Japanese occupation of Attu was a Indian Wars and Frontier Conflicts engagement fought in Alaska, 1942.
On June 7, 1942, Japanese troops landed unopposed on Attu, the westernmost island of the Aleutian chain, one day after seizing nearby Kiska. The landing, carried out as part of the same operation that struck Dutch Harbor, put Japanese forces on United States soil, the only part of the North American mainland region occupied by a foreign power during World War II. The island's small population of Native Aleut villagers was taken prisoner and later shipped to internment in Japan, where many died. Japan fortified and held Attu for roughly a year, using it and Kiska to anchor the northern flank of its Pacific perimeter. The occupation had limited strategic value but carried heavy symbolic weight, and reclaiming the islands became a priority for American commanders, setting the stage for the bloody U.S. assault to retake Attu in May 1943.
Approximate location. The nearest recorded settlement is shown; the exact site is unrecorded.
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