Battle of Attu

Battle of Attu
Part of the Aleutian Islands campaign

U.S. soldiers fire mortar shells over a ridge onto a Japanese position on 4 June 1943
Date11–30 May 1943
Japanese holdouts until 8 September 1943
Location
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 United States
 Canada[1]
 Japan
Commanders and leaders
John DeWitt
Thomas Kinkaid
Albert Brown
Eugene Landrum
Archibald Arnold
Yasuyo Yamasaki 
Strength
15,000[1] 2,600
Casualties and losses
549 killed
1,148 wounded
1,814 frostbitten and sick[2]
2,351 killed or committed suicide
28 captured
~200 missing or holding out[3]

The Battle of Attu (codenamed Operation Landcrab),[4] which took place on 11–30 May 1943, was fought between forces of the United States, aided by Canadian reconnaissance and fighter-bomber support, and Japan on Attu Island off the coast of the Territory of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands campaign during the American Theater and the Pacific Theater. Attu is the only land battle in which Japanese and American forces fought in snowy conditions, in contrast with the tropical climate in the rest of the Pacific. The battle ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final banzai charge broke through American lines.

  1. ^ a b "The Battle for Kiska", Canadianheroes.org, 13 May 2002, Originally Published in Esprit de Corp Magazine, Volume 9 Issue 4 and Volume 9 Issue 5
  2. ^ "US National Park Service". Nps.gov.
  3. ^ "Battle of Attu: 60 Years Later (U.S. National Park Service)". Nps.gov.
  4. ^ "Battle of Attu". The History Channel. 27 September 2023.