 |
| US troops have raised
the Stars and Stripes but the battle is not
over |
| 1945: US flag raised over Iwo
Jima |
England have
US troops have raised the Stars and Stripes over Iwo Jima four days
after landing on the Japanese-held volcanic island.
The 28th Regiment of the 5th Marine Division took Mount Suribachi at
1030 local time.
The extinct volcano offers a strategic vantage point for the ongoing battle for
control of the island.
Lying in the north-west Pacific Ocean 650 miles (1,045 kms) from Tokyo,
Iwo Jima would serve as a useful base for long-range fighters to cover
B-29 Superfortresses in a bombing campaign against the Japan's capital.
Although the Stars and Stripes are flying over the island the battle is
far from over and the Japanese are reported to be defending every inch of
the island using elaborate underground defences.
The battle for Iwo Jima has been described as the toughest fight in US
Marine history by the commander of the Marines in the Pacific, Lt-General
M "Howling Mad" Smith.
On 19 February, after four days of naval and air bombardment had
pounded the beaches and weakened Japanese defences, the 4th and 5th Marine
Divisions landed on the south side of the island under the overall command
of Vice-Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner.
After a day of little resistance, the enemy fought back in earnest.
Hidden in fortified caves and pillboxes linked by a series of tunnels
they relentlessly attacked the Americans with artillery fire, grenades and
other explosives as well as from the air.
The last 24 hours have seen the fiercest fighting yet with every step
of the way up the mountain defended by the Japanese.
But by 1035 local time the Marines had reached the summit of Mt
Suribachi.
Reporting from the US base in Guam, Admiral Chester W Nimitz said so
far the battle had cost 5,372 casualties, including 644 dead, and that US
carrier-based aircraft flying over the Bonin Islands north of Iwo Jima had
destroyed three enemy planes.
Reuters news agency also reports Marines have finally reached the
Japanese fighter-plane base in the centre of the island, which lies just
700 yards (640m) from the bomber airfield taken by the Americans two days
ago.
