Battle of Attu
In June 1942 during World War II, the Japanese attacked Unalaska to the East and had also seized Attu and Kiska islands, to the west. Residents of Umnak Island were evacuated to the Ketchikan area in far southeastern Alaska, although an American airstrip and military base on the north of the island, Fort Glenn Army Air Base (abandoned by 1950) repelled Japanese forces. The Battle of Attu and associated campaigns in 1943 recaptured the lost islands to the west. Nikolski locals returned in 1944, but some had experienced the outside world for the first time and since then, many natives have remained offshore, working in canneries or on fishing vessels. The US Air Force built a White Alice radar communication site on the edge of town in the 1950s, but it was abandoned by 1977. A 3,500 foot gravel runway, the unattended Nikolski Air Station remains, and there are passenger, mail and cargo services depending on the harsh weather conditions. Nikolski has no harbour.