Article by Kris Dando


The Kuril Islands: The Last Battlefield of World War Two


An isolated, 1200 kilometre island chain situated in the North Pacific, the Kuril Islands, are largely ignored in discussions of World War Two. Yet, these islands, of strategic and historical significance to Japan, Russia, and for a while, the United States, acted as jump-off points for attacks on Pearl Harbour and the Aleutian Islands, and saw the last action of the war. For 200 years this archipelago has acted as the meeting ground for Japan and Russia - the island chain acts as a natural frontier between the two powers, and conflict over the islands is basic to lingering disagreements between the Japanese Empire and Russia.

The Kuril Islands are a chain of some thirty volcanic islands dividing the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean. They face some of the worst weather Mother Nature has to offer, and attract tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sweltering summers and freezing winters. This chain is also a source of wealth to whoever controls it - its extensive fishing grounds yield plankton, that attract whales, as well as an abundance of salmon, cod, mackerel and crabs.

Until loss of control in 1945 the Kurils' marine wealth was vital to Japan, providing 80% of the kelp used in cooking. Bauxite, gold, zinc, mercury, tin, tungsten, lead, and copper are all found in various quantities throughout the chain.1 Economic wealth and strategic value concern Russia and Japan in their continuing arguments over the Islands. Japan controlled the Kuril Islands from 1875 to 1945 and considered them an integral part of the homeland.

Fortification of Japan's frontiers with the U.S.S.R began in 1931 as relations with Russia worsened - the Kurils were a vital frontier. Engineers started construction of ports and airfields on some islands (mainly Paramushir and Shumshu) in order to strengthen her Manchukuo-Outer Mongolia border, and October 1940 saw a vanguard of ninety troops land on Paramushir.

Two dozen infantry battalions followed, taking up positions on Shumshu, Onekotan, Matua, Urup, Iturup, as well as Paramushir. 1940 and most of 1941 saw them idle, awoken briefly after Germans launched Operation Barbarossa against Russia (22 June 1941). Unknown to the defenders Japanese plans contemplated the bombing of Vladivostok, neutralising the Soviet Pacific Fleet, and the launching of a multi-pronged offensive into the Soviet Far East with the Kurils to play a pivotal role. But as conflict with the United States loomed, the Northern District Army, the Kuril units, and the Fifth Fleet, deployed in the chain, looked in a new direction for another adversary.

1. John J. Stephan, The Kuril Islands: Russo-Japanese Frontier In The North Pacific, (London, 1974), p. 129.

Previous Article _________________________________Contents___________________________________Next Page