HELL ON EARTH Horrifying pics capture Battle of Iwo Jima on 75th anniversary of one of World War II’s bloodiest conflicts By Debbie White 17 Feb 2020, 14:53
HARROWING
photos reveal the brutal fighting at the Battle of Iwo Jima, on the
75th anniversary of one of the Second World War's bloodiest conflicts.
After the strategic outpost was captured, “strong men wept
unashamedly” and “wounded men propped themselves up on their litters” to
see “the Stars and Stripes flutter bravely”, one marine later wrote.
US Marine Corps motion picture cameramen Sgt WA (Bill) Genaust (left)
and Corporal Atlee S Tracy, Iwo Jima, February 24, 1945. Genaust was the
cameraman who filmed in color the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising on the
day before this photo was takenCredit: Getty - Contributor
Wrecked US Marine vehicles litter an Iwo Jima beach, 1945. The battle for control of Iwo Jima lasted 36 daysCredit: Reuters
Terror: US Marines crawl their way up the coastline of Iwo Jima, while
under heavy fire from the surprisingly intact Japanese defensesCredit: Mediadrumimages/RoystonLeonard
An American soldier taking aim at the Japanese while the considerable
invasion fleet of the US can be seen off the shore in the backgroundCredit: Mediadrumimages/RoystonLeonard
A US Marine injured in the first wave assault at Iwo Jima rests on a
bed of life preservers aboard a Coast Guard LCVP, February 19, 1945Credit: Reuters
US 5th Division Marines display Japanese battle flags captured in the
battle at Iwo Jima. In all, more than 800 Americans gave their lives for
every square mile of Iwo Jima’s black volcanic sandCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Debris strewn on beach during battle against the Japanese.
Seventy-five years ago, a battle raged in the Pacific Theater of World
War IICredit: Time Life Pictures
United States Marines pose on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima with the American flagCredit: Royston Leonard / mediadrumimages.com
The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between US Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early 1945Credit: Mediadrumimages/RoystonLeonard
February marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo
Jima, the first native Japanese soil to be invaded during the Allied
advance.
The conflict saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the Second World
War take place on the small Japanese island 1,200km (745miles) south of
Tokyo.
Located halfway between Tokyo and Guam, Iwo Jima was regarded as a strategic outpost.
Close to 7,000 US Marines and nearly all of the 21,000 Japanese defenders of the island died during the 36-day battle.
The Japanese troops held the heavily fortified island for more than a
month, supported by a network of bunkers and tunnels and hidden
artillery positions.
US Marines with the Fourth Division fire on enemy positions from the black sands of an Iwo Jima beachCredit: Reuters
A flame thrower in use against Japanese forces holding out in caves
along Iwo Jima's coastal cliffs, as the US Army conducted mopping up
operationsCredit: Reuters
A US Marine surveys the shattered landscape while hunting for remaining
Japanese forces. Iwo Jima reverted from American to Japanese rule in
1968Credit: Reuters
Three Japanese soldiers emerge from their hiding place to surrender.
The Japanese troops held the heavily fortified island for more than a
month, supported by a network of bunkers and tunnels and hidden
artillery positionsCredit: Reuters
US Marines with the 5th Division inch their way up a slope on Red Beach No. 1 toward Mount SuribachiCredit: Reuters
From February 19, 1945, more than 500 warships and 1,000 warplanes
from the US navy and army pounded Iwo Jima so heavily that the shelling
and bombing changed the shape of the island’s highest point, Mount
Suribachi, located at its southern tip.
White phosphorus was used in the pre-invasion bombardment and America troops wielded flame-throwers during the battle.
Mount Suribachi was captured on February 23.
A famous photograph of six US marines raising an American flag on the
mountain, the second flag-raising that day, was taken by Associated
Press photographer Joe Rosenthal and won the Pulitzer Prize for
Photography that year.
Iwo Jima reverted from American to Japanese rule in 1968.
Since then it has housed about 400 Japanese navy and air force personnel who operate a landing strip.
The runway is also used for night-landing practice by a Japan-based US aircraft carrier.
Joint US-Japan memorial services to mark the anniversary of the battle are held every year.
Explosions rock the Iwo Jima shore during the pre-landing bombardment, February 19, 1945Credit: Reuters
Burial at sea for a casualty of the battle for Iwo Jima onboard the USS Hansford, circa February 25-28, 1945Credit: Reuters
Marines on ships bound for Iwo Jima. From February 19, 1945, over 500
warships and 1,000 warplanes from the US navy and army pounded the
islandCredit: Getty - Contributor
Colonel Joseph H Alexander, US Marine Corps (Ret) wrote in Closing
In: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima, that troops “shivered in the
cold wind and rain.”
They had to cope with “high surf and dangerous undertows” trying to land on the strategic island.
An amphibious task force experienced a “significant air attack” when they came under fire from 50 “kamikaze pilots”.
Marines also had to deal with jammed weapons – thanks to loose
volcanic grit, which when combined with the driving rain rendered them
unusable.
He said of the famous flag-raising photos that “neither were posed – contrary to supposed evidence.”
The colonel recalled that “strong men wept unashamedly” and “wounded
men propped themselves up on their litters” to see “the Stars and
Stripes flutter bravely” 75 years ago.
A destroyed jeep pictured during the battle against the Japanese for Iwo Jima during the Second World WarCredit: Getty - Contributor
A US marine burrowed into a shallow foxhole during conflict at the edge of Motoyama AirfieldCredit: Getty - Contributor
American Marines and supplies brought by a large armada were
photographed heading toward the island of Iwo Jima during the opening
hours of the battle to take the island from occupying Japanese forcesCredit: Time & Life Pictures
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