Extreme geography awaited the soldiers of the 93rd Engineers when they left Southern Louisiana in early 1942. From hot and humid Louisiana, they travelled north—way north—to Alaska and Yukon Territory. The 93rd came to Carcross Sergeant Albert France, interviewed long after the fact by Donna Blazer-Bernhardt, remembered their time on the Alaska Highway Project. He …
Tag Archives: Aleutians
Kiska in August
Kiska came next. Led by Castner’s Cutthroats the American 7th, in one of the bloodiest and most miserable battles of WWII, drove Japanese defenders on Attu to suicide and reclaimed the island for the United States. That left the Japanese enemy in possession of Kiska—or so American commanders thought. Castner’s Cutthroats and Attu In response …
Castner’s Cutthroats
Castner’s Cutthroats, a platoon of unique soldiers commanded by Colonel Lawrence V. Castner, launched into Subarctic history shortly after the Japanese occupied Kiska and Attu in June 1942. Few Americans Worried about the Aleutians Relentless cold, impenetrable fog and endless hurricane force winds called “williwaws” threatened the Japanese survival far more than the Americans. The …
Few Americans Worried about the Aleutians
Few people in The United States or Canada knew the Japanese posed a threat to America through the Aleutians—until, on June 21, 1942 the Navy issued a press release. “The enemy has occupied the undefended islands of Attu and Kiska…” Americans scurried for their globes and Atlases and few suddenly became many. Task Force 2 …
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Task Force 2
Task force 2 still lurked, on June 4, 1942, in the fogbound waters of the North Pacific. Japanese Pilots from the first task force had bombed Dutch Harbor, not once, but twice. But task force 2 carried troops who intended to invade and occupy the Islands of Adak and Kiska—American territory. The Americans hadn’t heard …
Icy Fog Defended Dutch Harbor
Icy fog, on June 3, had defended Dutch Harbor more effectively than Admiral Theobald’s pilots and sailors. Half of the Japanese pilots couldn’t find the base. Theobald Did His Best But if icy fog helped the Americans, luck helped even more. Knowing little about the layout of the base, Japanese pilots engaged targets at random. …
Theobald Did His Best
Theobald, Admiral “Fuzzy” Theobald, knew that two Japanese attack forces steamed north through the Pacific in late May, headed for Alaska. Bull Halsey had sent him north to stop them. He deployed his few ships in an arc across the water to face them, but the arc covered way too many miles of water. The …
Sucker Punch
Thousand-mile Arc A sucker punch with many moving parts, the Japanese plan for June 1942 aimed simultaneously at Midway Island in the South Pacific and at the Aleutians in the North Pacific. The Japanese hoped to ambush the American carrier fleet at Midway, and they wanted a foothold in the Aleutians. In Alaska they would …
Thousand-mile Arc
A thousand-mile arc, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands extend across the North Pacific; beginning in Alaska; ending perilously close to Japan. The thousand-mile chain offered Japan a military route to the North American Continent and concerned American leaders knew they couldn’t defend against that route; couldn’t get enough men, machines and material from the Lower 48 to …