8/12/2019 IWOJIMA Infographic

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A deadly triangle ofdefense made up of Hill382, the highest pointon the island besidesMt. Suribachi, aconcrete-reinforced hillknown as "TurkeyKnob," and the"Amphitheater," abowl-shaped depression.

Hill 362A , named for itselevation, was a labyrinth ofmore than 1,000 ft of tunnels.Once the marines got past362A and Nishi ridge , theywere able to reach the lastpocket of Japanese defences

near Kitano Point .

Graphic: John Lubbers

A hidden enemy Under the surface the island of IwoJima had been turned into a deadlyant hill. A complex and extensivesystem of tunnels, caves, andgun emplacements wereconstructed nine monthsprior to the invasion.

ere were over 16 milesof interconnectedconcrete undergroundtunnels with multiplering points.

Feb. 20 - Marines advance south to Mt. Suribachi and north to the airelds.

Feb. 22 - Marines nally have Mt. Suribachi surrounded and begin to move up the face ofthe mountain.Feb. 23 - First units of Marines reach the top ofMt. Suribachi and capture it. Advancements tothe north now have progressed to Aireld #2 .Feb. 24 - 4th and 5th Marines attack after a76 min. naval bombardment and an airstrike.

e tanks lead the way for both divisions.Feb. 25 - 3rd Marine division, who had beenoffshore in reserve, is called in and beginsattack on the center of the Japanese line.

Feb. 28 - Marines nally occupy the highground over looking Aireld #3 .

Feb. 31 - Marines begin to attack hills 382and 362A .

March 1 - Marines take hill 382 and move onto capture 362A.

March 2 - For the attack on hill 362A theMarines decide on a surpise night attack. ehill is not captured until March 8th.

March 4 - First damaged B-29 Superfortress

lands in Iwo Jima.March 6 - First P-51 Mustangs beginarriving on the captured airelds to provideair support for the Marines.March 8 - e Japanese attempt to launch acounter attack between the 23rd and 24thregiments, but are stopped by Marine artillery.

March 15 - Resistance continues in manysmall pockets located on the island.

March 25 - Last pocket of Japanese resistancewas secured at Kitano Point.

March 26 - e Japanese resistance is over andthe island of Iwo Jima is declared secure.

regiments

divisions

Price of the battle

Sources: Wikipedia, Iwo Jima by Richard Newcomb, e History Channel, ibiblio.org

700 mi

650 mi

Nishi

Hill 362A

Aireld 1

Aireld 2

Aireld 3 (under construction)

IwoJima Hill 382

Kitano Point

Mt. Suribachi

JAPANESEPOCKET

JAPANESEPOCKET

Pacic Ocean

main islanddefences

MA RCH 10

MARCH 1

MARCH 2 6

FEB. 24

D-DAY (FEB 19)

0 1

Miles

3rd Division(on reserveuntil Feb. 25)

IWOJIMA Operation Detachment

5th 3rd

4th

Timeline of the Battle

e island of Iwo Jima was crucial tocontinue B-29 Bomber missions onmainland Japan .

e airelds would provide a base forescort planes on their raids with theB-29s, allowing them to resupply.

e island contained 3 airstrips that theJapanese had been using for their attacks.

With this island captured the Kamikazeswould have to operate from Okinawa orKyushu , closer to the mainland.

Iwo Jima would provide an emergencylanding strip half way from Mariana Islands to mainland Japan.

28th

27th

23rd

25th

Turkey Knob

Amphitheatre

e Meatgrinder

e Battle of Iwo Jima (OperationDetachment) was fought between theUnited States of America and theEmpire of Japan during February andMarch of 1945 , during the PacicCampaign of World War II. As aresult of the battle, the United Statesgained control of the island of IwoJima, and the airelds located there.Japan suffered a heavy loss; about22,000 Japanese troops wereentrenched on the island, and only1,083 survived. e ghting was

brutal and intense. e U.S. wasgaining ground in the Pacic eaterat this point in the war, and the

victory at Iwo Jima was another steptowards the Japanese Home Islands.

5th Division

4th Division

Iwo Jima

Korea

Russia

China

Manchuria

Phillipines

MarianaIslands

Okinawa

GuamSaipanTinian

Palau

Pacic Ocean

0 1000Miles

Luzon

Japan

Sea of Japan

YellowSea

Reasons for the invasion

Patrol led by Lt. Harold Schreir raises asmall ag on top of Mt. Suribachi at10:30 A.M. Later a larger ag isbrought from an LST(Landing ShipTank) and raised. is was the famousphotograph by Joe Rosenthal that wasto become the most famous and widelyproduced photograph of World War II.

D-DAY FEBRUARY 19, 1945U.S Marines land on Iwo Jima at 8:59 AM .

is comes after 10 weeks of bombing fromcarrier based planes and medium bombers.

e rst objective was Mt. Suribachi . UntilMt. Suribachi was taken the Japanese couldre on any position the Marines had estab-lished.

By the end of the rst day the Marines had notcaptured half of their original objective andnearly 600 were dead, but Mt. Suribachi hadbeen isolated and part of Aireld #1 had beencaptured.

General Kuribayashi'sheavily fortiedcommand center nearKitano Point was a cavewith 5 ft. thick walls anda 10 ft. thick roof. iscement capsule wasunder 75 ft. of solid rock.

0

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

7,500

9,000

Marines Killed Or Wounded

Feb. 19 Mar 11-26Feb 25-Mar 10Feb 20-24

Killed In ActionWounded

Iwo Jima was the only Marine battle where the American casualties, 26,000 , exceeded the Japanese - most of the 22,000defending the island. e 6,821 American servicemen killed doubled the deaths of the Twin-Towers of 9/11. A total of 70,000 U.S. Marines were available for the invasion.

6,821

JapanU.S.

Total Deaths

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,00020,000 (est.)

6,821

N

e volcanic ash hard to climb through with100 pound packs carried by the Marines.

e high angle of the slope made return re very difficult during the initial landings.

Beaches and slopes leading from the beachesall zeroed in by the Japanese gunners.

Marines landings all but easy.

Kyushu