Battle of Iwo Jima Part of World War II, Pacific War US Marines land on Iwo Jima with Mount Suribachi in the background. Date February 19, 1945–March 26, 1945 Location Iwo Jima, Japan Result American victory Belligerents  United States  Empire of Japan Commanders Holland Smith Tadamichi Kuribayashi † Strength 110,000 21,000 Casualties and losses 6,821 dead 19,189 wounded[1] 494 missing[1] Total: 26,504 20,703 dead[1] 216 captured[1] Total: 20,919

v • d • e Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign Iwo Jima – Okinawa – Ten-Go

v • d • e Pacific Ocean theater Pearl Harbor – Midway – Solomons – Aleutians – Gilberts & Marshalls – Marianas & Palau – Volcano Is & Ryukyu Is

The Battle of Iwo Jima was the American capture of the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Ground fighting on the island lasted from the landings of February 19 to a final Japanese charge the morning of March 26, 1945. The U.S. invasion, known as Operation Detachment, was charged with the mission of capturing the airfields on Iwo Jima.^[1] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links USMC-M-IwoJima-cvr. ... Iwo Jima (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 miles (1046 km) south of Tokyo (24. ... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... Anthem Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Capital Tokyo Government Constitutional monarchy Emperor  - 1868–1912 Emperor Meiji  - 1912–1926 Emperor Taishō  - 1926–1989 Emperor Shōwa Prime Minister  - 1885-1888, 1892-1896, 1898, 1900-1901 Itō Hirobumi  - 1888-1889 Kuroda Kiyotaka  - 1889-1891 Yamagata Aritomo  - 1906-1908, 1911-1912 Saionji Kinmochi... Holland Smith Gen Holland McTyeire Howlin Mad Smith (April 20, 1882 – January 12, 1967) was a general in the US Marine Corps during World War II. He is sometimes called the father of modern U.S. amphibious warfare. ... Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Japanese: 栗林忠道 Kuribayashi Tadamichi) (July 7, 1891 in Nagano city, Japan – March 23, 1945 on Iwo Jima, Japan) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army, best known as overall commander of the Japanese garrison during most of the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Assigned by... Temporary grave of an American machine-gunner during the Battle of Normandy. ... The Volcano and RyÅ«kyÅ« Islands campaign was a series of battles and engagements between Allied forces and Imperial Japanese forces during the Pacific campaign of World War II from around January, 1945 until June, 1945. ... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Marc A. Mitscher Seiichi Ito â€  Strength 11 aircraft carriers 386 aircraft 1 battleship 1 light cruiser 8 destroyers Casualties 10 aircraft destroyed 12 dead 1 battleship sunk 1 light cruiser sunk 4 destroyers sunk 3,700 dead Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign Iwo... The Pacific Ocean theater was one of four major theaters of the Pacific War, between 1941 and 1945. ... This article is about the actual attack. ... Belligerents United States Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi† Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 264 carrier aircraft,[1] 16 floatplanes Casualties and... Combatants  United States  Australia New Guinea[1]  New Zealand  United Kingdom Colony of Fiji[2] Solomon Is. ... Combatants United States, Canada Empire of Japan Commanders Thomas C. Kinkaid (navy), Francis W. Rockwell (landings), Albert E. Brown (army), Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. ... In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns, from November 1943 through February 1944, were the first offensive operations of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. ... In the Pacific theater of World War II, the American Marianas Campaign, known as Operation Forager, pushed westward from the Marshall Islands in the summer of 1944 to capture the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. ... The Volcano and RyÅ«kyÅ« Islands campaign was a series of battles and engagements between Allied forces and Imperial Japanese forces during the Pacific campaign of World War II from around January, 1945 until June, 1945. ... For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ... His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Akihito of Japan The Emperor of Japan (天皇, tennō) is Japans titular head of state and the head of the Japanese imperial family. ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year (86th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Lajes Airbase in the Azores islands, Portugal An Airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airport or airfield, provides basing and support of military aircraft. ... For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ...

The battle was marked by some of the fiercest fighting of the campaign. The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with vast bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 kilometers (11 mi) of tunnels.^[2][3] The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese Home Islands and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, over 20,000 were killed and only 216 taken prisoner.^[1] The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) (KyÅ«jitai: 大日本帝國陸軍, Shinjitai: , Romaji: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun), or more officially Army of the Greater Japanese Empire was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945. ... For the fortification of food, see Food fortification. ... Bunkers in Albania A bunker is a defensive military fortification. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... The Home Islands refers to the four main islands of Japan: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag atop the 166 meter (546 ft) Mount Suribachi by five Marines (Ira Hayes, Mike Strank, Franklin Sousley, Rene Gagnon, Harlon Block) and a U.S. Navy corpsman, John Bradley. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. The picture became the iconic image of the battle and has been heavily reproduced.^[4] With the U.S. fleet off Iwo Jima in the background, Joe Rosenthal strikes a pose on the summit of Mount Suribachi Joe Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on... Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press. ... For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Akimel O’odham, or Pima Indian, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. ... Sergeant Michael Strank (in Rusyn: Mykhal Strenk; in Slovak: Michal Strenk) (November 10, 1919 – March 1, 1945) was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was photographed raising the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima. ... Franklin Runyon Sousley (September 19, 1925 – March 21, 1945) was one of the six men in the famous photograph of troops Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. ... Rene Arthur Gagnon (March 7, 1925 – October 12, 1979) was one of the U.S. Marines immortalized by Joe Rosenthals famous World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. ... Harlon Henry Block (November 6, 1924 – March 1, 1945) was a US Marine during World War II. He was one of six men photographed in raising the US flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Hospital Corpsmen (HMs) are members of the United States Navy Hospital Corps. ... John Jack Doc Bradley (July 10, 1923 – January 11, 1994) was a US Navy corpsman during World War II, and one of the six men who took part in Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. ...

Geography

Main article: Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima is a volcanic island about 1,200 km (650 nautical miles) south of Tokyo, 1,300 km (702 nautical miles) north of Guam and approximately halfway between Tokyo and Saipan (24.756°N, 141.290°E). It is approximately 21 square kilometers (5,200 ac), with Mount Suribachi at its southern tip being its most prominent feature. As described by Ted Allenby, a Marine who fought on the island: For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Iwo Jima (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Saipan seen from the air A map of Saipan, Tinian & Aguijan For other uses, see Saipan (disambiguation). ...

"...It was ghastly. Iwo was a volcanic island with very little concealment. Cover is something you hide behind-a tree, a bush, a rock. Few trees. No grass. It was almost like a piece of the moon that had dropped down to earth."

In June 2007 the island was officially renamed Iwo To, a name that had been used by local residents before the war. The name was changed on protest from former residents and after two popular Clint Eastwood films (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima) referenced the island as Iwo Jima. The Japanese characters for Iwo Jima and Iwo To are the same, but the pronunciation changed when Japanese soldiers arrived and pronounced it differently than the residents. For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation). ... Marines raising the US flag on Iwo Jima in a publicity still from Flags of Our Fathers. ... Letters from Iwo Jima ) is a 2006 Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning critically-acclaimed[1][2][3] war film whose cast includes Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. ...

Background

Location of Iwo Jima

After the American seizure of the Marshall Islands and devastating air attacks against Truk in the Caroline Islands in February 1944 the Japanese military leadership reappraised the military situation. All indications pointed to an American drive towards the Marianas and Carolines. To counter such a move they established an inner line of defense extending generally northward from the Carolines to the Marianas, and thence to the Ogasawara Islands. In March 1944 the Thirty-First Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was activated for the purpose of garrisoning this inner line. The commander of the Chichi Jima garrison was placed nominally in command of Army and Navy units in the Ogasawara Islands.^[1] Location map of Iwo Jima. ... Location map of Iwo Jima. ... In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns, from November 1943 through February 1944, were the first offensive operations of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. ... Attack on Truk Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date 17 February 1944 – 18 February 1944 Place Truk, Caroline Islands Result Decisive American victory In World War II, Operation Hailstone was a massive naval air attack launched on 17 February and 18 February 1944 against the Japanese naval and air... A view of Chuuk Chuuk is an island group that comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. ... Sunset at Colonia on Yap The Caroline Islands form a large archipelago of widely scattered islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. ... The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Ladrones Islands, from Spanish Islas de los Ladrones meaning Islands of Thieves) are an archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels... Sunset at Colonia on Yap The Caroline Islands form a large archipelago of widely scattered islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. ... A map of the Ogasawara Islands south of Japan The Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島) are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical islands some 1,000 km directly south of central Tokyo, Japan. ... Hideyoshi Obata was a Japanese soldier and politician. ... Chichi-jima (父島, lit. ... For people named Garrison, see Garrison (disambiguation) Garrison House, built by William Damm in 1675 at Dover, New Hampshire Garrison (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, to equip) is the collective term for the body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but...

