IWO JIMA PHOTOS - JUNE 1945

[Steindaddie]

Today, I acquired about 80 photos taken after the battle for Iwo Jima. Here are a few. The captioned photo reads: "The whole volcano is honeycombed with caves and tunnels where the Japs hid for months" This would be, of course, Mt Suribachi.

[Steindaddie]

Pictures taken from Suribachi and one of the landing beach with wrecked LST's. The caption on the back of the photo reads: "This is a view from Mt. Suribachi the volcano....All volcanic ash nothing growing sulphur fumes etc. (When) we lived here first, Japs were still in the caves in the Mt. from which this was taken" Note the pic was processed on Iwo Jima

[Steindaddie]

Someone found a samurai sword, and a skull & helmet too. Japanese dead.

[Steindaddie]

More Japanese dead and a tank. Lots of Japanese bunkers that have been found - note how bulldozers have scraped away the ash/soil around them leaving the structures high and dry.

[Steindaddie]

A very smashed up LST, quonsets, various shots of the beaches with Suribachi

[Steindaddie]

A wrecked B-25, the entrance to General Kuribayashi's cave, the gates of the cemetaries for the 3rd and 5th marine Divisions. The 3rd Div photo is back captioned: "This is the gate to the Third Marine cemetary. Note the black volcanic ash, ocean in the background" The caption for the 5th Div reads: " This is the Fifth Marine cemetary, notice the fence, it is in the shape of a cross. There are 5,000 Americans buried here in three cemetaries. There are 23,000 Japs buried on the island in the enemy cemetary and in caves. Mt. Suribachi, the volcano is in the background"

[Steindaddie]

The cemetary of the 3rd Division

[Steindaddie]

Fifth Marine Division -- notice that here in June of 1945 there is a plaque with the image of the flag raising on Iwo - already the iconic image of the struggle.

[Steindaddie]

Reads: "This is an altar where they had services on Memorial day"

 

Semper Fi

[Championhilz]

That is one incredible collection of photographs. Do you know who they originally belonged to?

[BOB K. RKSS]

Thanks for sharing!

[Popo367]

Cool pictures, thank you for sharing.............

[Costa]

a reminder in black and white --- that the cost of freedom is never cheap.

[Jeff Ashenfelter]

Fantastic photos, thanks for sharing. The cemetary shots are very fitting with memorial day approaching. Jeff

[Steindaddie]

I'm glad that the photos were of interest. This was Iwo Jima only 3 - 4 months after the battle and the place had already been transformed (thanks Seabees) but despite the radical improvements, I was still struck with the haunted nature of the land. The owners name on the abck of a photo or two is one "Sgt Francis A. Bates" and I believe he is army. In the seen above photos where the two men are with the Japanese skull, he is the skinny guy on the right.

 

Will

[Salvage Sailor]

Set of Iwo Jima photographs from Feb-July 1945 which I received about 30 years ago