December 7, 194 1.
The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor and World
War has II started. The small, relatively insignificant island
of Iwo Jima is about to become one of the bloodiest
battlefields in the Pacific Theater. This report will describe
the significance of this battle, the planning and strategy
behind it, what actually happened, the weapons that were
used, and the aftermath, as the capture of Iwo Jima was a
major turning point in the war against Japan.
Context
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared
war on Japan and joined the Allied Forces. They were
worried, as Japan’s position posed a threat to Australia, so
they put into action an island hopping campaign. The
strategy was to establish an airfield within fighter range of
Japan so that planes could escort bombers to Japan in order
to end World War II. One of the islands in this campaign
was Iwo Jima, a small, pork-chop shaped island 650 miles
south of Japan. It was the largest island of the Bonin
Islands, and was first known as Sulfur Island, with a dormant
volcano called Mount Suribachi.
Planning and Strategy
October 3, 1944
The operation, known as Operation Detachment, was
performed by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and led by
Admiral Nimitz of the U.S. Navy. Other leaders included
Holland “Howling Mad” Smith, Marc Mitscher, Alexander
Vandegrift, Graves Erskine, Clifton Cates, and Keller Rockey.
With 70,000 marines, the U.S. prepared to invade this island,
defended by 22,060 Japanese soldiers led by Tadamichi
Kuribayashi. The attack plan was to secure a beachhead,
capture Mount Suribachi, and then secure the island.
Description of the Battle
December 7, 1944
The U.S. Navy started shelling and bombing the island
for 72 days to soften up the defenses. At 900 hours,
February 19, 1945, the invasion began and then continued
through March 26, 1945. The first marines hit the beach at
9:02AM February 19. This was Day 1 of the invasion of Iwo
Jima. A wave of Amtracs (half-tanks, half-bulldozers) was
the first to land. These cleared away rubble and other
obstacles so that 1,400 could land. At 10:00AM the Japanese
started shelling the beach. A traffic jam appeared on the
beach as knocked-out landing craft, tanks and Amtracs plus
566 dead marines lay on the beach.
On February 20, the invasion began in earnest. That
night, the soldiers standing watch in their foxholes were
surprised that there were no Banzai charges (suicidal but
very effective charges against U.S positions by the
Japanese). On February 21, Day 3, over 1,000 marines were in
position to attack Mount Suribachi, which was defended by
2,000 Japanese. Led by a man named Lieutenant Schrier, his
division prepared to scale Mount Suribachi. At 10:20AM on
February 23, the Marines captured Mount Suribachi, led by a
different Lieutenant, John K. “Genghis Khan” Wells. This
was very strategically important and proved to be the
turning point of the battle.
Weapons and Vehicles
The U.S. used many weapons in the war against Japan
and on Iwo Jima, such as the M2 flamethrower, M4 Sherman
medium tank, and the infamous Thompson submachine gun.
The M4 Sherman tank was named after General William T.
Sherman and was the primary tank of the U.S. Army and
Marines. It was the second most manufactured tank in WW
II. It was so powerful that the gunner had to use HE (high
explosive) ammo because anti-tank ammo went right through
the lightly armored Japanese tanks and exploded on the
other side. One of the unique features on the M4 was an
escape hatch on the bottom of the chassis that the U.S.
Marines used in reverse to rescue wounded marines under
fire.
The Thompson submachine gun was invented by John T.
Thompson in 1919. It worked on the principal, patented by
John Bell Blish in 1915, of the adhesion of inclined metal
surfaces under pressure (which means that the pieces of the
gun don’t get blown apart when the bullets are fired). This
gun was also known as the “Tommy Gun,” “Trench Broom,”
“Trench Sweeper,” “Chicago Typewriter,” “Chicago Piano,”
“Chicago Style,” and “The Chopper,” It became famous during
Prohibition and was popular among soldiers, criminals, police
and civilians. In fact, the famous gangster “Machine Gun
Kelly” was nicknamed for his Thompson submachine gun. In
1938 it was adopted by the U.S. military and used in World
War II and beyond. Over 1.5 million were produced during
World War II alone. The U.S. Marines used it as a limitedissue weapon for their island assaults such as Iwo Jima.
The M2 Flamethrower (M2-2) was a portable backpack
flamethrower used in WWII. Its burn time was about 7
seconds and the flame was only effective to about 20 meters
but it was still used in many ways in the war. But when
tanks were brought in, the need for the portable
flamethrowers became less, because the tanks offered
better protection and firepower.
Aftermath
After the battle, the U.S. had 6,812 marines and
naval personnel killed or missing; 2 were captured; and 19,
217 were wounded. The Japanese had 21,844 killed and 216
captured. After the capture of Iwo Jima, Admiral Chester
W. Nimitz declared: “The battle of Iwo Island [Jima] has
been won. The United States Marines, by their individual
and collective courage, have conquered a base which is as
necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward
final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off
ultimate defeat.... Among the Americans who served on Iwo
Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." Over 3,000
Japanese soldiers stayed in the island’s caves and tunnels.
They hid in the day and came out at night for provisions.
When they surrendered, the Americans surprised them by
treating them well and gave them things like cigarettes,
soap, food and candy. Two of the soldiers, Yamakage Kufuku
and Matsudo Linsoki, refused to surrender for 6 years but
finally did in 1951. The U.S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968,
when they returned it to Japan.
The battle of Iwo Jima is a large part of American
history and was the turning point in the war against Japan.
“Iwo Jima is a unique place in the history of the United
States. It was not the bloodiest fight in the Pacific
campaign, it was not the most operationally sound, not the
longest and arguably not the most important. But Iwo is
burned into our national psyche in a way that no other
battle in U.S. [history] is,” said Marine Corps commandant
Gen. James Conway.