WORLD WAR II NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS: 

THE ALEUTIAN CAMPAIGN 
The Aleutian Islands rise out of the ocean like an oasis of green in a world of gray. Summits of a submerged volcanic mountain range, 

the treeless islands served as a formidable World War II battleground from 1942 to 1943. Impenetrable fog and wild gusts of wind 

called "williwaws" were a common enemy of both American and Japanese forces and often determined the success of military maneuvers. 

The Aleutian campaign involved tens of thousands of U.S. land, sea, and air forces advancing progressively westward along the 1,100 

mile Aleutian arc to reach and successfully defeat Japanese troops occupying Attu and Kiska islands. The Japanese, befriended by a 

protective fog secretly evacuated Kiska Island prior to the U.S. invasion. Today five National Historic Landmarks commemorate the 

Aleutian campaign of World War II and the lives and events that forever changed these desolate beautiful islands. 

ARTWORK BY JAMES E. CREECH 
NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS 

The National Park Service administers the National Historic Landmarks (NHL) Program for the 

Secretary of the Interior. The NHL Program focuses attention on historic and archeological resources of 

exceptional value to the nation as a whole. NHLs are our Nation's most important prehistoric and historic 

cultural resources. Of the only 1,800 NHLs nationwide, 45 are in Alaska. 

NHLs evolve from theme studies or surveys of properties related to an aspect of American culture. The 

NHLs described in this brochure are part of the World War II theme, under the subtheme, the War in the 

Pacific 1941-1945. These NHLs are located in the spectacular Aleutian Islands, an 1,100 mile archipelago 

extending west off the Alaskan Peninsula. Many of these islands and three of the NHLs are part of the 

Aleutians Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

The preservation and protection of NHLs is essential for their survival. Federal law protects NHLs 

located on federal government land. Selling, receiving or transporting the resources within them is illegal. 

Damaging property within NHLs may also result in a felony conviction. Penalties from a conviction under 18 

USC 641, Theft of Federal Public Property, or 18 USC 1361, Malicious Mischief, include up to $250,000 in 

fines and/or up to ten years in prison. The Archeological Resource Protection Act (ARPA) of 1979 makes it 

illegal to excavate, remove or damage archeological sites on federal lands. 

You can help protect NHLs by reporting illegal activity within the Alaska Maritime National 

Wildlife Refuge to the United States Fish and Wild Service at (907) 592-2406 or the National Park Service 

at 1-800-478-2724. 
On August 15, 1943, United States and Canadian invasion troops disembarked at Kiska. It was not until three days later that troops 

learned the Japanese had deserted the island. 
HISTORICAL CONTEXT 

When, on December 7,1941 the Japanese first attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, there 

were only two small navy bases and army posts in all the Alaskan islands. One was on Kodiak Island 

and the other, known as Dutch Harbor, was on Amaknak Island in Unalaska Bay near Unalaska 

Island. Although Amaknak had little flat land, the anchorage at Dutch Harbor was the best in the 

Aleutians. Two outlying sites, Umnak Island to the south and Cold Bay to the north possessed the flat 

airstrip terrain for Dutch Harbor's aerial defense. 

As early as 1939 Congress was aware of the threat of Japanese hostilities in the Pacific and had 

approved plans for the establishment of seaplane and submarine bases at Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, 

Midway, and Wake. Navy command contracted the Siems-Drake-Puget Sound Construction Company 

to build both the navy and army installations at Fort Mears, Dutch Harbor, and on May 8, 1941 the 

first army troops arrived. 

American forces were not caught napping when the Japanese struck at Dutch Harbor on June 

3 and 4, 1942. All available planes of the Eleventh Air Force had been rushed to the secret airfields 

constructed at Fort Glenn on Umnak Island and Fort Randall at Cold Bay. The Japanese, thinking 

the nearest American airfield was on distant Kodiak, were surprised to be met by American planes. 

TheJapanese Aleutian Operation, commanded by Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya, was intended 

as a diversionary action. Even if it did not succeed in splitting the American Pacific Fleet and drawing 

American military forces way from Midway Island, it would result in American agitation and 

uncertainty. After the Japanese were defeated at Midway, the propaganda value of holding American 

soil in the Aleutians provided additional incentive for the Japanese invaders. Furthermore, the 

occupation and fortification of Kiska and Attn would provide patrol bases to protect the eastern 

extension of the Japanese empire. 
Japanese bombs destroyed barracks at Fort Meats during 

the June 3-4, 1942 attack, which killed 43 U. S. servicemen and 

wounded as many others. Before the attack, Navy command favored 

the large composite building designs of Detroit architect, 

Albert Kahn. After assessing bomb damage, army engineers 

expanded Fort Mears to Unalaska and Pyramid valleys with 

smaller 4 to 6 man cabanas, low frame buildings, and 

underground construction. 

