Combat· World War II
Kunishi Ridge
Kunishi Ridge was the 1st Marine Division's last major battle and one of the deadliest killing grounds of the campaign, a steep coral escarpment honeycombed with caves and held by the last of Ushijima's organized front-line troops.
After daylight tank-infantry assaults were thrown back, the division shifted to a rare night attack, sending two battalions across open ground to seize the crest before dawn and surprise the defenders. Holding it was harder still: the Japanese occupied the same ridge on both the forward and reverse slopes, leaving the Marines clinging to the top under grenade and mortar fire. Marine tanks ran a long gauntlet to resupply the crest and evacuate wounded through the hull escape hatch. The Marines supplied the assault infantry, the armor, and the night-attack tactics that finally cracked the ridge.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 849