Iwo Jima was placed in a unique strategic position along the B-29 Superfortress route from the Marinas to Tokyo. It contained two airfields and had a third under construction in addition to a radar station that could detect planes two hours away.
The USAAF wanted the island to stage P-51 Mustang long-range fighters and as an emergency landing base for damaged bombers returning from their missions over Japan.
In October 1944, the decision was made to capture Iwo Jima, and planning started.
Iwo Jima is a sulfur island about 750 miles South of Tokyo. The island is just over 5 miles long, and at its widest point in the north is 2.5 miles wide.
The USAAF started bombing the island in August 1944, and by December,it was bombing it every day.
February 16th, 1945, the invasion fleet arrived off the coast of Iwo Jima, and for the next 3 days’s until the landings bombarded the Island with everything it had available.
Despite the amount of ammunition dropped on Iwo Jima, the defenses were relatively untouched, and the Japanese defenders would be ready for the invading forces.