Hundreds of Alaska Natives were evacuated from their Aleutian 

homes on Atka, the Pribilofs, Unalaska, Umnak, and Akutan 

to the unfamiliar forested coves of Southeast Alaska. Only 

half of the Aleuts returned to the Aleutians. Of the eight 

prewar villages, Attu village, and Biorka, Kashega, and Makushin 

on Unalaska were never resettled. 
DUTCH HARBOR NAVAL OPERATING BASE AND FORT 

MEARS, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK 

Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. 

Army NHL was designated in 1985. The NHL is located in the 

City of Unalaska, one of the most dynamic communities in 

southcentral Alaska and one of the largest U.S. fishing ports. In 

1989 approximately 65,000 visitors passed through Dutch Harbor 

Airport. The NHL includes the entire Amaknak Island with over 

140 contributing structures. Key defense post components of the 

"Iron Ring" were built into the precarious rock cliffs that crown 

the grand harbor of Unalaska Bay. The cantilevered concrete post 

at Ulakta Head is the highest ever built in the United States. 

Many World War II period buildings have been rehabilitated for 

commercial and private use. In 1989-90 the National Park 

Service conducted a review of the NHL boundaries to explore the 

historic integrity of surrounding sites on Unalaska and Hog 

islands. 

The Ounalashka Corporation privately owns most of the 

Dutch Harbor NHL. There are a total of three NHLs in Unalaska 

and the local community has a strong commitment to local history 

and Aleut culture. 

ACCESS: The Unalaska Airport has daily commercial flights to and from Anchorage. The Alaska 

Marine Highway operates ferry service to Unalaska from Homer from May to September. 

At peak operation in 1943, Dutch 

Harbor included a U.S. Navy base and 

Forts Mears, Schwatka, Brumback, and 

Leamard on Hog, Amaknak, and 

Unalaska islands with total facilities 

for over 10,000 men. The installations 

included a submarine base, catapult 

airstrip, and coastal defenses, it On 

June 3, and again on June 4, 1942, 

bombers and fighters based on 

Japanese carriers attacked Dutch 

Harbor. Weather made it impossible 

for American planes to destroy the 

Japanese carriers or their convoying 

warships, but it also prevented many 

Japanese planes from completing their 

mission, it After the attack, the U.S. 

Army and Navy evacuated hundreds of 

Aleut residents from Unalaska and 

surrounding villages in the Aleutian 

and Pribilof islands to southeast 

Alaska from the Dutch Harbor dock 

Many lost their homes and possessions 

from the U.S. military occupation. In 

the 1980s Congress awarded 

reparations to the Aleut for their losses. 
From the air, Cape Field runways provided unmistakable landing sites for World War II pilots. Circular revetments and fueling stations channeled air traffic 

on and off the busy runways. This photo, taken in 1960, shows the Birchwood hanger north of the runways and the density of surrounding construction. 

On the land between the creek beds hundreds of artillery bunkers stand empty. Snow-covered Mount Tulik in the background erupted in 1944. 
CAPE FIELD AT FORT GLENN NATIONAL HISTORIC 

LANDMARK 

Fort Glenn, on the northeast corner of Umnak Island, is the 

most intact World War II U.S. Army and Navy air base in the 

Aleutians. Centered around four historic runways of packed 

volcanic cinder and steel matting, Cape Field NHL, stretches for 

miles on the lava flats of the Okmok Volcano caldera. The NHL 

was designated in 1985. Black sand beaches outline the coastline 

around Fort Glenn. Nearby Ship Rock was a navigational marker 

for World War II pilots. Chernofski Harbor, twelve miles to the 

east on Unalaska Island, was the main supply port for Fort Glenn. 

Decommissioned in 1947, after several years as a supply and 

maintenance base, Fort Glenn NHL is a landscape of hundreds of 

weather-beaten World War II building prototypes. The wood and 

metal structures and buildings designed to adapt to the Aleutian 

climate, now compose a ghost town of World War II technology. 

Fort Glenn was an engineer's dream proving ground for tundra 

and airstrip construction. A colossal Birchwood-type hangar 

completed in 1944 stands as a reminder of Fort Glenn's air power. 

One of the three cinder runways remains in operation. Much of 

Fort Glenn's acreage is cattle and reindeer grazing land owned by 

the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. 

ACCESS: Charter flights for the Fort Glenn airstrip on Umnak can be arranged from Unalaska 

Airport. 

Fort Glenn was the first Alaska project 

commissioned after the United States 

entered the war in December 1941. 

