Battle of Iwo Jima Campaign.On the Beaches

DATE: 01/02/2026

TIME (GMT): 19:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Iwo Jima

TYPE: COOP

TEAMSPEAK: ts1.biaarma.com

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Aris and Lord for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 74 / 114

RATING: not rated yet! (0)

The Battle of Iwo Jima 19 February – 26 March 1945 was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field.

The Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km of tunnels.American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery, and enjoyed complete air supremacy provided by US Navy and Marine Corps aviators throughout.The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.

Unique among Pacific War battles involving amphibious island landings, total American casualties exceeded those of the Japanese, with a ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese.Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some only captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled.Most Japanese were killed in action, but it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within various cave systems on the island after most major fighting ended, until they eventually succumbed to their injuries or surrendered weeks later.

The invasion of Iwo Jima was controversial, with retired Chief of Naval Operations William V. Pratt stating that the island was useless to the Army as a staging base and useless to the Navy as a fleet base.The island airfield did support P-51 Mustang long-range escort fighters to protect B-29 Superfortress bombers en route to Japan, and also for emergency landings of B-29s, although these were of limited value late in the war.The Japanese continued to maintain early-warning radar capabilities on the island of Rota, which was never invaded by American forces.

Experiences with previous Pacific island battles suggested that the island would be well-defended and that seizing it would result in significant casualties. Lessons learned on Iwo Jima served as guidelines for American forces in the Battle of Okinawa two months later and the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland.

In June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. Kuribayashi knew that if the Americans decided to land on Iwo Jima, his garrison could not win the battle, but he hoped to inflict massive casualties on the American forces so that the United States, and its Australian and British allies, might reconsider carrying out an invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Drawing inspiration from Japanese defensive tactics used in the Battle of Peleliu, Kuribayashi designed a defensive strategy that broke with traditional Japanese military doctrine. Rather than establishing defenses on the beach to contest the landings directly, he opted for defenses in depth. Kuribayashi s troops constructed a complex system of mutually-supporting fortifications, often linked by a vast tunnel system, equipped with heavy machine guns and artillery. Takeichi Nishi armored tanks were camouflaged and used as static artillery positions. Because the tunnel linking Mount Suribachi to the rest of the island was never completed, Kuribayashi organized the southern area of the island in and around the mountain as a semi-independent sector, with his main defensive zone built up in the north. The expected American naval and air bombardment prompted the creation of an extensive network of tunnels connecting otherwise disparate fighting positions, so that a pillbox that had been cleared could be later reoccupied. This network of bunkers and pillboxes was designed for protracted resistance. For instance, the Nanpo Bunker (Southern Area Islands Naval Air HQ) east of Airfield Number 2, had enough food, water, and ammunition for the Japanese to hold out for three months. The bunker was 90 feet underground with tunnels running in various directions. Approximately five hundred 55-gallon drums filled with water, kerosene, and fuel oil for generators were stored inside the complex. Gasoline-powered generators allowed for radios and lighting to be operated underground.

By the time the Americans invaded on 19 February 1945, 18 km of a planned 27 km of tunnels had been dug. Besides the Nanpo Bunker, there were numerous other command centers and barracks 75 feet below ground. Tunnels allowed for troops to move undetected between defensive positions.Hundreds of hidden artillery and mortar positions were placed all over the island, and many areas extensively mined. Among the Japanese weapons were 320 mm spigot mortars and a variety of explosive rockets. Nonetheless, the Japanese supply situation was inadequate. Troops were supplied 60% of the ammunition normally considered sufficient for single engagement by one division, and food for no more than four months.

Numerous Japanese sniper nests and camouflaged machine gun positions were set up. Kuribayashi engineered the defenses so that every part of Iwo Jima was subject to Japanese defensive fire. He also received a handful of kamikaze pilots to use against the enemy fleet their attacks during the battle killed 318 American sailors. However, against his wishes, Kuribayashi s superiors on Honshu ordered him to erect some beach defenses.

Major General Harry Schmidt, commander of the Marine landing force, requested a 10-day heavy bombardment of the island immediately preceding his planned amphibious assault. However, Rear Admiral William H. P. Blandy, commander of the Amphibious Support Force (Task Force 52), believed that such a bombardment would not allow him time to replenish his ships ammunition before the landings he thus refused Schmidt s request. Schmidt then asked for nine days of shelling, Blandy again refused and insisted upon a three-day bombardment. This decision was resented among the Marines in the landing force. After the war, Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, commander Expeditionary Troops (Task Force 56, which consisted of Schmidt s Fifth Amphibious Corps), bitterly complained that a frequent lack of supporting naval gunfire had cost Marine lives throughout the Allied island-hopping campaign On 17 February 1945 the destroyer escort USS Blessman deployed Underwater Demolition Team 15 (UDT-15) onto Iwo Jima Blue Beach for reconnaissance. They were spotted by Japanese infantry and fired upon, killing one American diver. On the evening of 18 February, Blessman was hit with a bomb by Japanese aircraft, killing 40 sailors, including 15 members of the UDT.

During the night of 18 February 1945, Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher large carrier force, Task Force 58, arrived off Iwo Jima. Also in this flotilla was Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, the overall commander for the invasion, in his flagship USS Indianapolis.

At 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, the first wave of Marines landed on the beaches of the southeastern coast of Iwo Jima. Under Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, six Navajo code talkers worked around the clock during the first two days of the battle. These six men sent and received over 800 messages, all without error. Connor later stated, Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.

Unfortunately for the landing force, the planners at Pearl Harbor severely misjudged the situation that would face Schmidt s Marines. The beaches had been described as excellent, and the thrust inland expected to be easy. The apparent lack of a vigorous Japanese response to the landings led the Navy to conclude that its bombardment had effectively suppressed the Japanese defenses. The Marines initially began deployment on the beach in good order,but the landings swiftly became congested due to the loose volcanic ash covering the island. After allowing the Americans to concentrate men and materiel on the beach for just over an hour, throughout which they maintained cohesive fire discipline, the Japanese opened fire. Shortly after 10.00 machine guns, mortars, and heavy artillery began to rain down on the crowded beach.

At first it came as a ragged rattle of machine-gun bullets, growing gradually louder and fiercer until at last all the pent-up fury of a hundred hurricanes seemed to be breaking upon the heads of the Americans. Shells screeched and crashed, every hummock spat automatic fire and the very soil underfoot erupted with hundreds of exploding land mines.Marines walking erect crumpled and fell. Concussion lifted them and slammed them down, or tore them apar.

We are the 5th Marine Division stranded on the Red Beach by continuous bombardment by artillery located on Mount Suribachi.