When the Japanese attacked, the men on the Alcan soldiered on. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor In spring 1942 seven regiments of the Corps of Engineers had headed into the wilderness of British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska, trailed by mountains of equipment and swarms of support troops. They came to build a land route to …
Category Archives: The Aleutians
Inhospitable to Human Beings
As inhospitable to human beings as any place on earth, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands offer roaring winds, bitter cold, active volcanoes… But the people known as “Aleuts”, perfectly adapted to their environment, have lived there continuously for 8,000 years. The Aleuts knew little of the rest of the world and the rest of the world …
Another Task Force
Another task force still lurked off the Aleutians. The Japanese carrier task force had bombed Dutch Harbor, not once, but twice, completed their mission. But another Japanese task force, the one carrying invasion troops still lurked. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor The Japanese Came Back As the opposing forces in the Aleutians struggled through the …
The Japanese Came Back
The Japanese came back. The Japanese had arrived at the Aleutians, attacked Dutch Harbor from the air on June 3, 1942. Luck had, for once, been with the Americans on the ground. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor–the First Time Knowing little about the layout of the base, the Japanese pilots had engaged targets at random; …
The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor
The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor In late May two Japanese task forces had headed for the Aleutians and the United States Navy sent Admiral “Fuzzy” Theobald with a few ships to defend them. Japanese Plans Theobald deployed his ships in an arc facing south and west toward the oncoming Japanese force. He knew the futility …
The Navy Knew Japanese Plans
The Navy knew of the Japanese plans for the Aleutians. The string of islands known as the Aleutians curves like a samurai sword, south and then west from Alaska 1,100 miles into the North Pacific—marking the boundary between the North Pacific and the Bering Sea. Adak, Kiska and Attu, the islands at the point of …