Secretly built and disguised as a fish 

packing plant, Fort Glenn provided 

aerial defense for Dutch Harbor and 

was home base for the "Aleutian 

Tigers" of the Eleventh Air Force who 

staged the grueling 1,200 mile bombing 

raids on Kiska untilAdak airfield was 

ready, it In March 1942, aware that a 

Japanese attack on the Aleutians was 

probable, engineers and civilians raced 

against time to hand-fit 80,000 pieces 

of pierced steel matting in less than two 

weeks to construct Cape Field's first 

runway. Chernofski Harbor received 

all of Fort Glenn's incoming supplies. 

Barges shuttled the supplies to 

Umnak's beaches, it On June 3 and 4, 

1942, U.S. fighter pilots took off from 

Cape Field in pursuit of Japanese 

planes attempting to return to their 

carriers after the attack on Dutch 

Harbor. 
An American fleet gathered in Kuluk Bay, off Adak, in preparation for the Kiska invasion on August 15, 1943. In the background are the two runways 

composing Adak's original airfield, Davis Field. 
ADAK ARMY BASE AND ADAK NAVAL OPERATING BASE 

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK 

Adak Army Base and Adak Navy Base NHL is located 

within the Aleutians Unit of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge 

and the modern Adak Naval Air Station. During World War II, 

the army and naval bases on Adak Island served as crucial 

stepping stones between American bases on Umnak and Unalaska 

and Japanese occupied Kiska and Attu. Black sand beaches are 

reminders of the island's ancient volcanos. Adak's precarious 

geography and maritime climate make it one of the most 

challenging locations for an active air base. Despite restricted 

access to the Naval Air Station and thus the NHL, the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service Refuge Visitor Center on Adak receives over 

14,000 visitors a year. The Adak Historical Society manages the 

Adak Museum. 

Adak NHL, designated in 1986, is the historic foot print of 

the existing naval base and includes the landscapes of Marshall 

and Davis airfields, Adak Chapel, and Sweeper Cove. The U.S. 

Navy, in support of the NHL, restored Adak Chapel, and in 1990 

initiated the Adak historic marker project. 

ACCESS: Military clearance is required to visit Adak Island- For information contact: Alaska 

Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Aleutian Islands Unit, Box 5251, NAS FPO Seattle, Washington 

98791. Phone: (907) 592-2406. 

Wading through icy surf and battling 

wild Aleutian winds, on June 30, 1942, 

American forces unloaded the 

tremendous amount of equipment and 

supplies needed to construct an airfield. 

The men dug holes in the ground for 

protection against wind, rain, and cold. 

Engineer troops drained and leveled a 

tidewater flat and creek bed and 

installed a runway of steel matting in 

an incredible twelve days. By September 

12, planes were taking off. Two days 

later the first Liberators flew from 

Adak to bomb Kiska. The Japanese 

bombed Adak in retaliation but did 

little damage. American and Canadian 

forces continued to bomb and strafe 

Kiska and Attu from Adak, and later 

Amchitka, whenever weather permitted, 

whittling down Japanese air strength as 

fast as new planes could be brought in. 
On May 14, 1943, American soldiers carry a casualty back to the beach. Attn was reclaimed at the cost of 549 American lives and 1,148 wounded. The 

Japanese lost their entire garrison of approximately 2,350 men, with the exception of twenty-nine men taken prisoners. 
ATTU BATTLEFIELD AND U.S. ARMY AND NAVY 

AIRFIELDS NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK 

Attu Island, administered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge, is the last 

island in the arc of the Aleutian Chain. The NHL was 

designated in 1985. World War II remnants of both the 

Japanese and American occupation constitute the NHL's 

historic landscape and are protected by federal law. The 

historic beach road offers panoramic views of the NHL as it 

curves around Massacre Bay from Alexai Point to Casco 

Cove. A war monument in both Japanese and English stands 

in memory of the many lives lost in 1943. 

Attu is world renown for its North American and 

Asiatic migrating bird populations and is a popular spring 

destination for many bird watchers. The Aleut village of 

Attu was destroyed during the war and never reestablished. 

The U.S. Coast Guard stations twenty-four men on Attu year 

round to operate a long-range navigation station. There are 

no transient or maintenance services on the island. 

ACCESS: Military clearance is required to visit Attu Island. For information contact: 

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Aleutian Islands Unit, Box 5251, NAS FPO 

Seattle, Washington 98791. Phone: (907) 592-2406. 

In June 1942, the Japanese captured all of the 

forty-three Aleut occupants of the village of 

Attu along with Mrs. Etta Jones, a teacher for 

the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mr. Charles 

Foster Jones, was the only American to be 

killed during the Japanese invasion of the 

Western Aleutians. The Japanese shipped the 

Attuan prisoners and Mrs. Jones to Japan 

where they were to spend the remainder of the 

war. it American forces landing on Attu on 

May 11, 1943, met determined resistance. 

