received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima. Little did the Americans know that their Japanese rivals were taking cover in an intricate web of tunnels and bunkers which kept them and their weapons safe from most of the impact of the U.S. bombing.  By maintaining no beach defence, General Kuribayashi -the Japanese Commander in the island- successfully tricked the Americans into believing that the bombing had killed the Japanese defense.

Assured that Japanese defense had been weakened significantly, the U.S. would then send in several divisions of the Marines to finish what remained of the Japanese defense after the bombing. With an initial strike force of 74,000 soldiers, Operation Detachment would become the first time in history that the U.S. was marshalling such a number of soldiers for a battle. The record number of soldiers for the operation may have indicated the great desire by the U.S to capture the island, not much the strength of anticipated Japanese resistance. From Iwo Jima, the U.S. would find it easier to attack Okinawa. Iwo Jima would also provide an emergency landing base for U.S. military aircraft. As the U.S. soldiers were to realize shortly after landing, the Japanese were smarter than they had seemed from the Marianas and they went ahead to cause one of the highest death tolls on the U.S. military during World War II. The U.S. finally won the battle after 36 days of heavy fighting and heavy death and casualty tolls on both sides.