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Relatively insignificant in size {3\ by b miles) and bypassed by the U. S.i*"1 hopping amphibious operations of World War II, Chichi Jima is probably membered by few Americans. But its history might have been different. In 19bb island, located about 600 miles south of Honshu, was considered as a P°sSl prospect for a major amphibious landing to obtain a foothold near the JaPal>^ homeland. However, U. S. strategists finally selected instead Iwo Jima, about ■ miles to the south. The largest of some 20 rugged islands which form the ^ I Group, Chichi Jima was a Japanese stronghold during the war. Military inf tions included a fleet anchorage, seaplane base, airfield, and radio station, wlt l y Japanese garrison at one time numbering 25,000 men. With its protected ha , and strategic location, the island served as a major staging area for supplies and craft moving south from the Japanese home islands to Iwo Jima and the Maria,u[ Although never subjected to an amphibious assault, Chichi Jima was bombards . naval vessels and came under frequent air attack. At right, an SB2C from the * Yorktown (CV-10) flies over the island in July 10 bb, during one of several ra^ conducted by units of Task Force 58. A reconnaissance photo, below, docurnen Air Force B-2b raid on the harbor in November 19bb• On 3 September 1^’ ( day following the formal end of the war), the Bonin Islands were surrendered ^ Japanese military delegation which boarded the USS Dunlap (DD-38b) off Jima, and in December, the island was occupied by units of the U. S. Marine 0
Following the war, the V. S. Navy was sponsibility for the Bonin Islands. In 1951, petty officer was stationed on Chichi Jima aS ,lg resident military representative to the islan inhabitants, and the following year, a V-|S' facility (above) was established on Futavni the remains of Omura, an island village during the war. With a lieutenant cornnia0 military representative and officer-in-charge< . man facility administered the local governitic operated a limited fleet anchorage and ufa tion. A portion of the World War II dirt J also kept clear as an emergency landing Pel ' plied by an LST and aircraft from Guam, ° . to the south, the island was considered isolae but proved interesting to most of the Navy stationed there. At right, two Navymen eX(l large blowfish they caught while skin diving, far right, a Navy Jeep winds over one of roads cut through the island’s dense jungle
site) was established to provide education through the ninth grade for Navy dependents and isL" many of the islanders secured employment at the Navy facility, and the Navy arranged to island fishermen’s catch to Guam for marketing.
Chichi Jima’s original families date back to 1830, when a British expedition of 20 settlers American) arrived from Hawaii. Descendents of these first settlers (above) now reach the sixth as island residents. Late in the 1800s, several thousand Japanese colonists also settled on Chichi the neighboring islands, and in 1877, Japan formally annexed the Bonins. With its active agric^ fishing industries, the island population thrived, but with the beginning of U. S. air attacks in civilians in the Bonins, some 7,000 persons, were evacuated to mainland Japan. In 19f 6, who were of Western descent were permitted to return to Chichi Jima. With the arrival of the U- 1951-52, their struggling island settlement got a shot in the arm. The Admiral Radford Scho
Despite the passage of nearly a quarter-century, relics of World War II still dot Chichi Jima. On the site of 3,000-foot-long Susaki airfield, right, visitors photograph the weed-covered wreckage of a Nakajima “Donryu” bomber, and in an arm of Futami Bay, below, trees sprout from the fantail of the beached freighter Hinko Maru, damaged by U. S. aircraft off Chichi Jima in June (the same ship, labeled “Hokko Maru,” is visible in the reconnaissance photo on pages 92-93).
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kas long pressed for return of the islands taken during World War II, and, as a result of Japanese %f. Minister Sato’s visit to Washington, D. C., in November 1967, the United States agreed to return %°J lhe Bonin-Volcano Islands to Japan. On 15 April 1968, the formal reversion papers were Ky iU Toky°< 26 June being setf°r the turn-over date. As transfer time approached on Chichi Jima, SuPplies were loaded on the USS San Joaquin County (LST-1122) for return to Guam (opposite), ik Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force detachment arrived from Yokosuka to take over the duties of hr^M^rican counterpart. Japanese medical supplies were unloaded at the island dispensary (above), \TSly °Perated by U- s■ NavV medical personnel. Japanese Meteorological Agency personnel, who \h take °m ihe weather observation duties, observed a U. S. Navy aerographer’s mate prepare his last h-p fJ 'er Sports (upper left), and workers of the Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Public Corporation put stating they had opened radio communications with mainland Japan (upper right).
CHI CHI JIHA.B.1
J^e<T°des* cerem°ny on 26 June, the Stars and Stripes were lowered and the Rising Sun was again unChichi Jima, marking the return of the island and its inhabitants to Japanese control, and I Si f '"J to an end the last example of the U. S. Navy’s administration of a civilian population. In addi- \J'^ C. S. and Japanese Navy detachments and high ranking officials, interested observers at the deluded members of the Chichi Jima civilian community {above), who view their future with 10,1 f,. '^l°C°ns. Also on hand were representatives of the 7,000 former Bonin Islanders who have remained aPanese home islands since World War II, and who now hope to return.
Territories returned to Japanese administration on 26 June included the Bonin and Volcano Island Groups, Marcus Island, and the atoll of Parece Vela. In all, these islands have a total area of about 50 square miles. Only Chichi Jima of the Bonins presently has a civilian population. Along with the Navy facility on Chichi Jima, an Air Force facility on I wo Jima of the Volcano Group was deactivated at the time of transfer. However, U. S. Coast Guard LOR AN stations will continue to be maintained on Iwo Jima and Marcus Island.
Volcano Islands
Bonin Islands
■ Marcus Island
Miles
■ Parece Vela