A PBY-5A Catalina over the snow-covered mountains of the Aleutian Islands

Aleutian Islands Air War: Where the Weather Killed More Than the Enemy

by Max Grünwald | Sep 27, 2026 | History & Legends, Military Aviation | 0 comments

Picture a bomber crew in 1942, briefed to hit a Japanese-held island far out along the chain. The target will probably be under cloud. The base they return to may be under fog by then. The wind on the runway could go from calm to hurricane force in minutes. And if they go down in the sea, the water is cold enough to kill them long before anyone finds them.

This was the air war in the Aleutian Islands, the chain that stretches from Alaska towards Japan. For 14 months in 1942 and 1943, American and Japanese airmen fought over Kiska, Attu and Dutch Harbor. The enemy was dangerous. The weather was usually worse.

Quick Facts

Campaign: Aleutian Islands campaign, 3 June 1942 to 15 August 1943
Opening blow: Japanese carrier raid on Dutch Harbor, 3 and 4 June 1942, from Ryujo and Junyo
Japanese landings: Kiska and Attu, occupied in June 1942
US air arm: Eleventh Air Force, plus US Navy patrol squadrons flying PBY Catalinas
Aircraft: B-17, B-24, B-25, P-38, P-39, P-40 and PBY; Japanese Zeros, A6M2-N Rufe floatplanes and flying boats
Weather toll: Eleventh Air Force: 35 aircraft lost in combat against 150 in operational accidents
End: Attu retaken in May 1943; Kiska found abandoned on 15 August 1943

The Raid on Dutch Harbor

The campaign opened on 3 June 1942, the same week as the Battle of Midway. Aircraft from the Japanese carriers Ryujo and Junyo attacked the US base at Dutch Harbor. The weather took its toll on the attackers from the first day: according to Wikipedia's account of the campaign, only half of the striking force reached the target; the rest got lost in fog and darkness and crashed into the sea or went back to their carriers.

A second raid on 4 June did more damage, hitting oil storage and base facilities. One of the Zeros hit that day, flown by Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga, crash-landed on Akutan Island, and its capture became one of the intelligence coups of the war, a story we tell in full in our article on the Akutan Zero. A few days later, Japanese troops landed unopposed on Kiska and Attu, putting American territory under enemy occupation.

Mark Felton on America's Arctic war in the Aleutians. Video: Mark Felton Productions

Fighting the Williwaw

The Aleutians sit where the warm Japan Current meets the cold Bering Sea. The result is fog, rain, snow and the williwaw: a sudden, violent, freezing wind that drops off the mountains onto the sea. The US National Park Service records how, on 21 November 1942, a williwaw lifted an empty PBY Catalina tied down at its base into the air, flipped it upside down and dropped it on the deck.

The numbers tell the story. HistoryNet reports that between July and December 1942 the Eleventh Air Force lost 72 aircraft, and only nine of them to combat. Over the whole campaign, the Eleventh Air Force lost 35 aircraft in combat and around 150 in operational accidents.

“Don't figure on getting any serviceable planes back from us. We have been hard on them.”

Colonel Everett Davis — Eleventh Air Force chief of staff, writing to General Henry "Hap" Arnold, as quoted by HistoryNet

Aleutian air base during a blizzard — A US base in the Aleutians during a blizzard. Crews lived in tents and huts while keeping aircraft flying through the winter. US National Archives photo / Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Building Airfields, Bombing Kiska

The American answer was to build airfields ever closer to the enemy. The P-40 fighters at Fort Glenn on Umnak had helped defend Dutch Harbor. US forces occupied Adak on 31 August 1942, and fighters and bombers were operating from its new runway within weeks. Amchitka, even closer to Kiska, followed early in 1943.

From these bases B-24 Liberators, B-25s and P-38 Lightnings hammered Kiska whenever the weather allowed. The Japanese tried to defend it with A6M2-N Rufe floatplane fighters, a Zero on floats, operating from the harbour. According to HistoryNet, by August 1942 only two of 18 Rufes at Kiska were still airworthy.