Following the American seizure of bases in the Marshalls in the battles of Kwajalein and Eniwetok in February 1944 both Army and Navy reinforcements were sent to Iwo Jima. Five hundred men from the naval base at Yokosuka and an additional 500 from Chichi Jima reached Iwo Jima during March and April 1944. At the same time, with the arrival of reinforcements from Chichi Jima and the home islands, the Army garrison on Iwo Jima had reached a strength of over 5,000 men, equipped with 13 artillery pieces, 200 light and heavy machine guns, and 4,552 rifles. In addition there were numerous 120 mm coastal artillery guns, twelve heavy anti-aircraft guns, and thirty 25 mm dual-mount anti-aircraft guns.^[1] Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Richmond K. Turner, Holland M. Smith Monzo Akiyama Strength 2 divisions (about 42,000 soldiers) About 8,100 Casualties 372 killed, 1,592 wounded 7,870 Japanese dead, 105 captured, 125 Korean laborers captured The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the... Battle of Eniwetok Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date 17 February 1944 – 23 February 1944 Place Eniwetok Atoll, United States Japan Commanders Harry W. Hill Yoshimi Nishida Strength 2 regiments 2,000+ Casualties 339 killed or missing, 757 wounded 2,000+ dead, 16 captured The Battle of Eniwetok was... Categories: Cities in Kanagawa Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...

The loss of the Marianas during the northern summer of 1944 greatly increased the importance of the Ogasawaras for the Japanese, who were well aware that the loss of these islands would facilitate American air raids against the home islands, disrupting war manufacturing and severely damaging civilian morale.^[1]

Final Japanese plans for the defense of the Ogasawaras were overshadowed by the fact that the Imperial Japanese Navy had already lost most of its strength and could no longer prevent American landings. Moreover, aircraft losses throughout 1944 had been so heavy that, even if war production were not affected by American air attacks, combined Japanese air strength was not expected to increase to 3,000 aircraft until March or April 1945. Even then, these planes could not be used from bases in the home islands against Iwo Jima because their range did not exceed 900 km (559 miles); besides, all available aircraft had to be hoarded for possible use on Taiwan and adjacent islands near land bases.^[1] For Combined Fleet, please see that article. ...

In a postwar study, Japanese staff officers described the strategy applied in the defense of Iwo Jima in the following terms:

In the light of the above situation, seeing that it was impossible to conduct our air, sea, and ground operations on Iwo Jima toward ultimate victory, it was decided that in order to gain time necessary for the preparation of the Homeland defence, our forces should rely solely upon the established defensive equipment in that area, checking the enemy by delaying tactics. Even the suicidal attacks by small groups of our Army and Navy airplanes, the surprise attacks by our submarines, and the actions of parachute units, although effective, could be regarded only as a strategical ruse on our part. It was a most depressing thought that we had no available means left for the exploitation of the strategical opportunities which might from time to time occur in the course of these operations. A suicide attack is an attack on a military or civilian target, in which an attacker intends to kill others, knowing that he or she will either certainly or most likely die in the process (see suicide). ...

Daily bomber raids from the Marianas hit the mainland as part of Operation Scavenger. Iwo Jima served as an early warning station which radioed reports of incoming bombers back to mainland Japan, allowing Japanese air defenses to be prepared for the arrival of American bombers.^[1] During World War II, Operation Scavenger was the aerial bombardment of Iwo Jima and the Bonin Islands in 1944 as part of the preparation for the invasion and other fighting around the Marianas Islands. ...

At the end of the Battle of Leyte in the Philippines the Allies were left with a two month lull in their operations prior to the planned invasion of Okinawa. Iwo Jima was strategically important: it provided an airbase for Japanese aircraft to intercept long-range B-29 bombers and provided a haven for Japanese naval units in dire need of any support available. The capture of Iwo Jima would eliminate these problems and provide a staging area for the eventual invasion of the Japanese mainland. The distance of B-29 raids would be nearly halved, and a base would be available for P-51 Mustang fighters to escort and protect the devastating bomber raids. Intelligence sources were confident that Iwo Jima would fall in five days, unaware that the Japanese were preparing a quintessentially defensive posture, radically departing from any of their previous tactics. So successful was the Japanese preparation that it was discovered after the battle that the hundreds of tons of Allied bombs and thousands of rounds of heavy naval gunfire left the Japanese defenders almost unscathed and ready to wreak losses on the U.S. Marines unparalleled up to that point in the Pacific War. In the light of the optimistic intelligence reports, the decision was made to invade Iwo Jima: the landing was designated Operation Detachment.^[1] Belligerents United States, Philippines Empire of Japan Commanders Douglas MacArthur Walter Krueger Franklin C. Sibert John R. Hodge Ruperto C. Kangleon Tomoyuki Yamashita Sosaku Suzuki Shiro Makino Strength 200,000 U.S. troops 3,189 Filipino guerrillas 55,000 Japanese troops Casualties and losses 3,500 killed 12,000 wounded... This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33... The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and other military organizations afterwards. ... The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II. The P-51 became one of the conflicts most successful and recognizable aircraft. ...

Planning and preparation

American landing plan

Main article: Planning for the Battle of Iwo Jima

By June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. While drawing inspiration from the defense in the Battle of Peleliu, he designed a defense that broke with Japanese military doctrine. Rather than contest a beach landing, Kuribayashi ordered the creation of strong, mutual supporting positions in depth utilized the advantages of being in a defensive position to use static and heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns, while Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi's tanks were used as camouflaged artillery positions. Kuribayashi organized the southern area of the island around Mt. Suribachi as a semi-independent sector, while the main defensive line was built in the north. The nearly constant American naval and air bombardment further prompted the creation of an extensive system of tunnels, bunkers, and pillboxes that greatly favored the defender. Kuribayashi expected defeat so his battle plan was to inflict heavy enemy casualties so that the United States would reconsider an invasion of the Japanese main islands. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 425 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 1128 pixel, file size: 201 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Iwo Jima - Landing Plan Source: ibiblio. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 425 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (800 × 1128 pixel, file size: 201 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Iwo Jima - Landing Plan Source: ibiblio. ... U.S. Sixth Fleet during the invasion In anticipation of the Battle of Iwo Jima, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi prepared a defense that broke with Japanese military doctrine. ... Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Japanese: 栗林忠道 Kuribayashi Tadamichi) (July 7, 1891 in Nagano city, Japan – March 23, 1945 on Iwo Jima, Japan) was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army, best known as overall commander of the Japanese garrison during most of the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Assigned by... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders William H. Rupertus, USMC Kunio Nakagawa Strength 2 divisions (1st Marine Division and the USA 81st Infantry Division) Approximately 11,000 men Casualties 2,336 killed and 8,450 wounded 10,695 killed, 202 captured The Battle of Peleliu, like the bloody World... The M2 machine gun with a tripod weighs 58 kg (128 lb). ... Baron Takeichi Nishi (西竹一 )) (July 12, 1902 - March 22, 1945 (?)) was a Japanese Imperial Army officer, equestrian show jumper, and Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. ...

The American plan of attack was relatively straightforward. The 4th and 5th Marine Divisions were to land on the south eastern beach and initially focus on securing Mt. Suribachi, the southern airfields and the west coast. Once this was completed, the line, reinforced by the 3rd Marine Division, would swing and advance to the northeast. The 4th Marine Division is a reserve infantry division of the United States Marine Corps. ... The 5th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps was created during World War II for the Battle of Iwo Jima and the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. ... The 3rd Marine Division is a division-sized unit in the United States Marine Corps based out of Okinawa, Japan. ...

Invasion and battle

The USS New York firing her 14" main guns on the island

Amphibious tractors approaching Iwo Jima

At 02:00 on February 19, battleship guns signaled the commencement of the invasion of Iwo Jima. American naval craft used nearly everything available in their arsenal to shell the island, from the main guns to the antiaircraft flak cannons to the newly developed rockets. Soon thereafter, 100 bombers attacked the island, followed by another volley from the naval guns.^[5] The fifth USS New York (BB-34) was a United States Navy battleship, the lead ship of her class of two (USS Texas (BB-35) being the other). ... The Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) was an amphibious vehicle used by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army during World War II. It was widely known as amphtrack, amtrak, amtrac etc. ... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Although the bombing was consistent, it did not deter the Japanese defenses, since most of the Japanese positions were well-fortified and protected from shelling. Many were sheltered by Mount Suribachi itself, as the Japanese had spent the months prior to the invasion creating an elaborate system of tunnels and firing positions that ran throughout the entire mountain. For instance, some of the Japanese heavy artillery were concealed by reinforced steel doors in massive chambers built inside of Suribachi, which were nearly impenetrable to projectiles from the American bombardment.^[5]

At 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, the first of an eventual 30,000 Marines of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions, under V Amphibious Corps, landed on the beach. ^[5] The V Amphibious Corps (VAC), of the United States Marine Corps, was comprised of the Third, Fourth and Fifth Marine Divisions during World War II. They were notably involved in the iconic Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, under the command of Major General Harry Schmidt, USMC. This article incorporates...

