| Original caption: “Adak Harbor in the Aleutians, with part of the huge United States fleet at anchor, ready to move against Kiska.” When United States Army Lieutenant General Simon B. Buckner Junior (July 18, 1886 – June 18, 1945) had flown over Adak a year earlier, there had been nobody on the island. Now its population was 90,000. A city had risen by Kuluk Bay; the harbor was crowded with more than a 100 ships. Back down the line – Atka, Umnak, Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay, Kodiak, Anchorage – a quarter of a 1,000,000 Allied servicemen provided support for the impending assault. The hard lessons of Attu had impressed United States Navy Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid (April 3, 1888 – November 17, 1972) and his commanders. This time, there would be a sufficient force, adequate equipment, and the proper clothing and food to complete the job correctly. The force would include 15,000 Californians, about half of them the 7th Infantry Division’s surviving Attu veterans; it would consist of more than 5,000 men from Buckner’s Alaskan 4th Regiment; 5,000 men of the 87th Mountain Combat Team, trained to fight the anticipated winter campaign in Italy; 5,300 troops of the 13th Royal Canadian Infantry Brigade; and 2,500 paratroops of a guerrilla unit of the “Devil’s Brigade,” the 1st Special Service Force. Altogether, Invasion Force Kiska numbered 34,426 combat troops. Royal Canadian Army Major General George R. Pearkes (February 28, 1888 – May 30, 1984), Commanding General of the Canadian Army Pacific Command, led the Canadian brigade. Many of the soldiers were conscripts, drafted “for home defense only,” and Ottawa had had to issue a highly unpopular order for their use in the Aleutians. Some of the units were English-speaking, such as the Rocky Mountain Rangers, the Winnipeg Grenadiers, and the Canadian Fusiliers, while others, like Le Régiment de Hull, spoke French. Thrown into training at Adak with American staff and soldiers, the Canadians found the differences vast — not only in language, but in equipment, terminology, organization, and even insignia of rank. In their black berets, the Canadians decided to adopt American insignia to end the confusion; Royal Canadian Army Lance Corporals and Lieutenants blossomed forth in stripes and bars in addition to their own crowns and pips. By the time they boarded their ship for the assault, the Canadians were equipped with their own battle dress and shoes, as well as American cold-weather gear and artillery, and a mixture of rifles and other equipment. The Army issued a 52-page Soldier’s Manual to all troops. Based on the experience of Attu, it was a guide to survival in the Aleutians. It discussed topics such as feet, blood, foxholes, food, methods to stay warm and dry, and strategies for fighting. Some of the veteran soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division did not need to be told. Among them were United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Wayne C. Zimmerman (January 15, 1897 – December 23, 1983), 17th Infantry Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Albert Hartl (October 21, 1911 – January 9, 1995), with their commands from Attu. At a higher level, Major General Charles H. “Cowboy Pete” Corlett, who had served under Buckner at Kodiak, would command the ground forces. United States Navy Rear Admiral Francis W. “Skinny” Rockwell (July 2, 1886 – January 2, 1979) would command the naval force, as he had at Attu; Kinkaid would command the entire operation. United States Army Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt (9 January 1880 – 20 June 1962) and United States Marine Corps Major General Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith (April 20, 1882 – January 12, 1967), advised the operation from the West Coast of the United States. Buckner exercised overall command from Adak. Since the operation would mark an important milestone on the road to Tokyo, a high-ranking representative from stateside command was on the scene in the person of Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989). Equipped with new Arctic gear, the force trained at Adak, practiced amphibious landings from Infantry Landing Craft (ILCs) and Tank Landing Craft (LCTs), and became accustomed to muskeg travel, the navigation of peat bogs in Alaska. Planners studied the map of Kiska, based on aerial photos and a chart made in 1935 by USS Oglala (CM-4), and made plaster models of the island for unit commanders and troops to study. The force left Adak on August 13, 1943. More than a 100 warships supported the transports. The day before, the Navy had shelled Kiska with 60 tons, and the Air Force had dropped a 100 tons on the island. Support forces stood ready – Eareckson would be Forward Air Control, Wernick and Ramputi his bomber commanders in the air. Squeaky Anderson would run supply distribution at the main beachhead. Consolidated PBY Catalina reconnaissance aircraft and PT Boats would stand by for rescue and ferry duty. D-Day was August 15. On the eve of the assault, the transports gathered off Kiska in a light fog. Soldiers sharpened bayonets, cleaned rifles, repacked field packs, and studied maps – General Corlett sent a staff lieutenant on the run to find a set of colored pencils to mark his maps. Loudspeakers announced briefing hours. Before dawn, battleships and cruisers drummed vast broadsides onto the island. Minesweepers prowled into the harbor. On their transports, combat troops were awakened and served a steak dinner. On the unstable Tank Landing Ships (LSTs), many were too nervous or too seasick to eat. It was assumed that by the end of the fight for Kiska, 1 out of every 5 men in the 1st assault waves would be dead. 1st to hit the Kiska