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Japanese occupation of Attu
Part of theAmerican Theater and thePacific Theater ofWorld War II
Four Japanese seaplanes landed at Holtz Bay, Attu Island on 7 November 1942. Photo taken by American surveillance aircraft.
Date 7 June 1942 – 30 May 1943 Location Attu,Aleutian Islands,Alaska,United States 52°55′27″N173°09′24″E / 52.9241°N 173.1568°E /52.9241; 173.1568 Result Japanese occupation commences.
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
N/A	Matsutoshi Hosumi Yasuyo Yamasaki † Boshirō Hosogaya
Strength
N/A	1,140 – 2,900
Casualties and losses
1 civilian killed 43 civilians captured	Unknown

TheJapanese occupation of Attu (Operation AL) was the result of an invasion of theAleutian Islands in Alaska duringWorld War II.Imperial Japanese Army troops landed on 7 June 1942, the day after theinvasion of nearby Kiska. Along with the Kiska landing, it was the first time that thecontinental United States was invaded and occupied by a foreign power since theWar of 1812. The occupation ended with theAllied victory in theBattle of Attu on 30 May 1943.

Although it is not clear how theNavy General Staff requested the Combined Fleet Command to plan the Aleutian Operation (Operation AL) to occupy Attu and Kiska Islands,^[1] the Navy General Staff seemed to have acknowledged the necessity of Operation AL in response to the proposition of the Fifth Fleet when considering theattempt to overtake Midway (Operation MI).

The plan of Operation AL was consulted with theImperial General Headquarters army section on 15 April. In early June, the navy would attackDutch Harbor andAdak Island, and occupy Kiska Island and Attu Island. TheImperial Japanese Army was reluctant to occupy the Aleutian Islands and responded to the navy on 16 April that they would not dispatch troops to the operation.^[2] However, theDoolittle Raid on Japan from the North Pacific on 18 April had a great influence on Operation AL. After the air raids on Japan by the Doolittle bombers, the army acknowledged the need to set up patrol bases on the western Aleutian Islands and agreed on 21 April to dispatch troops.^[3]

The Navy General Staff promoted Operation MI and Operation AL with the primary purpose of advancing the bases for patrol line, and the Combined Fleet Command also followed it.^[4] In other words, the purpose of Operation AL was to build a patrol network in the North Pacific by establishing bases on Midway, Attu, and Kiska to monitor attacks on Japan mainland by US task forces. At the same time, it was intended to prevent advances of US air bases.

Eventually, it was determined that the Imperial Army would invade Attu Island and the Imperial Navy (Navy Maizuru Third Special Naval Landing Force) would invade Kiska Island. The army established the North Sea Detachment (Hokkai-shitai) on 5 May, headed by Major Matsutoshi Hozumi and consisting of approximately 1,000 men.^[5]

The order of operation was announced on 5 May.^[6] Hozumi was tasked to secure or destroy key points in the western part of the Aleutian Islands, and to make enemy mobility and air power advance in this area difficult. The finalized plan was to destroy Adak's military facilities and then withdraw. Next, the army troops were to invade Attu while the navy invaded Kiska.

Prior to the landings, air raids from carriers were to destroy the air force at Dutch Harbor.

In May 1942, the Japanese began near-simultaneous campaigns againstMidway and the Aleutians, thus beginning theAleutian Islands campaign. During theBattle of Midway, Japanese forces were repulsed in a decisive action. Meanwhile on 7 June, Japanese naval forces underBoshirō Hosogaya landed troops unopposed at Attu in conjunction with the same forces invading Kiska the previous day. A force consisting of 1,140 infantry under MajorMatsutoshi Hosumi took control of the island and captured Attu's population, which consisted of 42Aleuts and two white Americans,Charles Foster Jones (1879–1942), anamateur radio operator and weather reporter, originally fromSt. Paris, Ohio, and his wife Etta (1879–1965), a teacher and nurse, originally fromVineland, New Jersey.^[7] The village consisted of several houses aroundChichagof Harbor on the northeast side of the island.

