A Japanese Army detachment of 1,200 men landed on Attu on the night of June 6-7 1942 There was no resistance and 41 people nearly all Aleuts were taken prisoner. Kiska was taken on the early afternoon of the 7th by 350 men of the Special Naval Landing Force. There was no resistance, and they took a small staff of US Weather station prisoner.

From a strategic position, the Japanese capture was pointless after the US victory at Midway. But, their recapture took an unconscionably long time because Nimitz felt he could not spare the forces to dislodge the Japanese.  Confused and inconclusive air skirmishes went on for 9 days in poor weather. Americans were most upset about the of their two islands, this being the first time a foreign attacker had occupied US territory since the British in 1812.

The Alaskan campaign has special aviation importance because it was the first location where a relatively intact Japanese Zeke was captured during the war. This intelligence gold mine was specially shipped back to the US to be studied and analyzed by engineers to find weaknesses in its design, and applied lessons learned to American designs in progress.

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009