The initial wave was not hit by Japanese fire for quite some time; it was the plan of Japanese General Kuribayashi to hold fire until the beach was full of Marines and equipment.^[5]

Many of the Marines who landed on the beach in the first wave speculated that perhaps the naval artillery and air bombardment of the island had killed all of the Japanese troops that were expected to be defending the island.^[1] In the deathly silence, they became somewhat unnerved as Marine patrols began to advance inland in search of the Japanese positions.^[1]

Only after the front wave of Marines reached a line of Japanese bunkers defended by machine gunners did they take hostile fire. Many cleverly concealed Japanese bunkers and firing positions suddenly lit up and the first wave of Marines took devastating blows as rows upon rows of men were mowed down by the machine guns.^[5]

Sketch of HILL 362A, made by the 31st U.S. Naval Construction Battalion. Dotted lines show the underground Japanese tunnel system.

Aside from the Japanese defenses situated on the actual "beaches", the Marines faced heavy fire from Mount Suribachi at the south of the island. It was extremely difficult for the Marines to advance because of the inhospitable terrain, which consisted of volcanic ash. This ash allowed for neither a secure footing nor the construction of defensive foxholes to protect the Marines from hostile fire. However, the ash did help to absorb a portion of the fragments that were expelled by the Japanese artillery.^[5] Iwo Jima (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 miles (1046 km) south of Tokyo (24. ...

The Japanese heavy artillery in Suribachi would open their reinforced steel doors to fire and then immediately close their doors following to prevent counterfire from the American forces. This made it extremely difficult for American units to destroy a piece of Japanese artillery. ^[5]

To make matters worse for the American troops, the bunkers were connected to the elaborate tunnel system so that bunkers that were cleared with flamethrowers and grenades became operational shortly after Marines had declared them "cleared." These reactivated bunkers caused many additional casualties among them as Marines walking past these bunkers did not expect them to suddenly become hostile again.^[5]

The Marines advanced slowly while taking heavy machine gun and artillery fire. Due to the arrival of armored units, heavy naval artillery and air units maintaining a heavy base of fire on Suribachi, the Marines were eventually able to advance past the beaches. ^[5]

760 Marines made a near-suicidal charge across to the other side of Iwo Jima that day. They took heavy casualties, but they made a considerable advance. By the evening the mountain had been cut off from the rest of the island, and 30,000 Marines had landed. About 40,000 more would follow.^[5]

In the days after the landings, the Marines expected a banzai attack during the night. This had been the standard Japanese final defense strategy in previous battles against enemy ground forces in the Pacific (such as the Battle of Saipan), during which the majority of the Japanese attackers would be killed and the Japanese strength greatly reduced. However Kuribayashi had strictly forbidden banzai charges because he considered them futile.^[5] A Banzai charge (or Banzai attack) was a name applied during World War Two to human wave-style attacks mounted by infantry forces of the Imperial Japanese Army. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Richmond K. Turner Holland Smith Yoshitsugu Saito â€  Chuichi Nagumo â€  Strength 71,000 31,000 Casualties 3,426 killed; 13,160 wounded 24,000 KIA and 5,000 suicides; 921 prisoners The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World...

The fighting was extremely fierce. The Americans' advance was stalled by numerous defensive positions augmented by artillery, where they were ambushed by Japanese troops that occasionally sprung out of tunnels. The Marines learned that firearms were relatively ineffective against the Japanese defenders and effectively used flamethrowers and grenades to flush out Japanese troops in the tunnels. One of the technological innovations of the battle, the eight Sherman M4A3R3 medium tanks equipped with the Navy Mark I flame thrower ("Ronson" or Zippo Tanks), proved very effective at clearing Japanese positions. The Shermans were difficult to disable, such that defenders were often compelled to assault them in the open, where they would fall victim to the superior numbers of Marines.^[5] Riverboat of the U.S. Brownwater Navy shooting ignited napalm from its mounted flamethrower during the Vietnam war. ... Grenade may refer to: The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ... The M4 Sherman was the primary tank produced by the United States for its own use and the use of its Allies during World War II. Production of the M4 Medium tank exceeded 50,000 units, and its chassis served as the basis for thousands of other armored vehicles such... Marine M67 in Vietnam, 1968. ...

A U.S. Marine firing his Browning M1917 machine gun at the Japanese

Close air support was initially provided by fighters from escort carriers off the coast. This shifted over to the 15th Fighter Group, flying P-51 Mustangs, after they arrived on the island on March 6. Similarly, illumination rounds (flares) which were used to light up the battlefield at night were initially provided by ships, shifting over later to landing force artillery. Navajo code talkers were part of the American ground communications, along with walkie-talkies and SCR-610 backpack radio sets. ^[5] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Browning Model 1917A1 water cooled heavy machine gun Browning Model 1917 Heavy Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun used by the United States armed forces in World War I and World War II. The Browning is a water cooled heavy machine gun. ... An Apache attack helicopter provides close air support to United States Army soldiers patrolling the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, Iraq during the Iraq War. ... The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, was a small aircraft carrier developed by the U.S. Navy in the early part of World War II to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic. ... Emblem The 15th Airlift Wing (15 AW) is a wing of the United States Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. ... The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II. The P-51 became one of the conflicts most successful and recognizable aircraft. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Codetalkers redirects here. ... Recreational, toy and amateur radio walkie talkies A walkie-talkie is a portable, bi-directional radio transceiver, first developed for military use. ...

After running out of most water, food, and supplies, the Japanese troops became desperate towards the end of the battle. Kuribayashi, who had argued against banzai attacks at the start of the battle, realized that Japanese defeat was imminent. Marines began to face increasing numbers of nighttime attacks; these were only repelled by a combination of machine gun defensive positions and artillery support. At times, the marines engaged in hand-to-hand fighting to repel the Japanese attacks.^[5]

With the landing area secure, more troops and heavy equipment came ashore and the invasion proceeded north to capture the airfields and the remainder of the island. Most Japanese soldiers fought to the death.^[5]

Raising the flag on Iwo Jima

Main article: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

U.S. 37 mm gun fires against Japanese cave positions

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi.^[4] Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 640 × 549 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 549 pixel, file size: 100 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: 37mm Gun fires against cave positions in north face of volcano in support of RCT 28. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 640 × 549 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 549 pixel, file size: 100 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: 37mm Gun fires against cave positions in north face of volcano in support of RCT 28. ... is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... With the U.S. fleet off Iwo Jima in the background, Joe Rosenthal strikes a pose on the summit of Mount Suribachi Joe Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... USN redirects here. ... Hospital Corpsmen (HMs) are members of the United States Navy Hospital Corps. ... Iwo Jima (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 miles (1046 km) south of Tokyo (24. ...

The photograph was extremely popular, being reprinted in thousands of publications. Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and ultimately came to be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time.^[4]

Of the six men depicted in the picture, three (Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, and Michael Strank) did not survive the battle; the three survivors (John Bradley, Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes) became celebrities upon the publication of the photo. The picture was later used by Felix de Weldon to sculpt the USMC War Memorial, located adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, D.C.^[4] Franklin Runyon Sousley (September 19, 1925 – March 21, 1945) was one of the six men in the famous photograph of troops Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. ... Harlon Henry Block (November 6, 1924 – March 1, 1945) was a US Marine during World War II. He was one of six men photographed in raising the US flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima. ... Sergeant Michael Strank (in Rusyn: Mykhal Strenk; in Slovak: Michal Strenk) (November 10, 1919 – March 1, 1945) was a U.S. Marine during World War II. He was photographed in Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima. ... John Bradley is the name of: John Bradley (Iwo Jima), U.S. Navy corpsman and WWII hero John Bradley (anthropologist), also Australian linguist John Bradley (Ark), American Noahs-flood researcher John Bradley (physician), Canadian physician This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the... Rene Arthur Gagnon (March 7, 1925 – October 12, 1979) was one of the U.S. Marines immortalized by Joe Rosenthals famous World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. ... Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Akimel O’odham, or Pima Indian, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. ... Felix de Weldon was a sculptor based in the United States. ... The Marine Corps War Memorial is a military memorial statue located near the Arlington National Cemetery in Rosslyn, Virginia, United States. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ...

First trip to the summit

By morning of the fourth day of the battle (February 23), Mount Suribachi was effectively cut off from the rest of the island—above ground. By then, the Marines knew that the Japanese defenders had an extensive network of below-ground defenses, and knew that in spite of its isolation above ground, the volcano was still connected to Japanese defenders via the tunnel network. They expected a fierce fight for the summit. is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Two four-man patrols were sent up the volcano to reconnoiter routes on the mountain's north face. Popular legend (embroidered by the press in the aftermath of the release of the famous photo "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima") has it that the Marines fought all the way up to the summit. But although the American riflemen were tensed for an ambush, none materialized. The Marines did encounter small groups of Japanese defenders on Suribachi, but the majority of the Japanese troops stayed underground in the tunnel network. The Japanese that did attack, attacked in small numbers and they were generally all killed. The patrols made it to the summit and scrambled down again. They reported the lack of enemy contact to Colonel Chandler Johnson. ^[5] In military tactics, to patrol, or conduct a patrol, is to conduct reconnaissance of a designated area or route. ... Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press. ...

