Operation Cottage

Operation Cottage was a joint American-Canadian plan to complete the recapture of the Aleutian Islands from the Japanese in 1943. Allied military forces landed on Kiska Island, which had been occupied by Japanese forces since June 1942. However, the Japanese had secretly abandoned the island two weeks earlier, and so the Allied landings were unopposed. Allied forces suffered over 500 casualties during the operation from Japanese mines and booby traps, friendly fire incidents, and vehicle accidents. Background The Japanese under Captain Takeji Ono had landed on Kiska on June 6, 1942 with 500 men of the Special Naval Landing Forces. Soon after arrival, they stormed a United States weather station, where they killed two United States Navy officers. Eight other officers were captured and sent to Japan as prisoners of war. Another 2,000 Japanese landed in Kiska Harbor under Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama. In December 1942, additional anti...