When an elite American–Canadian commando unit
launched a heavy coastal barrage on the remote Alaskan island of Kiska,
they were ready and charged to reclaim the area from the Japanese invaders.
Operation Cottage began on the morning of August 15, 1943,
and the assault was one of only a few World War 2 battles fought on United States soil.
For two long days, the Allies made their way inland through a thick cloud of fog
while facing constant machine-gun and artillery fire, landmines, and booby traps.
Little did they know that the Japanese had left the island weeks before,
and the Allied soldiers were actually fighting against each other,
fending off extremely grueling conditions to secure a piece of land without an enemy…
The Chosen Ones
The First Special Service Force, or FSSF,
was an Allied regiment set up in 1942 for Operation Plough.
The objective was for the Allies to cross German-occupied Norway
via the country's snow-covered central plateau and destroy 14 hydroelectric
dams that supplied 50 percent of the nation's electricity and were thus vital to the Nazis.
As part of this hazardous mission, the men from the FSSF had to be able to thrive in
sub-zero temperatures, venturing into the icy land without getting noticed by the Nazis.
The United States Army posted recruitment letters in all the units from the Southwest
and Pacific coasts, calling for single men between the ages of 21 to 35
that were preferably hunters, rangers, lumberjacks, or woodsmen.
Due to the mission’s secrecy, the chosen men were told that they would form a parachute unit,
and as they were taken to the newly-constructed Fort William Henry Harrison outside of Helena
in Montana, the windows in the trains were blacked out with paint.
Meanwhile, Canadian Minister of National Defense James Ralston approved the assignment
of almost 700 men for Project Plough under the guise of a parachute battalion.
While the men would be part of the Canadian Army, the soldiers were supplied with equipment,
food, shelter, travel expenses, and uniforms paid for by the United States.
The original intention was to have equal numbers of American,
Canadian, and Norwegian troops, but there was a lack of suitable Scandinavian soldiers,
and only North Americans ended up making the Force.
By late July of 1942, the first American volunteers arrived in Montana,
followed by the Canadian troops in early August.
Getting Ready
The First Special Service Force was made up of three regiments,
each led by a lieutenant colonel, 32 officers, and a staff of 385 men.
Hoping to turn the FSSF into an exceptional light infantry force, leader Colonel Robert
T. Frederick prepared a rugged program consisting of cross-country marches, arduous mountaineering,
parachute training, and skiing lessons with Norwegian instructors.
However, due to logistical issues and a lack of aircraft, Operation Plough
was canceled in September of 1942, right before the cold weather hit the region.
Without a mission, and with the FSSF in danger of
collapse, Colonel Frederick then flew to Washington, D.C. to get a new assignment.
When the Army General decided that the FSSF should undergo amphibious training
and be evaluated by the Army Ground Forces command, the Force boarded five trains
and headed east to Camp Bradford in Virginia on April 6, 1943.
Once there, the FSSF learned how to board several Navy landing craft
and how to exit when the vessels hit the beach. The training was
carried out aboard the legendary USS Neversail, a landing craft mock-up.
After the training was over, the Force moved to Burlington, Vermont, for evaluation.
While there, they were tested on individual and team proficiency
in accordance with Army Ground Forces policy.
The Canadian and American troops also polished their raiding and reconnaissance skills while
in Vermont's Lake Champlain, passing every test with flying colors and proving that
they were not only capable of wintertime operations but also amphibious ones.
Finally, on June 9, the First Special Service Force received news that they
would be sent to support the Allied effort in the Japan-occupied Aleutian Islands in Alaska.
Japanese On American Soil
The Japanese forces had invaded and occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska between June
6 and 7 of 1942, hoping to draw US Naval strength away from the effort in Midway,
where the Imperial General Staff wanted to deliver a final blow.
Immediate Japanese plans for the Aleutians called for the construction of two airfields
to interdict Allied operations against the Japanese territory from the North Pacific.
However, when the Japanese lost the Battle of Midway, the two relatively small Japanese Army
and Navy garrisons in the Aleutians were subjected to a long and incredibly slow supply line.
The men were now forced to use picks and shovels without adequate construction
equipment to build airfields, but their efforts were futile.
Instead of an efficient attack platform,
the Aleutian island occupation quickly became a running sore for the Japanese, who now withered on
their icy and remote outposts and could do little more than wait for an inevitable Allied assault.
Operation Sandcrab
With most Allied operations occurring in North Africa and the Pacific, driving the Japanese
from their only hold on American land was not an immediate priority for the United States military,
and several proposals to reoccupy Alaska were rejected.
However, in May of 1943, and after several weather delays,
the Allies launched their first assault against the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands.
The operation's main target was the even more remote island of Attu,
one of the largest in the archipelago and nearly 1,100 miles from mainland Alaska.
Codenamed Operation Sandcrab, it was the only land battle of World War 2 fought on American soil.
Operation Sandgrab was set in motion on May 10, beginning with an amphibious assault
carried out by the 7th Infantry Division and supported by a strong Navy task force
and almost 200 Air Force aircraft.