First flag

1st Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier with Platoon Sergeant Ernest I. Thomas, Jr. (both seated) on Mount Suribachi at the first flag raising. Louis R. Lowery

Johnson then called for a platoon of Marines to climb Suribachi. With them, he sent a small American flag to fly if they reached the summit. Again, Marines began the ascent, expecting to be ambushed at any moment. And again, the Marines reached the top of Suribachi without incident. Using a length of pipe they found among the wreckage atop the mountain, the Marines hoisted the U.S. flag over Mount Suribachi, the first foreign flag to fly on Japanese soil.^[6] A photograph of this "first flag raising" was taken by photographer Louis R. Lowery. Image File history File links First_Iwo_Jima_Flag_Raising. ... Image File history File links First_Iwo_Jima_Flag_Raising. ... Colonel Harold George Schrier (October 17, 1916 - June 3, 1971) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, recipient of the Navy Cross, the nations second highest award for valor, and a combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War. ... Platoon Sergeant Ernest Ivy Boots Thomas, Jr. ... Iwo Jima (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (also known as the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 miles (1046 km) south of Tokyo (24. ... 1st Lt. ... Platoon of the German Bundeswehr. ... 1st Lt. ...

As the flag went up, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal had just landed on the beach at the foot of Mt. Suribachi. He decided that he wanted the flag as a souvenir. Popular legend has it that Colonel Johnson wanted the flag for himself; in fact, he believed that the flag belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, who had captured that section of the island. He sent Sergeant Mike Strank (who was photographed in the Flag Raising picture) to take a second (larger) flag up the volcano to replace the first. As the first flag came down, the second went up. Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy. ... James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was a Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. ... The 2nd Battalion 28th Marines (2/28) is an inactive infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. ...

Second flag

The second flag shortly after its raising.

It was after the second flag went up that Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" of the replacement flag being planted on the mountain's summit. Image File history File linksMetadata IwoJimaWikipedia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata IwoJimaWikipedia. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... With the U.S. fleet off Iwo Jima in the background, Joe Rosenthal strikes a pose on the summit of Mount Suribachi Joe Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on... Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press. ...

After Mount Suribachi

Despite the loss of Mt. Suribachi on the south end of the island, the Japanese still held strong positions on the north end. Remaining under the command of Kuribayashi was the equivalent of eight infantry battalions, a tank regiment, two artillery, and three heavy mortar battalions, plus the 5,000 gunners and naval infantry. The struggle to take the Motoyama Plateau, including "Turkey Knob," took nearly three weeks. The Japanese actually had the Marines outgunned in this area, and the extensive network of tunnels allowed the Japanese to reappear in areas thought to have been cleared and therefore "safe".

Several M4A3 Sherman tanks equipped with flamethrowers were used to clear Japanese bunkers

Image File history File links Ronson_flame_tank_Iwo_Jima. ... Image File history File links Ronson_flame_tank_Iwo_Jima. ... WWII foreign variants and use: Lend-Lease Sherman tanks Post-WWII foreign variants and use: Postwar Sherman tanks The Medium Tank M4 was the main tank designed and built by the United States for allied forces in World War II, totaling roughly 50,000 tanks plus thousands more derivative vehicles...

Counterattack

On the night of March 25, a 300-man Japanese force launched a final counterattack in the vicinity of Airfield Number 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the Japanese force until morning but suffered heavy casualties—more than 100 were killed and another 200 Americans were wounded. The island was officially declared "secured" the following day. is the 84th day of the year (85th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The official motto of the Seabees, the United States Navy Construction Battalions, is Construimus, Batuimus—We Build, We Fight. ...

Although still a matter of speculation because of conflicting accounts from surviving Japanese veterans, it has been said that Kuribayashi led this final assault,^[1] which unlike the loud banzai charge of previous battles, was characterised as a silent attack. If ever proven true, Kuribayashi would have been the highest ranking Japanese officer to have personally led an attack during World War II. Additionally, this would also be Kuribayashi's final act of departure from the normal practice of the commanding Japanese officers committing seppuku behind the lines while the rest perished in the banzai charge, as happened during the battles of Saipan and Okinawa. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Hara-kiri redirects here. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Richmond K. Turner Holland Smith Yoshitsugu Saito â€  Chuichi Nagumo â€  Strength 71,000 31,000 Casualties 3,426 killed; 13,160 wounded 24,000 KIA and 5,000 suicides; 921 prisoners The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33...

The Medal of Honor

Main articles: Medal of Honor and List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Iwo Jima

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself "…conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States…" Because of its nature, the medal is commonly awarded posthumously. Since its creation during the American Civil War it has only been presented 3464 times. For other uses, see Medal of Honor (disambiguation). ... Awards and decorations of the United States military are military decorations which recognize a service members service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces. ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ...

During this 1-month-long battle, 27 U.S. military personnel were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions, 14 of them posthumously. Of the 27 medals awarded, 23 were presented to Marines and four were presented to United States Navy sailors; this is a full 30% of the 82 Medals of Honor awarded to Marines in the entirety of World War II.^[7] The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... USN redirects here. ...

Aftermath

An American Sherman Tank disabled by a Japanese mine.

U.S. Marines with a captured Japanese flag on Iwo Jima

Of the over 21,000 Japanese soldiers entrenched on the island, 20,703 died either from fighting or by ritual suicide. Only 216 were captured during the battle. The Allied forces suffered 27,909 casualties, with 6,825 killed in action. The number of American casualties was greater than the total Allied casualties on D-Day (estimated at 10,000, compared with 125,847 American casualties during the entire Battle of Normandy).^[8] Iwo Jima was also the only U.S. Marine battle where the American casualties exceeded the Japanese.^[9] Because all the civilians had been evacuated, there were no civilian casualties at Iwo Jima, unlike at Saipan and Okinawa.^[10] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 640 × 480 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 480 pixel, file size: 110 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Marines (Left to Right), PFC. J. L. Hudson, Jr. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 640 × 480 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 480 pixel, file size: 110 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Marines (Left to Right), PFC. J. L. Hudson, Jr. ... Flag ratio: 2:3 The national flag of Japan, (vexillological symbol: ) known as the Nisshohki (日章旗) or Hinomaru (日の丸 sun disc) in Japanese, is a base white flag with a large red disc (representing the sun) in the centre. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... This article is about the assault phase of Operation Overlord. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Richmond K. Turner Holland Smith Yoshitsugu Saito â€  Chuichi Nagumo â€  Strength 71,000 31,000 Casualties 3,426 killed; 13,160 wounded 24,000 KIA and 5,000 suicides; 921 prisoners The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World... Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33...

U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi

After Iwo Jima was declared secured, the Marines estimated there were no more than three hundred Japanese left alive in the island's warren of caves and tunnels. In fact, there were close to three thousand. The Japanese bushido code of honor, coupled with effective propaganda which portrayed American G.I.'s as ruthless animals, prevented surrender for many Japanese soldiers. Those who could not bring themselves to commit suicide hid in the caves during the day and came out at night to prowl for provisions. Some did eventually surrender and were surprised that the Americans often received them with compassion, offering water, cigarettes, or coffee.^[11] The last of these stragglers, two of Lieutenant Toshihiko Ohno's men, Yamakage Kufuku and Matsudo Linsoki, lasted six years without being caught and finally surrendering in 1951^[12] (another source gives the date of surrender as January 6, 1949).^[13] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 444 × 581 pixelsFull resolution (444 × 581 pixel, file size: 92 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: From the crest of Mount Suribachi, the Stars and Stripes wave in triumph over Iwo Jima after U.S. Marines had fought their way inch... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 444 × 581 pixelsFull resolution (444 × 581 pixel, file size: 92 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: From the crest of Mount Suribachi, the Stars and Stripes wave in triumph over Iwo Jima after U.S. Marines had fought their way inch... Japanese samurai in armor, 1860s. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Strategic importance

Given the number of casualties, the necessity and long-term significance of the island's capture to the outcome of the war was a contentious issue from the beginning, and remains disputed. As early as April 1945 retired Chief of Naval Operations, William V. Pratt, asked in Newsweek magazine about the The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...

expenditure of manpower to acquire a small, God-forsaken island, useless to the Army as a staging base and useless to the Navy as a fleet base ... [one] wonders if the same sort of airbase could not have been reached by acquiring other strategic localities at lower cost.^[14]

Dinah Might surrounded by Marines and Seabees after emergency landing on Iwo Jima

The Japanese on Iwo Jima had radar and were thus able to notify their comrades at home of incoming B-29 Superfortresses flying from the Mariana Islands. Fighter aircraft based on Iwo Jima sometimes attacked these planes, which were especially vulnerable on their way to Japan because they were heavily laden with bombs and fuel. Although the island was used as an air-sea rescue base after its seizure, the traditional justification for Iwo Jima's strategic importance to the United States' war effort has been that it provided a landing and refueling site for American bombers on missions to and from Japan. As early as March 4, 1945, while fighting was still taking place, the B-29 bomber Dinah Might of the USAAF 9th Bomb Group reported it was low on fuel near the island and requested an emergency landing. Despite enemy fire, the airplane landed on the Allied-controlled section of the island, without incident, and was serviced, refueled and departed. In all, 2,251 B-29 Superfortress landings on Iwo Jima were recorded during the war. Image File history File links Dinah_Might_at_Iwo_Jima. ... Image File history File links Dinah_Might_at_Iwo_Jima. ... For other uses, see Radar (disambiguation). ... The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and other military organizations afterwards. ... The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Ladrones Islands, from Spanish Islas de los Ladrones meaning Islands of Thieves) are an archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... USAAF recruitment poster. ... The 9th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War and as the 9th Operations Group, a current unit of the United States Air Force. ...

