Battle of Attu Islands

[Animal]

I had never heard this story before. This was the only land battle fought on the continental US soil in WWII.

2900 Japanese soldiers came to the island in May 1943. Although it was probably mostly a PR stunt, they were going to set up a military base to launch attacks on Alaska and the west coast US.

15,000 US troops were sent there and a really bad ass battle broke out for the island. That island is the westernmost point of the United States. It is so far west that if you drew a line directly south you would hit New Zealand. By the end of the battle 2351 japs killed, 28 captured. 549 US soldiers killed, 1148 wounded and 1814 soldiers were inflicted with cold or disease injuries.

[JackRabbit_Slim]

Couldn't have posted this in Quints irrelevant military thread?

[Animal]

Couldn't have posted this in Quints irrelevant military thread?

the most interesting part of the story for me was how freaking far west that island is. Same longitude as New Zealand? I think they also said that on that island you only get about 8 days a year where the island isn't blanketed in fog. some of the guys still alive said that fighting a battle there was like trying to shoot birds in a cloud.

The battle itself was pretty insignificant in terms of the war.

[Blast]

If I am remembering correctly, the move on the Aleutian Islands was meant to be a distraction before the Japanese navy made a move on Midway Island but we had already partially broken their code by that time so we didn't take the bait.

[beagleboy]

Couldn't have posted this in Quints irrelevant military thread?

The posting of photos from the internet is the ultimate sign of being an expert on any subject.

Sort of like Who posting pics of his dick.

[CaptQuint]

Pearl Harbor and Midway Island were connected by an underwater cable the Japs couldn't hear. The Navy sent orders to Midway by cable to broadcast a radio message that the island’s desalinization plant had broken down. The radio message was broadcast without encryption to ensure that Japan could read it if it was intercepted. The radio message was heard by the Japs and reported by their code saying that AF’s desalinization plant was out of order. That message was intercepted by The Navy. AF was thus confirmed as Midway.

[WestTexasCrude]

Pearl Harbor and Midway Island were connected by an underwater cable the Japs couldn't hear. The Navy sent orders to Midway by cable to broadcast a radio message that the island’s desalinization plant had broken down. The radio message was broadcast without encryption to ensure that Japan could read it if it was intercepted. The radio message was heard by the Japs and reported by their code saying that AF’s desalinization plant was out of order. That message was intercepted by The Navy. AF was thus confirmed as Midway.

Japs invaded in June 1942. I think sending 15,000 US soldiers (hundreds killed) a year later was one of the biggest mistakes the US military made during WWII. The Japs were way out there, with no threat to anyone. They had a hell of of a time just resupplying them. By that time we were already starting the "Island hopping" campaign in the Pacific- leaving huge Jap troop concentrations to wither on the vine. Should have been done here, also. I guess having Jap troops actually occupying a portion of the North American continent (map wise) was too much politically.