Original Items: Only One Available. The Battle of Iwo Jima arguably the most legendary battle of the Leapfrogging or "Island Hopping" strategy used by Allied forces in the Pacific. Less important islands were bypassed in favor of more strategically important island, saving much time and effort. The Japanese forces were heavily entrenched on the islands they held, and the time and human cost for even a small island would be huge, as the Japanese forces rarely surrendered.

During the Battle of Iwo Jima, out of 21,000 Japanese soldiers, only 216 were taken prisoner, mainly because they were unconscious and unable to resist. Of the 70,000 Marines that invaded, there were 26,000 casualties, including almost 7000 killed, making this the only battle where U.S. Marine Casualties exceeded the Japanese. It was an important island, but its capture came at a terrible cost.

What we have here is a paper ASSAULT MAP of the EAST BEACHES of Iwo Jima, marked at the top with the U.S. Marine Corps EGA insignia with SEMPER FIDELIS in a small banner above. It measures 20" wide by 18" tall, and includes much pertinent information related to the island and the fortifications. The map is graded as SECRET, with a note that it will become RESTRICTED once in the combat area, basically meaning that once in battle, lower ranked soldiers would then be able to look at it.

The approximate scale is 1:5,000, and the lower left corner indicates that the map was most recently updated with enemy defenses interpreted by the 4th Marine Division, November 1944. It shows items including Coastal Defense guns, Pillboxes, Barbed Wire, and even Tents seen during the last observation. This was the most accurate map when the battle began.

The map is in very good condition, though it has suffered wear from service and the years. It has some staining, as well as some small tears along the fold lines. There is the usual overall age toning as well. Also to make them easier to read, the numbers 165 and 166 were filled in with pencil at some point on the map.

A great piece of Pacific War History, ready to add to your collectin!

The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps and Navy landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. Lying roughly halfway between American Army Airforce bases in the Mariana Islands and the Japanese islands, the military base on Iwo Jima gave the Japanese an ability to send early air raid warnings to the Japanese mainland and launch fighters from its airfields to intercept raids. The American invasion, designated Operation Detachment, had the purpose of capturing the island with its two airfields: South Field and Central Field. The strategic objectives were twofold: the first was to provide an emergency landing strip for battle-damaged B-29s unable to make it back to US air bases in the Marianas Tinian, Saipan, Guam. The second was to provide air fields for fighter escorts, long-range P-51s, to provide fighter coverage to the bombers. The five-week battle saw some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War.

The IJA positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of tunnels. The American ground forces were supported by extensive naval artillery, and had complete air supremacy provided by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators throughout the battle.

Japanese combat deaths numbered three times the number of American deaths although, uniquely among Pacific War Marine battles, American total casualties (dead and wounded) exceeded those of the Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.

Joe Rosenthal's Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 169 m (554 ft) Mount Suribachi by six U.S. Marines became an iconic image of the battle and the American war effort in the Pacific.