The capture of the island was to ensure the Americans an air base only 1,200 kilometers from Tokyo. Until then, bombing missions had started from the Mariana Islands more than 5,000 kilometers from Japan:a distance that made escorting fighters impossible; heavy losses followed among the B-29 superfortresses.
Iwo Jima was also an indispensable link in the air defense line of the Marianas. So the island had to be taken and permanently occupied. Finally last consideration. Iwo Jima was traditionally a Japanese-administered territory from Tokyo; his fall would deal a severe blow to the enemy's morale.
Such blows were important. The Japanese had expanded their empire at lightning speed. In the first five months of 1942, they had seized territory stretching from Burma in the west, through the archipelago formed by Malaya, to the Gilbert and Marshall Islands groups in the Pacific. central. Controlling these microscopic creatures gave them control of the air in the surrounding area, essential mail for controlling the seas.
The Americans reacted in two ways They set up forces (based on fast aircraft carriers) capable of putting air supremacy in Japan They designed, on the other hand, advanced amphibious assault techniques, which were going to allow the establishment bases the islands. Ground targets were of such small size that the attacks born to take them were reduced. made, to assaults against fiat positions; the landing was not a classic preliminary operation. the battle itself.
The Naval Victory of the Coral Sea. May 7, 1942, and, a month later, that of Midway, on June 4 and 5, marked the beginning of a turnaround in favor of the Americans.
On August 7, 19,000 Marines, under the command of Major General Alep der A. Vandegrift, landed at Gu Canal, in the southern Solomon Islands. The operation surprised the local Japanese command and no amphibious assault was necessary. However, on the neighboring island of Tulagi. he Marines had to fight fiercely:in addition to the local garrison; they thus learned that the Japanese soldier, placed in a desperate situation, was fighting until the last breath rather than surrender.