None of these calculations played much if any of a role in the original decision to invade, however, which was almost entirely based on the Army Air Force's belief that the island would be a useful base for long-range fighter escorts. These escorts proved both impractical and unnecessary, and only ten such missions were ever flown from Iwo Jima.^[15] Other justifications are also debatable. Although some Japanese interceptors were based on Iwo Jima, their impact on the American bombing effort was marginal; in the three months before the invasion only 11 B-29s were lost as a result.^[16] The Superfortresses found it unnecessary to make any major detour around the island.^[17] The capture of Iwo Jima did not affect the Japanese early-warning radar system, which continued to receive information on incoming B-29s from the island of Rota (which was never attacked).^[18] Rota Rota, also known as the peaceful island, is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). ...

The memorial on top of Suribachi

Some downed B-29 crewmen were saved by air-sea rescue aircraft and vessels operating from the island, but Iwo Jima was only one of many islands that could have been used for such a purpose. As for the importance of the island as a landing and refueling site for bombers, Marine Captain Robert Burrell, then a history instructor at the United States Naval Academy, suggested that only a small proportion of the 2,251 landings were for genuine emergencies, the great majority possibly being for minor technical checkups, training, or refueling. According to Burrell, Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1099, 165 KB)16 January 2003 -- F-14 Tomcats assigned to the Black Knights of Fighter Squadron One Five Four (VF-154) fly by the memorial on Mt. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x1099, 165 KB)16 January 2003 -- F-14 Tomcats assigned to the Black Knights of Fighter Squadron One Five Four (VF-154) fly by the memorial on Mt. ... The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and is in Annapolis, Maryland . ...

this justification became prominent only after the Marines seized the island and incurred high casualties. The tragic cost of Operation Detachment pressured veterans, journalists, and commanders to fixate on the most visible rationalization for the battle. The sight of the enormous, costly, and technologically sophisticated B-29 landing on the island's small airfield most clearly linked Iwo Jima to the strategic bombing campaign. As the myths about the flag raisings on Mount Suribachi reached legendary proportions, so did the emergency landing theory in order to justify the need to raise that flag.^[19]

Nevertheless, in promoting his expanded exploration of the issue, The Ghosts of Iwo Jima, Burrell's publishers also point out that the very losses formed the basis for a "reverence for the Marine Corps" that not only embodied the "American national spirit" but ensured the "institutional survival" of the Marine Corps.^[20]

Legacy

U.S. Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery

The United States Navy has commissioned several ships of the name USS Iwo Jima. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 1600 pixel, file size: 102 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Silhouette of the USMC Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) outside of Washington D.C. I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 1600 pixel, file size: 102 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Silhouette of the USMC Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial) outside of Washington D.C. I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... USN redirects here. ... Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Iwo Jima, in memory of the Battle of Iwo Jima, as well as another ship never completed. ...

The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery memorializes all U.S. Marines with a statue of the famous picture. The Marine Corps War Memorial is a military memorial statue located near the Arlington National Cemetery in Rosslyn, Virginia, United States. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

2005 Reunion of Honor at the Japanese part of the memorial

On February 19, 1985, the 40th anniversary of the landings, an event called the "Reunion of Honor" was held. The veterans of both sides who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima attended the event. The place was the invasion beach where U.S. forces landed. A memorial on which writings were engraved by both sides was built at the center of the meeting place. Japanese attended at the mountain side, where the Japanese writing was carved, and Americans attended at the shore side, where the English writing was carved. After unveiling and offering of flowers were made, the representatives of both countries approached the memorial; upon meeting, they shook hands. The old soldiers embraced each other and cried. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2288 × 1712 pixel, file size: 719 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Photo was taken by U.S. Government employees of the U.S. National Park Service, and thus bears no copyright protection and is freely open to... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2288 × 1712 pixel, file size: 719 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Photo was taken by U.S. Government employees of the U.S. National Park Service, and thus bears no copyright protection and is freely open to... [[Media:Italic text]]{| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii commemorates American dead from wars in the Pacific. ...

The combined Japan-U.S. memorial service of the 50th anniversary of the battle was held in front of the monument in February 1995. Further memorial services have been held on later anniversaries. Underwater funeral in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea A funeral is a ceremony marking a persons death. ...

Movies and documentaries

• To the Shores of Iwo Jima, a 1945 American documentary produced by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and the Coast Guard.
• Glamour Gal, a 1945 film about Marine artillery
• Sands of Iwo Jima, a 1949 American film starring John Wayne.
• The Outsider, a 1961 film starring Tony Curtis as the conflicted flag raiser Ira Hayes.^[21]
• Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima are two films directed by Clint Eastwood. Flags of Our Fathers is filmed from the American perspective and is based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers (Flags of Our Fathers). Letters from Iwo Jima (originally titled Red Sun, Black Sand) is filmed from the Japanese perspective.

To The Shores of Iwo Jima was a 1945 short war film produced by the US Navy and Marine Corp. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... USN redirects here. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... USCG HH-65 Dolphin USCG HH-60J JayHawk USCG HC-130H departs Mojave USCG HC-130H on International Ice Patrol duties The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is at all times a branch of the U.S. military, a maritime law enforcement agency, and a federal regulatory body. ... Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war film which follows a group of Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. It stars John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara and Forrest Tucker. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... For other persons named John Wayne, see John Wayne (disambiguation). ... For other persons named Tony Curtis, see Tony Curtis (disambiguation). ... Ira Hamilton Hayes (January 12, 1923 – January 24, 1955) was a Akimel O’odham, or Pima Indian, and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community. ... Marines raising the US flag on Iwo Jima in a publicity still from Flags of Our Fathers. ... Letters from Iwo Jima ) is a 2006 Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning critically-acclaimed[1][2][3] war film whose cast includes Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. ... For other uses, see Clint Eastwood (disambiguation). ... James Bradley (late 20th century) is an American author. ... Flags of Our Fathers (2000) is the New York Times-bestselling book by James Bradley with Ron Powers about the five United States Marines and one United States Navy Corpsman (Medic) who would eventually be made famous by Joe Rosenthals lauded photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima...

See also

United States Marine Corps Portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Battle of Iwo Jima

• Doss, Texas, site of 60th anniversary (2005) re-enactment of the Battle Iwo Jima
• USMC War Memorial
• List of Naval and land based operations in Pacific Theater during WW2
• Japanese Military Propaganda - Iwo Jima Garrison Song
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Battle of Iwo Jima

Image File history File links USMC_logo. ... A house in Doss. ... The Marine Corps War Memorial is a military memorial statue located near the Arlington National Cemetery in Rosslyn, Virginia, United States. ... List of Naval and land based operations in Pacific Theater during WW2 including China, Japan, Manchuria, Australia, and Pacific Rim. ... Japanese Military Propaganda during World War II was designed to maintain combat morale, prevent defection and perhaps induce the enemy to surrender or to change sides. ...

References

Notes

RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison (1887-1976), USN historian Samuel Eliot Morison, RAdm, USNR (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian, notable for producing scholarly works that were both authoritative and highly readable, an ability recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes. ... The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II is a 15-volume account of the United States Navy in World War II, written by eminent historian Samuel Eliot Morison and published by Little, Brown and Company between 1947 and 1962. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea,[1] using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces and is one of seven uniformed services. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Admiral William Pratt, USN William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 - 25 November 1957) was an admiral in the United States Navy. ... The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Society for Military History is an organization of scholars who research, write and teach military history of all time periods and places. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Era (or Anno Domini), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Books

