11 May 1943
U.S. Forces Land on Attu
Attu and Kiska had been under Japanese control for nearly a year, and while strategically the islands were of little value, their liberation was a matter of prestige—after all, the Aleutian Islands were a part of Alaska, which had been U.S. territory since 1867. Aerial bombing of Japanese positions on Attu and Kiska, from an airbase on nearby Amchitka Island, began in February, and after a brief naval engagement in late March the islands were effectively cut off from resupply. U.S. troops landed on Attu on May 11, but quickly ran into stiff resistance from the Japanese, made worse by the mud and heavy fog that was so common to the Aleutians in springtime. The Americans suffered heavy casualties, and did not finally secure the island until May 30.

Expecting similar resistance on Kiska, the Allies assembled a force of more than 34,000 U.S. and Canadian soldiers for an invasion of that island. Those troops landed on August 15, but to their surprise they encountered no resistance; as it turned out, the Japanese had begun evacuating the island in June, and by the end of July they had withdrawn entirely.

Histories:
History of World War II in the Aleutians
The Aleutian Campaign
Aleutian Islands

Photographs:
Landing boats pouring soldiers and their equipment onto the beach at Massacre Bay on Attu
Soldiers hurling their trench mortar shells over a ridge into a Japanese position on Attu
A train of bombs drops from United States Army Air forces plane on territory in the Aleutians held by the Japanese