Japanese occupation of Kiska

Japanese occupation of Kiska
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Japanese troops raise the Imperial battle flag on Kiska after landing on June 6, 1942.
Date June 6, 1942 – July 28, 1943 Location Kiska, Aleutian Islands Result Japanese occupation commences
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
N/A	Imperial Japanese Navy: Boshiro Hosogaya Kiichiro Higuchi, Monzo Akiyama, Imperial Japanese Army: Takeji Ono
Strength
10	5,400

The Japanese occupation of Kiska took place between June 6, 1942 and July 28, 1943 during the Aleutian Islands Campaign of the Pacific War in World War II. The Japanese occupied Kiska and nearby Attu Island in order to protect the northern flank of the Japanese Empire.

The attack on Pearl Harbor and beginning of the Pacific Theatre in World War II, coupled with Japanese threats to the west coast of North America and the Aleutian Islands, had already made the construction of a defense access highway to Alaska a priority. On February 6, 1942 the construction of the Alaska Highway was approved by the United States Army and the project received the authorization from the U.S. Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proceed five days later.

Reacting to the Japanese occupation, US and Canadian air forces waged a continuous air bombardment campaign against the Japanese forces on Kiska. Also, US warships blockaded and periodically bombarded the island. Several Japanese warships, transport ships, and submarines attempting to travel to Kiska or Attu were sunk or damaged by the blockading forces.

In May 1943, US forces landed on and destroyed the Japanese garrison on Attu. In response, the Imperial Japanese Navy successfully evacuated the Kiska garrison on July 28, 1943, ending the Japanese presence in the Aleutian Islands. Not completely sure that the Japanese were gone, the US and Canada executed an unopposed landing on Kiska on August 15, 1943, securing the island and ending the Aleutian Islands campaign.

See also

Japanese Occupation Site, Kiska Island

References

Books

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

External links

• Logistics Problems on Attu by Robert E. Burks.
• Aleutian Islands Chronology
• Aleutian Islands War
• Aleutian Islands The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
• Red White Black & Blue - feature documentary about The Battle of Attu in the Aleutians during World War II
  • PBS Independent Lens presentation of Red White Black & Blue - The Making Of and other resources
• Soldiers of the 184th Infantry, 7th ID in the Pacific, 1943-1945
• World War II Campaign Brochure for Aleutian Islands, U.S. Army Center of Military History.