Marines land on Iwo Jima

19th February 1945: The suicidal resistance of the Japanese plunges the US invading force into some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific war

Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, taken on the morning of D-Day, 19 February 1945.

Amphibious tractors approaching Iwo Jima, February 1945.

An aerial view of the first assault waves approaching the beach at Iwo Jima.

The island of Iwo Jima, an isolated collection of rock and sand stuck out in the Pacific 660 miles from Japan, was the objective for Operation Detachment on 19th February. Iwo Jima had been comprehensively blasted by bombs and shells for the previous 74 days. The Marines who landed here today were to discover that all this explosive had had very little effect on reducing the enemy.

Tadamichi Kuribayashi (1891-1945).

The Japanese commander, General Kuribayashi had been preparing for this moment since June 1944. His intention was to inflict maximum casualties on the American forces in a defensive battle fought from 5,000 undergound bunkers and eleven miles of tunnel. He was to urge his troops to fight to the death:

Keep on fighting even if you are wounded in the battle. Do not get taken prisoner. At the end, stab the enemy as he stabs you.