The more than two-week-long battle ended on May 29, when between 700 and 1,000 Japanese troops
staged a last resort Banzai charge that broke through the American lines.
During the fierce hand-to-hand combat, the Japanese were utterly destroyed, with the Battle
of Attu ending with significant losses and injured soldiers, plus thousands hit by disease, mostly
trench-foot, a severe condition that develops from the feet being wet and cold for long periods.
Unusual Signals
The urgent need for units trained under harsh weather conditions
prompted the First Special Service Force to fight in Kiska.
To prepare for the battle, the Air Force dropped 424 tons of ordnance on top of Kiska in July,
while Navy vessels fired an additional 330 tons of shells onto the island.
Immediately after, air reconnaissance operations collected intelligence on
Kiska's occupiers as best as the island's notorious fog allowed.
The interpreters would then notice strange occurrences in the Aleutians.
According to air photo evidence, routine Japanese activities on the island appeared
to diminish significantly, including unrepaired bombed buildings and less anti-aircraft fire.
Then, on July 28, radio signals out of Kiska ceased entirely.
To many intelligence analysts, the mounting evidence suggested that the Japanese had
somehow slipped through the Allied naval blockade and evacuated Kiska. However,
the top commanders disagreed, believing that the enemy had simply taken to the upper elevations.
As such, Operation Cottage was approved on July 30, with D-day set for August 15 at 6:30am.
Operation Cottage
On the morning of August 15, 2,460 men approached the Aleutians
wearing winter-appropriate clothing and equipment.
The troops included elements from the First Special Service Force, the United
States 7th Infantry Division, the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division,
and the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade from the 6th Canadian Infantry Division.
While the early morning was clear and calm, the brief respite from fog and strong winds
did not completely protect the Allied assault force.
An inaccurate weather forecast caused several tank landing ships to get stuck due to the
beachhead’s submerged volcanic rock, causing a traffic jam and leaving many craft stranded.
The landing itself was unopposed, and the troops came ashore in different points of the island.
Even the infantry veterans who had been present at Attu believed that the lack
of Japanese forces on the beach meant they were on higher ground.
As the landing craft unjammed and moved onto the beach, the dense fog began to settle over Kiska.
The typical icy blanket of fog soon blocked all visibility,
and the Allied landing force had no shelter.
As night fell, the disoriented troops became desperate,
digging shallow foxholes in the rocky terrain and hoping that the next day would be clearer.
Nobody rested, as sporadic firing and muffled voices were heard from all directions,
only adding to the confusion.
The Hard Truth
As the sun rose the following day, the fog and cold weather remained while the infantry
began to climb into the islands' high grounds, with artillery fire roaring right behind them.
Meanwhile, naval support fire continued over the distance,
and rumors of firefights and Japanese sightings only grew stronger.
By mid-afternoon, some soldiers began to slowly reach the Japanese fortifications.
However, the Allies were shocked to find abandoned bunkers and entire caches of destroyed weapons,
contradicting the intelligence they had received and the persistent rumors between them.
At one point, a Canadian soldier shot at American lines mistaking them for Japanese,
causing a sporadic friendly fire that left over 30 fatalities and 50 wounded.
Progress was also hindered by landmines, timed bombs,
vehicle accidents, accidental ammunition detonations, and booby traps.
What’s more, three days after the initial landing,
Navy destroyer Amner Read struck a mine in the harbor, creating a lot of damage.
Two nerve-wracking days after landing on the rocky shores of Kiska,
the Allied soldiers emerged from their foxholes and surveyed the lonely area.
The embarrassing truth became evident: the Allies had just seized an uninhabited island.
Among the artifacts left behind by the Japanese were one stray dog, handmade booby traps,
and thousands of propaganda leaflets airdropped by United States Army Intelligence,
informing the Japanese that their situation was hopeless and demanding their surrender.
In total, the Allied forces suffered 92 fatalities and 221 wounded.
Escape From Kiska
The mystery surrounding the Kiska incident was not solved until after the war,
when the interrogation of Japanese officials revealed that the continued
Allied naval blockade on the island, along with relentless bombing by the Eleventh Air Force,
convinced the Japanese that a second Allied assault was imminent.
As such, the Imperial High Command reluctantly issued orders for the Kiska garrison to abandon
the island via submarine on May 19. However, that mission was aborted in
June when the submarines assigned for the retreat were sunk by Allied destroyers.
Thus, it was decided to evacuate Kiska using surface vessels as transports,
leaving a small force behind to destroy hard assets and plant the handmade booby traps.
On July 28, a Japanese task force composed of several cruisers and destroyers
slipped through the Allied naval blockade. Covered by the fog, the task force managed to extract over
5,000 Japanese troops in less than an hour, while the rear guard was later evacuated via submarine.
The Japanese evacuation of Kiska was a bold yet brilliant success, and although
Kiska was recaptured without opposition, it still came at a high cost for the Allies.
Operation Cottage had become a cautionary tale that illustrated
how no military mission is ever without risk, not even when there’s no enemy.
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