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Aleutians Islands Campaign (1942-43)/Japanese Occupation of Attu and Kiska
From Month/Year
June / 1942
To Month/Year
June / 1942
Description The Japanese occupation of Kiska took place between 6 June 1942 and 28 July 1943 during the Aleutian Islands Campaign of the American Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Japanese occupied Kiska and nearby Attu Island in order to protect the northern flank of the Japanese Empire.
Occupation
Initially, the only American military presence on Kiska was a twelve-man United States Navy weather station and a dog named Explosion, two of whom were not present during the invasion. The Japanese stormed the station, killing two Americans and capturing seven. After realizing that Chief petty officer William C. House had escaped, a search was launched by the occupying forces. The search ended in vain, with House surrendering some fifty days after the initial seizure of the weather station, having been unable to cope with the freezing conditions & starvation. After 50 days of eating only plants and worms, he weighed just 80 pounds.[6][7] Beforehand, the prisoners of war had been sent to Japan.
The attack on Pearl Harbor and beginning of the Pacific Theater in World War II, coupled with Japanese threats to the west coast of North America and the Aleutian Islands, had already made the construction of a defense access highway to Alaska a priority. On 6 February 1942, the construction of the Alaska Highway was approved by the U.S. Army and the project received the authorization from the U.S. Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proceed five days later.
Reacting to the Japanese occupation, American and Canadian air forces waged a continuous air bombardment campaign against the Japanese forces on Kiska. Also, U.S. Navy warships blockaded and periodically bombarded the island. Several Japanese warships, transport ships, and submarines attempting to travel to Kiska or Attu were sunk or damaged by the blockading forces.
