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 …
Tag Archives: WWII
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 …
Aleutians
The Aleutians. The American and Canadian Governments’ fear, after Pearl Harbor, that the Japanese might assault North America through the Aleutians and Alaska inspired the emergency project to build the Alaska Highway. For the soldiers on the ground in Northern Canada and Alaska in 1942, May rolled seamlessly into June, but they had not forgotten …
Bodies Populated Charlie Lake
Bodies, corpses, populated Charlie Lake after Colonel Lane’s raft capsized. The Colonel, determined to bypass the bottomless mud north of Fort St John, had dispatched the raft. Now, horrified, he rushed to the scene. He found Gus, the old trapper who had tried to rescue them, and the two men rowed Gus’ skiff out to …
A Useful Corrective–Leonard’s Memory
Researcher Chris found Leonard Larkins and his family in 2016. We’ve travelled to New Orleans to visit and interview Leonard, to apply Leonard’s memory to our research. Leonard Larkins on our Research Site Leonard Larkins and the 93rd Leonard Larkins Memories Leonard talks about pup tents and stoves in cold weather—“had trouble with the stoves …
General Hoge’s Problem
General Hoge directed the 1500-mile project from a ramshackle office with a homemade desk and empty packing crates as file cabinets at Headquarters in Whitehorse. The Hoge Highway “the Burma Road of North America” would be a more finished bit of construction if it did not have to be done in a terrific hurry. But …
Skagway Life Developed a Routine
Life in tiny Skagway developed a routine during the first forty years of the century. From mid-June through August, Steamships loaded with tourists piled into the harbor three to four times a week. A sheer rock cliff bordered the dock where they tied up, and it was covered with painted emblems, each representing a ship’s …
Japan Threatened America
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 then launched coordinated and successful assaults all over the Pacific. The suddenness and sheer scale of disaster set America’s leadership back on its heels, scrambling to plan a response. FDR, his cabinet and his generals saw terrifying vulnerability in Alaska and the Aleutians and ordered the Corps …