• Allen, Robert E. (2004). The First Battalion of the 28th Marines on Iwo Jima: A Day-by-Day History from Personal Accounts and Official Reports, with Complete Muster Rolls. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786405600. OCLC 41157682. 
• Bradley, James; Ron Powers [2000] (2001). Flags of Our Fathers. New York: Bantam. ISBN 055338029X. OCLC 48215748. 
• Bradley, James (2003). Flyboys: A True Story of Courage. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316105848. OCLC 52071383. 
• Buell, Hal (2006). Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue: Iwo Jima and the Photograph that Captured America. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0425209806. OCLC 65978720. 
• Burrell, Robert S. (2006). The Ghosts of Iwo Jima. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1585444839. OCLC 61499920. 
• Hammel, Eric (2006). Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific. St. Paul, Minn.: Zenith Press. ISBN 0760325200. OCLC 69104268. 
• Hearn, Chester (2003). Sorties into Hell: The Hidden War on Chichi Jima. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0275980812. OCLC 51968985. 
• Kakehashi, Kumiko (2007). So Sad to Fall in Battle: An Account of War Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima. Presidio Press. ISBN 0891419179. 
• Kirby, Lawrence F. (1995). Stories From The Pacific: The Island War 1942-1945. Manchester, Mass.: The Masconomo Press. ISBN 0964510316. OCLC 32971472. 
• Leckie, Robert [1967] (2005). The Battle for Iwo Jima. New York: ibooks, Inc. ISBN 1590192419. OCLC 56015751. 
• Lucas, Jack; D. K. Drum (2006). Indestructible: The Unforgettable Story of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306814706. OCLC 68175700. 
• Morison, Samuel Eliot [1970] (2002). Victory in the Pacific, 1945, vol. 14 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252070658. OCLC 49784806. 
• Newcomb, Richard F.; Harry Schmidt [1965] (2002). Iwo Jima. New York: Owl Books. ISBN 0805070710. OCLC 48951047. 
• Overton, Richard E. (2006). God Isn't Here: A Young American's Entry into World War II and His Participation in the Battle for Iwo Jima. Clearfield, Utah: American Legacy Media. ISBN 0976154706. OCLC 60694955. 
• Ross, Bill D. [1985] (1986). Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor. New York: Vintage. ISBN 0394742885. OCLC 13582622. 
• Shively, John C. (2006). The Last Lieutenant: A Foxhole View of the Epic Battle for Iwo Jima. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253347289. OCLC 61761637. 
• Toyn, Gary W. (2006). The Quiet Hero: The Untold Medal of Honor Story of George E. Wahlen at the Battle for Iwo Jima. Clearfield, Utah: American Legacy Media. ISBN 0976154714. OCLC 72161745. 
• Veronee, Marvin D. (2001). A portfolio of photographs : selected to illustrate the setting for my experience in the battle of Iwo Jima, World War II, Pacific theater. Quantico: Visionary Pub.. ISBN 0971592829. OCLC 52001277. 
• Wells, John K. (1995). Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die: Iwo Jima. Abilene, Tex.: Quality Publications. ISBN 096446750X. OCLC 32153036. 
• Wheeler, Richard [1980] (1994). Iwo. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557509220. OCLC 31693687. 
• Wheeler, Richard [1965] (1994). The Bloody Battle for Suribachi. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557509239. OCLC 31970164. 
• Wright, Derrick [1999] (2007). The Battle of Iwo Jima 1945. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0750945443. OCLC 67871973. 

The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... James Bradley (late 20th century) is an American author. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... James Bradley (late 20th century) is an American author. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Eric M. Hammel is a popular military historian, with a focus on the military campaigns of the United States Marine Corps, and military action in World War II. Bibliography Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal & The Battle of the Eastern Solomons August 1942, 2004 ISBN 0760320527 Chosin : Heroic Ordeal of... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison (1887-1976), USN historian Samuel Eliot Morison, RAdm, USNR (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian, notable for producing scholarly works that were both authoritative and highly readable, an ability recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes. ... The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II is a 15-volume account of the United States Navy in World War II, written by eminent historian Samuel Eliot Morison and published by Little, Brown and Company between 1947 and 1962. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Richard Newcomb, a graduate of Rutgers College, served as a wartime naval correspondent during World War II and received a Purple Heart. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ...

Further reading

• Alexander, Col. Joseph H., USMC (Ret). (1994). Closing In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps. OCLC 32194668. 
• Bartley, LtCol. Whitman S., USMC (1954). Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic, Marines in World War II Historical Monograph. Washington, D.C.: Historical, Division of Public Information, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps. OCLC 28592680. 

The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ...

External links

• Garand, George W. and Truman R. Strobridge. History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II Volume IV: Western Pacific Operations
• Colour Combat Footage of the Battle of Iwo Jima at sonicbomb.com
• IwoJima.com: A site dedicated to Iwo Jima and the famous battle
• WW2DB.com: Battle of Iwo Jima with 220 photographs
• 3-D Stereo Photograph of Iwo Jima Flag-raising - From The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com
• Mt. Suribachi HDR Image - A tone-mapped High Dynamic Range Image taken of Iwo Jima in February 2007
• A lesson plan with primary sources Iwo Jima: Forgotten Valor from the Portal to Texas History
• Animated History of The Battle for Iwo Jima
• Scholarly article/overview of the Battle of Iwo Jima
• Iwo Jima Combat Footage in Color - From WW2incolor.com
• Jeremy Lemer (February 15, 2005). Remembering the Battle of Iwo Jima. Columbia News Service. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
• Operations map of Iwo Jima, prepared 23 Oct 1944
• Whitman, Bartley S., Lt. Col. USMC. Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic, Marines in World War II Historical Monograph, Historical Section, Division of Public Information Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1954. Published online by ibiblio.org, a collaboration of the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
• To the Shores of Iwo Jima - From Google Video

Coordinates: 24°47′N, 141°19′E is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