shore were the recon patrols of the Alaska Scouts, led by United States Army Colonel William J. Verbeck (January 20, 1904 – November 4, 1965), and the 1st Special Service Force, led by Colonel Robert T. Frederick (March 14, 1907 – November 29, 1970), at Gertrude Cove. Frederick earned the dubious distinction of being the 1st American to set foot on Kiska since the departure of United States Navy Chief Aerographer’s Mate William C. House a year ago. Verbeck’s and Frederick’s missions were similar to Willoughby’s at Attu: they were to explore the island, cross its length, and join up with the main force. When Verbeck came ashore, a fox barked, and a few birds flapped up into the foggy dawn. Verbeck found a deserted machine-gun nest above the beach and told his men, “There’s nobody here anyway. Let’s get across the island.” They walked into the mountains, investigated caves and ravines, and found nothing but destroyed equipment and a cache of bamboo gin, which they appropriated. “We had a high old time on the way,” recalls Alaska Scout Sergeant Joe “Gentleman” Kelly (???? – ????), a miner from Fairbanks, Alaska. At the main beach, 7,300 combat troops landed without trouble. Their only encounters with living creatures were with a half dozen dogs, 1 of which wagged its tail and ran up to Ensign William C. Jones (May 5, 1906 – March 30, 1959). The uncanny meeting stunned Jones with amazement: the dog was the same pup he had given to the 10-man Kiska weather-station crew 15 months ago. Jones never learned how “Explosion” had survived the endless bombardments of Kiska. Through the rest of that day, August 15, soldiers moved into the foggy mountains. The “fanatical” Japanese would never risk loss of face by withdrawing without a fight, the soldiers thought. They were up there in the hills, they felt, saving their ammunition, waiting to ambush them. They were not dissuaded by United States Army Air Force Colonel William O. “Eric” Eareckson (May 30, 1900 – October 25, 1966), who buzzed the mountain in his bomber, despite fog, and muttered into his radio that he would give a case of good Scotch to anybody who could find 1 single Japanese on the island. It was a big island. The troops climbed slowly and settled down at sunset. Here and there, a boot touched off a mine or booby-trap. The explosions startled the soldiers, who began firing into the fog. United States Army Lieutenant Brian Murphy (May 1, 1919 – August 21, 2011) recalled, “That night we heard a lot of shooting in the hills. The troops were shooting at anything that moved.” Spordiac volleying kept up all night. In the morning, a 2nd considerable landing force landed on a beach a few miles from the volcano. United States Army Brigadier General Joseph L. Ready (November 17, 1895 – February 14, 1955), the commander, had never been in combat. The men fanned into the fog in battalion columns of approach (like the parallel fingers of a probing hand). The probes found each other and started shooting in the fog. 1 infantryman attacked an “enemy” patrol, whose members shouted at him to stop. When he began to throw grenades, he was shot down. In Sergeant Arthur Brindel’s (February 2, 1919 – December 4, 1943) 1st Special Service Force patrol, an automatic rifle broke a pin and fired off a full magazine of ammunition by itself. 24 men were shot to death by their own comrades in the fog. Booby-traps and mines killed 4 others. 50 were wounded – boobytrapped or shot by mistake. 130 men contracted trench foot. Patrolling destroyer USS Abner Read (DD-526) struck a Japanese mine moored in a Kiska cove. It crushed her stern plates and filled her hold with asphyxiating smoke. Several men died there, and then the ship’s stern broke off and sank, carrying men down. The final toll from Abner Read was 71 dead, 34 injured. By August 18, 1943, General Corlett was confident the enemy was nowhere on Kiska. However, a radiogram from the War Department insisted that a doctor who had visited Kiska in 1902 had seen mountain caves big enough to hide whole combat divisions. Corlett kept his disgusted soldiers searching for those caves until August 22, the 8th day of the invasion, but all they found were a few foxes and a few more dogs. Not until after the war would the Americans learn how and when the Japanese had evacuated Kiska. “You are dancing by foolish order of Rousebelt,” said the scrawled message on an underground barracks wall.” We shall come again and kill Yanki-joker.” Japanese food stood congealed on mess hall plates. The Americans explored the miles and miles of tunnels with head-shaking amazement. Bomb-disposal teams took booby-traps apart; Navy divers salvaged an I-class submarine from the harbor bottom for study; crews gathered the remains of midget submarines, wrecked airplanes, guns, vehicles, and a host of other equipment. Photographer United States Navy Lieutenant Commander Horace Bristol (November 16, 1908 – August 4, 1997) was part of Lieutenant Commander Edward Steichen’s (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) Navy Photographic Unit. He went north to follow the Navy’s campaign against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, and was present for the aftermath of the battle for Attu in May. He remained in the Aleutians, photographing the preparations for the Kiska invasion. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1472.jpg |
| Image Size | 835.33 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2541 x 1986 |
| Photographer | Horace Bristol |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 10, 1943 |
| Location | Adak |
| City | Aleutians |
| State or Province | Alaska |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-80-G-475436 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database