B-24 Liberator at Amchitka in March 1943 — A B-24 Liberator of the 21st Bomb Squadron at Amchitka in March 1943, with its bombs brought out on a sled. US Army Air Forces photo / Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Attu, Kiska and the Kurils

US troops landed on Attu on 11 May 1943. The fighting lasted until 29 May and ended with a Japanese banzai charge; American casualties included around 1,200 cold-weather injuries on top of 549 killed. On Kiska, the Japanese garrison slipped away under cover of fog on 28 and 29 July 1943. When 34,426 Allied troops landed on 15 August, there was no one left to fight, though friendly fire, booby traps and accidents still caused 313 casualties.

From the new base on Attu, the Eleventh Air Force then did something that got little attention at the time: it bombed the Japanese home islands. The raids on the Kuril Islands, including Paramushiro, were the first attacks on Japanese home territory since the Doolittle Raid. They came at a price. A mission on 11 September 1943 lost 74 crewmen in three B-24s and seven B-25s that failed to return.

Report from the Aleutians, the 1943 US Army documentary directed by John Huston. Video: PeriscopeFilm

Was It Worth It?

Historians still argue about the value of the whole campaign. HistoryNet estimates that it tied down around 500 Japanese aircraft and 40,000 troops. For the Americans, it cost aircraft and lives that had little to do with the war's decisive battles. The official US Navy historian put it most memorably.

“Both sides would have done well to have left the Aleutians to the Aleuts.”

Samuel Eliot Morison — US naval historian, as quoted by HistoryNet

For the airmen who flew there, the Aleutians were never a sideshow. They flew some of the longest overwater missions of the war in some of the worst weather on earth, and most of the aircraft they lost never saw an enemy.

An animated overview of the Japanese invasion of Alaska and the Aleutian campaign. Video: Kings and Generals

Sources: Wikipedia (Aleutian Islands campaign, Eleventh Air Force), HistoryNet, US National Park Service, u-s-history.com

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Aleutian Islands campaign?

The Aleutian Islands campaign was a World War II campaign in Alaska's Aleutian chain, from June 1942 to August 1943. Japan bombed Dutch Harbor and occupied Kiska and Attu; US forces built airfields, bombed the islands, retook Attu in May 1943 and landed on an abandoned Kiska in August 1943.

Why was the weather so dangerous in the Aleutians?

The Aleutians lie where the warm Japan Current meets the freezing Bering Sea, producing near-constant fog, rain, snow and williwaws, sudden violent winds off the mountains. Fog hid targets and runways, winds damaged parked aircraft, and far more aircraft were lost to accidents than to the enemy.

How many aircraft did the Eleventh Air Force lose in the Aleutians?

The Eleventh Air Force lost about 35 aircraft in combat during the Aleutian campaign, compared with around 150 in operational accidents. HistoryNet reports that between July and December 1942 it lost 72 aircraft, only nine of them to enemy action.

What is a williwaw?

A williwaw is a sudden, violent and frigid windstorm that drops from a mountainous coast onto the sea. In the Aleutians in World War II, williwaws grounded aircraft and damaged parked ones; on 21 November 1942 one flipped an empty, tied-down PBY Catalina onto its back.

Did the US bomb Japan from the Aleutians?

Yes. After Attu was retaken in 1943, Eleventh Air Force B-24s and B-25s flew raids against the Kuril Islands, including Paramushiro, the first attacks on Japanese home territory since the Doolittle Raid. A mission on 11 September 1943 lost 74 crewmen in ten bombers.

What happened at Kiska in August 1943?

On 15 August 1943, 34,426 Allied troops landed on Kiska in Operation Cottage, but the Japanese garrison had secretly evacuated under cover of fog on 28 and 29 July. Friendly fire, booby traps, accidents and disease still caused 313 Allied casualties.