Aleutian Islands Campaign (1942)
World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.
Background
The Aleutian Islands are a chain of volcanic islands stretching about 1,200 miles westward from Alaska toward Japan. In June 1942, Japanese Imperial military planners sought to open a northern Pacific theater, divert American attention from the Battle of Midway, and establish a defensive perimeter in the North Pacific. Taking the Aleutians would place Japanese forces within striking distance of the North American continent. The operation was timed to coincide with the main Japanese offensive at Midway, intended to spread American naval forces thin.
Did You Know?
Attu and Kiska were the only pieces of American territory occupied by enemy forces during World War II. When American and Canadian forces landed on Kiska on August 15, 1943, expecting fierce resistance, they found the island completely abandoned — Japanese forces had evacuated silently two weeks earlier under cover of fog.
The Battle
On June 3–4, 1942, Japanese aircraft bombed the American naval base at Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. Then, on June 6–7, Japanese troops landed on Attu and Kiska, encountering minimal resistance. American forces mounted a counterattack beginning in early 1943. The Battle of Attu (May 11–30, 1943) was the first land battle fought on American soil in the Western Hemisphere since the War of 1812. The campaign ended with a Japanese banzai charge on May 29, 1943, leaving approximately 2,350 Americans and 2,900 Japanese dead.
Aftermath & Legacy
The recapture of Attu cost more casualties per enemy combatant than almost any other Pacific campaign. After landing on Kiska in August 1943 and finding it abandoned, the Aleutian Islands campaign officially ended. Though isolated and strategically peripheral, the campaign tied up significant American military resources for over a year. Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Native communities were also forcibly relocated to internment camps in Alaska during the occupation — a chapter acknowledged by Congress in 1988 with a formal apology and reparations.