Battle of Iwo Jima order of battle

The Japanese military was determined to inflict a casualty rate so high that the U.S. government would give up its demand that Japan surrender unconditionally.

The United States Navy subjected the island to an unprecedented bombardment and, according to historian Samuel Eliot Morison, "In no previous operation in the Pacific had naval gunfire support been so effective as at Iwo Jima.

"[1] Nonetheless, Japanese artillery and machine-gun fire were extremely effective because the underground bunkers were so strong, only a direct hit by a bomb or naval shell could knock one out.

United States Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz HQ at Pearl Harbor Expeditionary Troops (Task Force 56) Lieutenant General Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith[a] V Amphibious Corps Major General Harry Schmidt Left landing area (Green and Red Beaches): Right landing area (Yellow and Blue beaches): Floating reserve: Lieut.

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, commanding Colonel Tadashi Takaishi, chief of staff 21,060 total men under arms Army Navy Orders of battle involving United States Marine forces in the Pacific Theatre of World War II:

LST-944 on Yellow Beach, Iwo Jima with fleet tug Zuni alongside
5th Marine Division command post on Iwo Jima; at left is Asst. Div. Cmdr. Leo D. Hermle with Div. Cmdr. Keller E. Rockey holding a field telephone
A Marine Corps howitzer at the moment of firing
Jeeps firing 4.5-inch rockets at Japanese positions
Men of the 4th Marine Division pinned down on the beach at Iwo Jima; LSM-46 is visible in the background
Japanese gun emplacement lightly damaged by bombardment; Marines still had to enter the enclosure and kill the troops inside.
Black Marines with DUKW at Iwo Jima
3rd Marine Division officers on Iwo Jima: (l. to r.) Col. Robert W. Hogaboom, Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine, Col. John B. Wilson
Marines firing a 155mm howitzer
Fierce combat continued as Airfield No. 1 was scraped and graded.
Lieut. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi