The Battle of Iwo Jima ─ Raising the Flag, February-march 1945

The Japanese defenders, however, were prepared. The enemy garrison had heavily fortified Iwo Jima with a network of bunkers, caves and dugouts, hidden artillery positions and more than ten miles of underground tunnels that proved difficult to locate and destroy. The following thirty-six days saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific campaign, resulting in more than 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the assault, only 216 were taken prisoner during the battle.

The capture of Iwo Jima, revealed here through a remarkable collection of archive images, was declared complete on the morning of 26 March 1945. The battle also resulted in one of the most iconic images to emerge from World War II--the raising of the American flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi. The Battle of Iwo Jima features images from the initial landings through the bitter fighting that followed for each yard of the island.