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Iwo Jima Landings

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Title
Iwo Jima Landings
Description
Its role as an early warning station radioing reports of incoming U.S. bombers back to mainland Japan, and its three airfields, made Iwo Jima a crucial component of the Japanese inner defense perimeter. Following their losses in the Marianas, they …
Subject
Publisher
Date
1945-02-19
Scenario#
1484
Scenario Description
Its role as an early warning station radioing reports of incoming U.S. bombers back to mainland Japan, and its three airfields, made Iwo Jima a crucial component of the Japanese inner defense perimeter. Following their losses in the Marianas, they spent a year fortifying the island with an extensive network of tunnels and caves, drawing from their experience in the battle of Peleliu. Fully aware of the risks his men were facing, Major General Harry Schmidt requested a ten day shelling of the island before the land invasion, but was given only three. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, leaving the Japanese fortifications largely intact when dawn came on February 19, 1945. At 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, the first elements of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine divisions landed on the beach. Initially surprised at the lack of incoming fire, they began surmising the Japanese might have been all miraculously decimated by the pre-landing bombardments. Progressing with difficulty over a soil often covered with volcanic ash, the Marines uneasily began progressing inland. The first wave reached a line of Japanese bunkers when, all of a sudden, fire lit up from machine guns hidden in many cleverly concealed Japanese bunkers and firing positions, to devastating results. To make things worse, the bunkers turned out to be connected by an elaborate tunnel system the Japanese had built in expectation of the incoming invasion; bunkers that had previously been cleared with flamethrowers and grenades were suddenly reoccupied by Japanese troops that sprung on the Marines back.
Location
Iwo Jima, Pacific
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field was twofold. The first was to provide for B-29s unable to make it back to Tinian. The second was to have air fields for shorter ranged fighters to be staged to extend fighter coverage to the bombers. The island could also serve as a staging point for attacks on the Japanese main islands. The five-week battle was some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.
Narrative Source
Combatants
Japanese
American
Additional Information
Game Type: Standard
Board Type: Beach
Website Access: Classified

Geolocation