v • d • e World War II
Western Europe · Eastern Europe · Africa · Mediterranean · Asia and the Pacific · Atlantic Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants  United Kingdom  United States Poland  France Canada Free France  Netherlands  Belgium Germany Italy Commanders Winston Churchill, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Harold Alexander, Bertram Ramsay, Bernard Montgomery, Lord Gort, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Franklin Roosevelt,, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Jacob Devers, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski, Stanis... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... 219. ... The Mediterranean region. ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... Combatants  United Kingdom  Canada  United States(1941–5)  Norway Poland Free French Navy  Germany  Italy (1940–3) Commanders  Sir Percy Noble  Sir Max K. Horton  Percy W. Nelles  Leonard W. Murray  Ernest J. King  Erich Raeder  Karl Dönitz Casualties 30,248 merchant sailors 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships...
Major participants Map of the World with the Participants in World War II. The western allies are shown in blue, the eastern allies in red, the Axis Powers in black, and neutral countries in grey. ...			Timeline For events preceding September 1, 1939, see the timeline of events preceding World War II. This is a timeline of events that stretched over the period of World War II. // 1: The Invasion of Poland begins at 4:30 a. ...		Aspects
To 1945 unless otherwise indicated. Principal co-belligerents in italics.			Prelude • Causes • in Asia • in Europe This article is concerned with the events that preceded World War II in Asia. ... In Europe, the origins of the war are closely tied to the rise of fascism, especially in Nazi Germany. ... 1939 • Invasion of Poland • Phoney War • Winter War • Battle of the Atlantic5 For the Soviet Unions military action against Poland under the same alliance, see Soviet invasion of Poland (1939). ... British Ministry of Home Security Poster of a type that was common during the Phony War The Phony War or the Bore War, also called Sitzkrieg, was a phase in early World War II from September 1939 until May 1940 marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the... Combatants Finland Soviet Union Commanders Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Strength 250,000 men 30 tanks 130 aircraft[1][2] 1,000,000 men 6,541 tanks [3] 3,800 aircraft[4][5] Casualties 26,662 dead 39,886 wounded 1,000 captured[6] 126,875 dead... Combatants Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy United States Navy (1941–5) Kriegsmarine Regia Marina (1940–3) Commanders Sir Percy Noble Sir Max K. Horton Percy W. Nelles Leonard W. Murray Ernest J. King Erich Raeder Karl Dönitz Casualties 30,248 merchant sailors 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships 28... 1940 • Denmark and Norway • Battle of France • Battle of Britain • Libya and Egypt • British Somaliland • Baltic Occupation • Bessarabia and Bukovina • Invasion of Indochina • Invasion of Greece Combatants Germany Denmark Norway Operation Weserübung was the German codename for Nazi Germanys assault on Denmark and Norway during World War II and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. ... Belligerents France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III H.G. Winkelman WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H... This article is about the Second World War battle. ... Combatants  Australia Free France  New Zealand  Poland South Africa  United Kingdom India Italy Germany Commanders to June 22 1941: Archibald Wavell to August 8 1942: Claude Auchinleck to February 1943: Harold Alexander Ugo Cavallero Rodolfo Graziani Erwin Rommel The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the... Belligerents United Kingdom British India British Somaliland Northern Rhodesia British East Africa Italy Italian East Africa Commanders Reade Godwin-Austen Arthur Chater Guglielmo Nasi Carlo De Simone Luigi Frusci Strength 4,000 24,000 Casualties and losses 38 killed[1] 71 wounded[1] 49 missing[1] Total:205[2] Destroyed... Molotov signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact The occupation of Baltic states refers to the occupation of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) first by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, by Nazi Germany from 1941-1944, and again by... On June 28, 1940 Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were occupied by the Soviet Union. ... Combatants Empire of Japan Vichy France Commanders Akihito Nakamura Takuma Nishimura Maurice Martin Strength 34,000 men 2,000 men Casualties  ? 800 The Invasion of French Indochina ), also known as the Vietnam Expedition, the Japanese Invasion of Vietnam, was an attempt by the Empire of Japan, during the Second Sino... Belligerents Italy Albania Greece Commanders Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Giovanni Messe Alexander Papagos Strength 529,000 men, 463 aircraft[1] Under 300,000 men, 77 aircraft[1] Casualties and losses 63,000[2][3][4] dead, 100,000+[2] wounded, 25,067 missing, 12,368 incapacitated by... 1941 • East Africa Campaign • Invasion of Yugoslavia • Invasion of the USSR • Middle East campaign • Siege of Leningrad • Battle of Moscow • Attack on Pearl Harbor Combatants United Kingdom Anglo-Egyptian Sudan British Somaliland British East Africa British India Gold Coast Nigeria N. Rhodesia S. Rhodesia Union of S. Africa Belgium Belgian Congo Free France Ethiopian irregulars Italy Italian East Africa German Motorized Company Commanders Archibald Wavell William Platt Alan Cunningham Duke of Aosta Guglielmo Nasi... “April War” redirects here. ... Belligerents Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Croatia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Franz Halder Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Ernst Busch Erich Hoepner Alfred Keller Georg von Küchler Günther von Kluge Heinz Guderian Hermann Hoth Albrecht Kesselring Adolf Strauss Carl-Heinrich von... The Middle East Campaign was a part of the Middle East Theatre of World War II. // This campaign included: The British police actions in Palestine. ... Belligerents Nazi Germany Finland[1][2][3] Soviet Union Commanders Wilhelm von Leeb Georg von Küchler Carl Gustaf Mannerheim[4][5][6] Kliment Voroshilov Georgiy Zhukov Leonid Govorov Strength 725,000 930,000 Casualties and losses Wehrmacht (est. ... Combatants Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Fedor von Bock, Heinz Guderian Georgy Zhukov, Aleksandr Vasilevsky Strength As of October 1: 1,000,000 men, 1,700 tanks, 14,000 guns, 950 planes[1] As of October 1: 1,250,000 men, 1,000 tanks, 7,600 guns, 677 planes[2... This article is about the actual attack. ... 1942 • Battle of Midway • Battle of Stalingrad • 2nd Battle of El Alamein • Operation Torch • Guadalcanal Campaign Belligerents United States Imperial Japanese Navy Commanders Chester W. Nimitz Frank J. Fletcher Raymond A. Spruance Isoroku Yamamoto Chuichi Nagumo Tamon Yamaguchi† Strength 3 carriers, ~50 support ships, 233 carrier aircraft, 127 land-based aircraft 4 carriers, 7 battleships, ~150 support ships, 264 carrier aircraft,[1] 16 floatplanes Casualties and... Belligerents Germany Romania Italy Hungary Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus # Erich von Manstein Wolfram von Richthofen Petre Dumitrescu Constantin Constantinescu Italo Gariboldi Gusztáv Vitéz Jány Viktor Pavičić Josef Stalin Vasily Chuikov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Georgiy Zhukov Semyon Timoshenko Konstantin Rokossovsky Rodion Malinovsky Andrei Yeremenko Strength... Belligerents Australia Free French Greece New Zealand South Africa United Kingdom Indian Empire Germany Italy Commanders Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery Erwin Rommel Georg Stumme Ettore Bastico Strength 220,000 men 1,029 tanks[1] 750 aircraft (530 serviceable) 900 medium and field artillery guns[2] 1,401 Anti Tank Guns... Belligerents Free French Forces United Kingdom United States Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower Andrew Cunningham François Darlan Strength 107,000 (33,000 in Morocco,39,000 near Algiers,35,000 near Oran) 60,000 Casualties and losses 479+ dead 720 wounded 1,346+ dead 1,997 wounded Operation Torch... Combatants Allied forces including: United States Australia New Zealand British Solomon Is. ...	1943 • End in Africa • Battle of Kursk • Solomon Islands • Invasion of Sicily • Invasion of Italy5 • Gilbert and Marshall Islands Combatants United Kingdom United States France Germany Italy Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Harold Alexander Keneth Anderson Bernard Montgomery Albert Kesselring Erwin Rommel Hans-Jürgen von Arnim Giovanni Messe The Tunisia Campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia), was a series of World War II battles that took place... Belligerents Nazi Germany Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Günther von Kluge Hermann Hoth Walther Model Hans Seidemann Robert Ritter von Greim Georgiy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovskiy Nikolay Vatutin Ivan Konyev Strength 2,700 tanks 800,000 infantry 2,109 aircraft[1] 3,600 tanks 20,000 guns[2] 1... Belligerents United States United Kingdom Canada Australia South Africa Free French Germany Italy Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower Harold Alexander Bernard Montgomery George S. Patton Albert Kesselring Alfredo Guzzoni Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin Strength 160,000 personnel 14,000 vehicles 600 tanks 1,800 guns 300,000 Italian personnel 40... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns, from November 1943 through February 1944, were the first offensive operations of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. ... 1944 • Cassino and Anzio • Invasion of Normandy • Mariana and Palau Islands • Operation Bagration • Battle of the Dnieper • Warsaw Uprising • Iassy-Kishinev Operation • Liberation of Paris • Operation Market Garden • Operation Crossbow • Operation Pointblank • Battle of Leyte Gulf • Battle of the Bulge Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle... Combatants United States, United Kingdom Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark W. Clark John P. Lucas Lucian Truscott Albert Kesselring Eberhard von Mackensen Strength 22 Jan 1944: 36,000 soldiers and 2,300 vehicles End May:150,000 soldiers and 1,500 guns 22 Jan 1944: 20,000 soldiers End May... This article is about the first few weeks of the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day). ... In the Pacific theater of World War II, the American Marianas Campaign, known as Operation Forager, pushed westward from the Marshall Islands in the summer of 1944 to capture the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Ernst Busch (to 28 June), Walter Model (Army Group Centre) Georg-Hans Reinhardt (Third Panzer Army) Hans Jordan (Ninth Army) Kurt von Tippelskirch (Fourth Army) Walter Weiss (Second Army) Georgy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovsky (3rd Belorussian Front) Hovhannes Bagramyan (1st Baltic Front) Ivan Chernyakhovsky (1st Belorussian... Combatants Axis Soviet Union Commanders Erich von Manstein Konstantin Rokossovsky, Ivan Konev Strength 1,250,000 men 12,600 guns 2,100 tanks 2,000 planes 2,650,000 men 51,000 guns 2,400 tanks 2,850 planes Casualties Low est. ... For other uses, see Warsaw Uprising (disambiguation). ... Combatants Soviet Union Germany Romania Commanders Rodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Johannes Friessner Ion Antonescu Strength 1,341,200, 1,874 tanks and assault guns ca. ... Belligerents Free French Forces Germany Commanders Philippe Leclerc Raymond Dronne Henri Rol-Tanguy Jacques Chaban-Delmas Dietrich von Choltitz # Strength 2nd Armoured Division, French resistance 5,000 Inside Paris, 15,000 At outskirts Casualties and losses 1,500 dead French resistance 71 dead, 225 wounded Free French Forces[1] 3... Belligerents Poland United Kingdom United States Germany Commanders Field Marshal Montgomery Lieutenant-General Dempsey Lieutenant-General Horrocks Major-General Urquhart Major General Taylor Brigadier General Gavin Walter Model Wilhelm Bittrich Kurt Student Strength 35,000 (airborne only) 20,000 Casualties and losses Poland: 1st Polish Brigade: 378 Casualties[1] United... Similar to Operation Pointblank against the WWII German aircraft industry, Operation Crossbow specialized in offensive and defensive countermeasures against the Bodyline[1] and Peenemünde 20,[2] the British code names for the 40 ft x 7 ft object with blunt nose and three fins and the small winged aircraft... Operation Pointblank was the code name for the Combined Bomber Offensive of the USAAF and the RAF during World War II. It ordered Arthur Bomber Harris, head of the RAF and Carl Spaatz, head of the U.S. 8th Air Force, to bomb specific targets in support of the run... Combatants  United States  Australia Empire of Japan Commanders William Halsey, Jr (3rd Fleet) Thomas C. Kinkaid (7th Fleet) Takeo Kurita (Centre Force) Shoji Nishimura â€  (Southern Force) Kiyohide Shima (Southern Force) Jisaburo Ozawa (Northern Force) Strength 17 aircraft carriers 18 escort carriers 12 battleships 24 cruisers 141 destroyers and destroyer escorts... For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ... 