Battle of Iwo Jima

World War II battle, 19 February-26 March 1945, in which the US Marine Corps, Navy, and Army landed on and captured Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army. Designated Operation Detachment, it aimed to take the island's two airfields. Japanese forces held bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 km of tunnels; the five-week battle was among the fiercest and bloodiest of the Pacific War.