Battle of Iwo Jima

Planning and preparation

By June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi had been assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. Realizing that Japan could not realistically stop an American invasion, Kuribayashi instead focused on inflicting extremely heavy casualties on the invading forces.

Drawing lessons from the Battle of Peleliu, Kuribayashi abandoned traditional Japanese defensive doctrine. Rather than concentrating defenses directly on the beaches, he created a deep defensive network across the island using bunkers, hidden artillery positions, underground tunnels and heavily fortified strongpoints. The Japanese constructed more than 18 kilometers of tunnels connecting defensive positions across the island. These tunnels allowed defenders to move underground between positions and reoccupy bunkers that had already been cleared by American troops.

American bombardment

Beginning in June 1944, the United States Navy and the United States Army Air Forces launched extensive naval bombardments and air raids against Iwo Jima. These attacks continued for months and became some of the heaviest pre-invasion bombardments of the Pacific War.

Despite the intensity of the bombardment, the Japanese tunnel systems and underground fortifications allowed many defenders to survive largely unharmed. American intelligence officers incorrectly believed that the island would fall within only a few days of the invasion.

The amphibious landings

On the morning of 19 February 1945, approximately 60.000 United States Marines from the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions began landing on the southeastern beaches of Iwo Jima. Initially, the beaches appeared unusually quiet. General Kuribayashi had ordered his troops to hold their fire until the beaches were crowded with American troops and equipment. Once the Marines had advanced inland, concealed Japanese bunkers and artillery positions suddenly opened fire.

The Marines faced devastating machine gun fire, mortar bombardments, sniper attacks and artillery fire from hidden defensive positions. The volcanic ash terrain made movement extremely difficult and slowed the deployment of vehicles and supplies.

Fighting across the island

The battle soon developed into a brutal war of attrition. American troops were forced to clear Japanese bunkers and tunnel systems one position at a time using flamethrowers, grenades, demolition charges, tanks and close-quarters combat. Specialized M4 Sherman flamethrower tanks, often nicknamed "Zippo tanks", proved highly effective against Japanese cave positions and underground fortifications.

The northern sector of the island became especially deadly. Areas such as Hill 382, the "Turkey Knob" and the "Amphitheater" became known collectively among the Marines as the "Meatgrinder" because of the extremely heavy fighting and casualties.

Mount Suribachi and the famous flag raising

On 23 February 1945, American Marines captured the summit of Mount Suribachi, the dormant volcanic mountain dominating the southern end of the island. During the battle, photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the famous image "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima," showing six American servicemen raising the United States flag on the summit. The photograph became one of the most recognizable images of the Second World War and later inspired the Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery.

The corrected identities in the famous photograph

For many years, the servicemen in Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph were officially identified as Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes. However, decades after the war, extensive historical research and forensic photo analysis led to official corrections by the United States Marine Corps.

In 2016, the Marine Corps confirmed that Harold Schultz had been mistakenly identified as John Bradley. In 2019, it was further confirmed that Harold Keller had been incorrectly identified as Rene Gagnon.  The corrected identities of the six men in the photograph are now officially recognized as Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz and Harold Keller. (Thank you Peter Marshall)

The final stages of the battle

Although Mount Suribachi had been captured, fighting continued across northern Iwo Jima for several more weeks. Japanese resistance remained fierce throughout March 1945, with defenders continuing to fight from caves, bunkers and underground tunnels. On the night of 25 March 1945, surviving Japanese troops launched a final counterattack near Airfield No. 2. The attack was eventually defeated after intense close-quarters fighting.

The island was officially declared secure on 26 March 1945, ending one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific campaign.

Aftermath of the battle

By the end of the Battle of Iwo Jima, nearly the entire Japanese garrison had been destroyed. Of the approximately 21.000 to 22.000 Japanese soldiers defending the island, the vast majority were killed in combat or died by suicide. Only around 200 Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner during the battle.

Many Japanese troops continued hiding in the island’s caves and tunnel systems after organized resistance had officially ended. Influenced by the Japanese Bushido code and wartime propaganda, many defenders considered surrender dishonorable.

Some isolated Japanese holdouts survived underground for months and, in rare cases, years after the battle by hiding in caves and emerging at night to search for food and water. The final known holdouts on Iwo Jima eventually surrendered in 1949, several years after the end of the Second World War.

American casualties

The Battle of Iwo Jima resulted in devastating casualties for the United States. During the 36-day battle, more than 26.000 American servicemen were killed or wounded, including approximately 6.800 dead.

Iwo Jima became the only major battle fought by the United States Marine Corps during the Pacific War in which total American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese defenders, although Japanese deaths remained significantly higher overall.

Several American warships were damaged during the fighting and the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea was sunk during a Japanese kamikaze attack, becoming the last American aircraft carrier lost during the Second World War.

Historical significance

The Battle of Iwo Jima became one of the defining battles of the Pacific campaign and demonstrated the extreme intensity of the fighting during the final stages of the Second World War. The battle also demonstrated the effectiveness of Japan’s defensive tactics and foreshadowed the enormous casualties expected during a possible Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Although historians continue to debate the long-term strategic value of the island, Iwo Jima later served as an emergency landing site for hundreds of damaged American B-29 bombers returning from missions over Japan, potentially saving thousands of aircrew lives.