The U. S. Seventh Infantry Division fought a 

bloody and costly three-week battle against the 

approximately 2,350 men of the Japanese 

North Sea Garrison on Attu. A last attempt 

to aid the Attu garrison by a formation of 

sixteen Japanese bombers was blocked by 

Eleventh Air Force fighters. Fighting finally 

came to an end when the last 750 or so 

surviving Japanese soldiers charged through 

American lines in a frenetic bonzai attack 

The next day, May 30, the Japanese 

announced the loss of Attu. 
In the background of this photo, taken in September 1943, are two Japanese midget "Sydney" type submarines, found by reoccupation troops outside of a 

battered submarine shed on Kiska. The one-man subs measured just under 80' long and were powered by storage batteries. 
JAPANESE OCCUPATION SITE, KISKA ISLAND 

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK 

Kiska Island, one of the western islands in the Rat Island 

group, is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge 

and administered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Adak. The 

NHL was designated in 1985. 

When the Japanese evacuated the island in 1943 they 

left behind an entire settlement and naval wreckage 

accumulated after a year of intense bombings by joint American 

and Canadian forces. In 1989 the National Park Service, in 

cooperation with the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, and other governmental agencies conducted a three 

week underwater archeological survey of Kiska Harbor and 

terrestrial surveys of land-based World War II artifacts. The 

project received international media attention. 

Kiska supports the largest auklet population in the 

Aleutians. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts regular 

bird migration surveys on the island. In the 1980s U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service included Kiska in the experimental fox 

removal project to protect native bird species, especially the 

Aleutian Canada geese. Today U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

reports that Kiska is fox free. 

ACCESS: Military clearance is required to visit Kiska Island. For information contact: Alaska 

Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Aleutian Islands Unit, Box 5251, NAS FPO Seattle, 

Washington 98791. Phone: (907) 592-2406. 

When on June 6, 1942, Japanese forces 

landed on Kiska, the only occupants were 

a ten-man U.S. Navy weather observation 

team. Within a few days, the Japanese 

captured all of the men except 

Aerographer's Mate F/C William Charles 

House, who held out for fifty days before 

starvation forced him to surrender, it 

Japanese troops occupied Kiska for more 

than fourteen months with a peak garrison 

of more than 8,000 men. Following the 

loss ofAttu, Japanese command realized 

the precarious position of their Kiska 

forces. On July 28, 1943, Japanese ships 

evaded detection and snuck into Kiska 

Harbor under the cover of fog evacuating 

all of the approximately 5,100 troops in 

less than an hour. The fleet sailed away 

undetected and without a single loss of 

life, it On August 15,1943, United States 

and Canadian troops landed on Kiska. 

Invasion command did not realize until 

August 18 that the Japanese had fled. In 

the process of recapturing the deserted 

island, over 313 American and Canadian 

soldiers died, some from "friendly fire" and 

many others from booby traps and mines. 
CHRONOLOGY OF THE ALEUTIAN CAMPAIGN 

December 7, 1941 

March 31 , 1942 

June 3, 1942 

June 6, 1942 

June 7, 1942 

August 30, 1942 

September 14, 1942 

September 20, 1942 

January 12, 1943 

February 21 , 1943 

May 11, 1943 

May 29, 1943 

May 30, 1943 

July 10, 1943 

July 28, 1943 

August 15, 1943 

Hostilities begin in the Pacific 

Runway complete at Fort Glenn 

Japanese attack Dutch Harbor 

Japanese forces occupy Kiska 

Japanese forces occupy Attu 

American forces occupy Adak 

Planes from Adak begin to bomb Kiska 

American forces occupy Atka 

American forces occupy Amchitka 

Planes from Amchitka begin to bomb Kiska 

American forces land on Attu 

Last Japanese attack crushed on Attu 

Occupation of Attu completed 

First American raid on Paramushiru 

Japanese evacuate Kiska 

Allied forces occupy Kiska 

CREDITS 

This brochure was prepared by the National Park Service and funded by the Unalaska Aleut Development 

Corporation through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. Cover painting entitled "The 

Volcano Seen Through the Swirling Fog from the C.P. Near Quisling Cove," by George Earle is courtesy of the 10th 

Mountain Division Resource Center, The Denver Public Library, Western History Department. The artist served with 

the U.S. 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment on Kiska in 1943. Inside photos courtesy of Archives and Manuscript 

Department, University of Alaska, Anchorage, except photo of Cape Air Force Station, courtesy of Alaska Air 

Command. 

This brochure was inspired by the October 1943 publication "The Battle of the Aleutians..." written by Cpls. 

Dashiell Hammett and Robert Colodny.