The 41 Aleut inhabitants who survived the Japanese invasion were taken to a prison camp nearOtaru,Hokkaido. Sixteen of them died while they were imprisoned.^[8] Charles Jones was killed by the Japanese forces immediately after the invasion because he refused to fix the radio he destroyed to prevent the occupying troops from using it. His wife was subsequently taken to the Bund Hotel inYokohama, Japan, which housed Australian Rabaul New Britain nurses who had been taken prisoner during thecapture of Rabaul in early 1942.^[9] They were later transferred to the Yokohama Yacht Club and kept there until July 1944 when they were moved to the old Totsuka Hospital in Yokohama. The hospital served as an internment camp until the end of the war in August 1945. Etta Jones died in December 1965 at age 86 inBradenton, Florida.^[10]

After landing, the soldiers began constructing an airbase and fortifications. The nearest American forces were onUnalaska Island atDutch Harbor and at an airbase onAdak Island. Throughout the occupation, American air and naval forces bombarded the island. Initially the Japanese intended to hold the Aleutians only until the winter of 1942; however, the occupation continued into 1943 in order to deny the Americans use of the islands. In August 1942, the garrison at Attu was moved to Kiska to help repel a suspected American attack. From August to October 1942, Attu was unoccupied until a 2,900-man force under ColonelYasuyo Yamasaki arrived. The new garrison continued constructing the airfield and fortifications.

On 11 May 1943, units from 17th Infantry, of Major GeneralAlbert E. Brown's7th U.S. Infantry Division made amphibiouslandings on Attu to retake the island. On 12 May,I-31 was forced to surface five miles northeast ofChichagof Harbor, she was then sunk in a surfaceengagement withUSS Edwards.

Allied forces underGeneralJohn L. DeWitt took control of the island on 30 May after the remaining Japanese troops conducted a massivebanzai charge. American forces lost 549 killed and 1,148 wounded, with another 2,100 evacuated because of weather-related injuries. During the battle all but 29 men of the Japanese garrison were killed.

The occupation ended with an American victory and American forces deemed the half-completed airfield as not ideally situated. After building a new airfield, the Americans launched bomber attacks against theJapanese home islands for the remainder of the war.^[11]

Attu village was abandoned after the war, and surviving members of Japanese internment were moved to other islands after the war. In 2012, for the 70th anniversary of the occupation, a memorial to Attu village was dedicated at the former site of the town.

• Attacks on North America during World War II

• Fern Chandonnet (15 September 2007).Alaska at War, 1941–1945. University of Alaska Press. pp. 23–26.ISBN 978-1-60223-013-2.
• Diane Olthuis (1 July 2006).It Happened in Alaska. Globe Pequot Press. p. 119.ISBN 978-0-7627-3908-0.
• Paulin, Jim."Memorial placed in Attu honoring villagers". The Bristol Bay Times. Archived fromthe original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved3 March 2014.
• Mary Breu (2009).Last Letters from Attu. Alaska Northwest Books.ISBN 978-0-88240-810-1.
• Mason, Rachel. "Attu, A Lost Village of the Aleutians." Alaska Park Science, Volume 10, Issue 2
• Office of war history (1968a).Senshi-sosho [the Japanese War History Series Vol. 29. "Navy operations in the Northeastern"] (in Japanese). Asagumo Newspaper Publishing. Archived fromthe original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved27 August 2023.
• Office of war history (1968b).Senshi-sosho [The Japanese War History Series Vol. 21. "Army operations in the Northeastern <1> Attu’s Gyokusai"] (in Japanese). Asagumo Newspaper Publishing. Archived fromthe original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved27 August 2023.
• Kakizaki, Seiichi (1980).Private view on the Kiska invasion operation, in Military history of Kiska (edited by Kiska-kai) (in Japanese). Hara Shobou.

• 1942 in Alaska
• 1943 in Alaska
• Aleutian Islands campaign
• American theater of World War II
• Japanese military occupations
• World War II occupied territories
• Amphibious operations of World War II
• Attu Island
• Violations of medical neutrality during World War II

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