![]() ![]() ![]() Navy command contracted the Siems-Drake-Puget Sound Construction Company to build both the navy and army installations at Fort Mears, Dutch Harbor, and on the first army troops arrived.Īmerican forces were not caught napping when the Japanese struck at Dutch Harbor on June 3 and 4, 1942. Two outlying sites, Umnak Island to the south and Cold Bay to the north possessed the flat airstrip terrain for Dutch Harbor's aerial defense.Īs early as 1939 Congress was aware of the threat of Japanese hostilities in the Pacific and had approved plans for the establishment of seaplane and submarine bases at Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Midway, and Wake. Although Amaknak had little flat land, the anchorage at Dutch Harbor was the best in the Aleutians. One was on Kodiak Island and the other, known as Dutch Harbor, was on Amaknak Island in Unalaska Bay near Unalaska Island. When the Japanese first attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, there were only two small navy bases and army posts in all the Alaskan islands. Library and Archives Canada, accession number 1967-052 NPC, item Z-1995-31 Historical Context It was not until three days later that troops learned the Japanese had deserted the island. ![]() On August 15, 1943, United States and Canadian invasion troops disembarked at Kiska. Today five National Historic Landmarks commemorate the Aleutain Campaign of World War II and the lives and events that forever changed these desolate beautiful islands. The Japanese, befriended by a protective fog, secretly evacuated Kiska Island prior to the U.S. land, sea, and air forces advancing progressively westward along the 1,100 mile Aleutian arc to reach and successfully defeat Japanese troops occupying Attu and Kiska islands. The Aleutain campaign involved tens of thousands of U.S. Imenetrable fog and wild gusts of wind called "williwaws" were a common enemy on both American and Japanese forces, and often determined the success of military maneuvers. Summits of a submerged volcanic mountain range, the treeless islands served as a formidable World War II battleground from 1942-1943. The Aleutian Islands rise out of the ocean like an oasis of green in a world of gray. Painting by George Earl, courtesy of The 10th Mountain Division Resources Center, The Denver Public Library, Western History Department. "The Volcano Seen Through the Swirling Fog from the C.P. ![]()
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