1945 • Battle of Iwo Jima • Battle of Okinawa • Battle of Berlin • Germany surrenders • Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Japan surrenders Combatants  United States  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia  New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders Simon B. Buckner â€  Joseph W. Stilwell Ray Spruance Mitsuru Ushijima â€  Isamu Cho â€  Strength 548,000 soldiers, 1,300 ships,  ? aircraft 100,000 regulars and militia,  ? ships,  ? aircraft Casualties 12,513 dead or missing, 38,916 wounded, 33... Belligerents Soviet Union Poland Germany Commanders 1st Belorussian Front – Georgiy Zhukov 2nd Belorussian Front – Konstantin Rokossovsky 1st Ukrainian Front – Ivan Konev Army Group Vistula – Gotthard Heinrici then Kurt von Tippelskirch[3] Army Group Centre – Ferdinand Schörner Berlin Defence Area – Hellmuth Reymann then Helmuth Weidling #[4] Strength Total strength 2... During the Battle for Berlin, the Red Flag was raised over the Reichstag, May 1945. ... The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima after the dropping of Little Boy. ... The Japanese representatives, Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijiro Umezu, on board USS Missouri during the surrender ceremonies on 2 September 1945. ... • List of military engagements USS Lexington explodes during the Battle of the Coral Sea. ...	• Attacks on North America • Blitzkrieg • Comparative military ranks • Cryptography • Home front • Military awards • Military equipment • Military production • Nazi plunder • Resistance • Technology • Total war Attacks on North America during World War II by the Axis Powers were rare, mainly due to the continents geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe and Asia. ... This article is about the military term. ... The following table shows comparative officer ranks of major Allied and Axis powers during World War II. For modern ranks refer to Comparative military ranks. ... Cryptography was used extensively during World War II, with a plethora of code and cipher systems fielded by the nations involved. ... Publicity photo of American machine tool worker in Texas. ... Military awards of World War II were presented by most of the combatants. ... // Aircraft List of aircraft of World War II List of World War II military aircraft of Germany List of aircraft of the Armée de lAir, World War II List of aircraft of the USAAF, World War II List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force, World War II... During World War II women worked in factories throughout much of the Western and Eastern United States. ... Nazi plunder stored in a church at Elligen, Germany, 1945 Nazi plunder refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized spoliation of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ... Technology during World War II played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the war. ... Total war is a military conflict in which nations mobilize all available resources in order to destroy another nations ability to engage in war. ... Aftermath /consequences • Effects/Casualties • Expulsion of Germans • Operation Paperclip • Occupation of Germany • Morgenthau plan • Territorial changes • Occupation of Japan • Franco-Vietnamese War • Cold War • in contemporary culture The bumsItalic textBold text effects of World War II had far-reaching implications for the international community. ... Chart showing World War II deaths by country in millions as well as by percentage of population, and piechart with percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allies and the Axis Powers. ... Germans expelled from the Sudetenland The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the forced migration and ethnic cleansing of German nationals (Reichsdeutsche) and ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) from Germany and parts of territory formerly claimed by Germany in the first three years after World War II. The policy... Operation Paperclip scientists pose together. ... The C-Pennant Occupation zones in Germany (1945) Capital Berlin (de jure) Political structure Military occupation Governors (1945)  - UK zone F.M. Montgomery  - French zone Gen. ... The Morgenthau Plan showing the planned partitioning of Germany into a North State, a South State, and an International zone. ... The Oder-Neisse line (Polish: , German: ) marked the border between German Democratic Republic and Poland between 1950 and 1990. ... Capital Tokyo Language(s) Japanese Political structure Military occupation Military Governor  - 1945-1951 Douglas MacArthur  - 1951-1952 Matthew Ridgway Emperor  - 1926-1989 Hirohito Historical era Post-WWII  - Surrender of Japan August 15, 1945  - San Francisco Treaty April 28, 1952 At the end of the Second World War, Japan was occupied... Combatants France French Indochina Việt Minh Strength 500,000 at least 63,000, but estimates 100,000-950,000 Casualties 94,581 dead 78,127 wounded 40,000 captured 300,000+ dead 500,000+ wounded 100,000 captured The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The influence of World War II has been profound and diverse, having an impact on many parts of life. ... Civilian impact / atrocities • Allied war crimes • German war crimes • Italian war crimes • Japanese war crimes • Soviet war crimes • The Holocaust • Bombing of civilians Allied war crimes were violations of the laws of war committed by the Allies of World War II against civilian populations or military personnel of the Axis Powers. ... Germany committed war crimes in both World War I and World War II. The most notable of these is the Holocaust, where millions of people, about half of which were Jews, were murdered. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism. ... Soviet war crimes gives a short overview about serious crimes committed by the Red Armys (1918-1946, later Soviet Army) leadership and an unknown number of single members of the Soviet armed forces from 1919 to 1990 inclusive including those in Eastern Europe in late 1944 and early 1945... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Strategic bombing during World War II was greater in scale than any wartime attack the world had previously witnessed. ...
Allies		Axis
at war from 1937  China This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ... Black: Zenith of the Axis Powers Capital Not applicable Political structure Military alliance Historical era World War II  - Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940  - Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936  - Pact of Steel May 22, 1939  - Dissolved 1945 This article is about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... entered 1939  Czechoslovakia  Poland  UK  India  France  Australia  New Zealand  South Africa  Canada Image File history File links Flag_of_Czechoslovakia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links British_Raj_Red_Ensign. ... The Indian National Congress led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was opposed to Fascism, Nazism and colonialism. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa_1928-1994. ... entered 1940  Norway  Belgium  Netherlands  Greece Image File history File links Flag_of_Norway. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ...	entered 1941  Yugoslavia  USSR  USA Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia. ... General location of the political entities known as Yugoslavia. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ... entered 1942  Mexico  Brazil Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico_(1934-1968). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... // Depression, coffee oligarchs, and the Revolution of 1930 The Great Depression The tenente rebellion (See History of Brazil (1889-1930)) did not mark the revolutionary breakthrough of Brazils bourgeois social reformers. ... entered 1943  Italy   Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946). ... entered 1944  Romania  Bulgaria  Finland Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland. ... Combatants Germany Finland Commanders Lothar Rendulic Hjalmar Siilasvuo Strength 200,000 60,000 Casualties 950 killed 2,000 wounded 1,300 captured 774 killed 3,000 wounded 262 missing The Lapland War (Finnish: ; German: ; Swedish: ) is a name used for the hostilities between Finland and Germany between September 1944 and... • others This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ...	at war from 1937  Japan Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_-_variant. ... entered 1939  Germany  Slovakia Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... entered 1940  Italy  to 1943 Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946). ... entered 1941  Bulgaria  to 1944 Croatia Finland  to 1944  Hungary  Iraq  to 1941  Romania  to 1944 Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia_Ustasa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Finland. ... Belligerents Finland Germany Italy1 Soviet Union  United Kingdom2 Commanders C.G.E. Mannerheim Kirill Meretskov Leonid Govorov Strength 530,000 Finns[1] 220,000 Germans 900,000–1,500,000 Soviets[2] Casualties and losses 58,715 dead or missing 158,000 wounded 1,500 civilian deaths[3] 3401 captured... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary_1940. ... // In Hungary, the Great Depression induced a drop in the standard of living and the political mood of the country shifted further toward the right. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq_1924. ... Combatants Kingdom of Iraq United Kingdom India Commanders Rashid Ali General Sir Edward Quinan Strength five divisions about two divisions Casualties 2,500 KIA, about 6,000 POWs 1,200 (KIA, MIA, WIA) The Anglo-Iraqi War is the name of hostilities between the United Kingdom and the Iraqi nationalist... Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... entered 1942  Thailand Image File history File links Flag_of_Thailand. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... entered 1943  RSI Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Anthem Giovinezza (The Youth)¹ From the Gustav Line to the Gothic Line Capital Salò Language(s) Italian Religion None defined. ... • others Black: Zenith of the Axis Powers Capital Not applicable Political structure Military alliance Historical era World War II  - Tripartite Pact September 27, 1940  - Anti-Comintern Pact November 25, 1936  - Pact of Steel May 22, 1939  - Dissolved 1945 This article is about the independent countries (states) that comprised the Axis powers. ...
• Allied Leaders • Axis Leaders • Commanders This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Axis leaders of World War II were the important political and military figures during the war. ... The Commanders of World War II were for the most part career officers. ...
Resistance movements Austria · Baltic1 · Czech lands · Denmark · Ethiopia France · Germany2 · Greece · Italy Jewish2 · Korea · Netherlands · Moldavia2 Norway · Philippines · Poland · Thailand · Soviet Union Slovakia4 · Ukraine3 · Vietnam Yugoslavia · others Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ... The Forest Brothers (also: Brothers of the Forest, Forest Brethren; Forest Brotherhood; in Estonian: metsavennad, in Latvian meža brāļi, in Lithuanian miÅ¡ko broliai) were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule and for German Nazis during the Soviet invasion and occupation of... Czech resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II is a scarcely documented subject, by and large a result of little formal resistance and an effective German policy that deterred acts of resistance or annihilated organizations of resistance. ... The Jewish resistance during the Holocaust was the resistance of the Jewish people against Nazi Germany leading up to and through World War II. Due to the careful organization and overwhelming military might of the Nazi German State and its supporters, many Jews were unable to resist the killings. ... The Korean Liberation Army was the armed force of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and was created on September 17, 1941 in Chongqing, China. ... General location of the political entities known as Yugoslavia. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne Division in front of the Eindhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. ...
				Lists
				Category · Topics Conferences // Military engagements For military topics (land, naval, and air engagements as well as campaigns, operations, defensive lines and sieges), please see List of military engagements of World War II. Political and social aspects of the war Causes of World War II Appeasement Occupation of Denmark Netherlands in World War II... List of World War II conferences of the Allied forces In total Churchill attended 14 meetings, Roosevelt 12, Stalin 5. ...
1 Anti-Soviet. 2 Anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi. 3 Anti-Nazi, anti-Polish, and anti-Soviet. 4 Anti-Magyar, anti-Nazi, and anti-Soviet. 5 Lasted to May 1945. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...		World War II at Wiktionary  WWII textbooks at Wikibooks      WWII quotes at Wikiquote  WWII source texts at Wikisource        WWII media at Commons  WWII news stories at Wikinews

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo. ... Image File history File links Wikiquote-logo. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ...