At 9am on the 26th March 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima ended as US Marines officially secured the island from the Japanese Imperial Army during the War in the Pacific. The US invasion of the 8 square mile island, known as “Operation Detachment”, led to five weeks of fierce fighting between around 21,000 Japanese troops and 110,000 Americans. The United States suffered 26,000 casualties of which nearly 7,000 died. Meanwhile the Japanese forces were virtually wiped out.
The objective of Operation Detachment was to capture Iwo Jima and its three airfields, in order to provide a base for US aircraft involved in attacks on the Japanese mainland. The island had been subjected to nine months of aerial bombings and naval bombardments prior to the US invasion, but the Japanese had dug an extensive network of tunnels beneath the volcanic island that provided shelter for much of the defence force.
The first Marines landed on the island on the 19th February and, despite facing little initial opposition, suffered significant casualties as they struggled to make their way inland. The strong Japanese defences meant that despite their superior numbers the Americans were sometimes only able to progress a few hundred metres a day.
However, Mount Suribachi was eventually captured and the iconic photograph of five Marines raising the United States flag was taken – albeit when a second, larger, flag was raised to replace the first. On the 16th March the island was declared secure, but sporadic fighting continued until the night of the 25th, when a final Japanese assault by 300 soldiers was defeated in a vicious 90-minute firefight.
