RARE! WWII D-Day SECRET Battle of Iwo Jima RED YELLOW Beach Invasion Defense Map

Description: Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A. *Rarity: Due to the SECRET marking on this D-Day Iwo Jima invasion chart only a very limited number were produced before the invasion with only a small handful still believed to exist today with most being in high-end private museum collections. This Iwo Jima invasion beach chart is as rare and sought after as the TOP SECRET D-Day invasion of Normandy BIGOT maps and the SECRET Iwo Jima invasion map. Two of the Iwo Jima diagrams were featured in an episode of the TV show Pawn Stars. Rick Harrison, the host of the show, wrote that he had sold one of the two views for $10,000. Size: 10 x 19.75 inches Red Beach (Red 1 and Red 2)Location: Red Beach was divided into two zones, Red 1 and Red 2, and covered the central portion of the landing area, just north of Green Beach. These zones were located in front of the heavily fortified area known as the “Meat Grinder.”Assigned Units: The 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, was assigned to land on Red 1 and Red 2.Objective: The objective for the units landing on Red Beach was to advance inland to capture the Japanese airfield number 1 and push toward the island's central plateau. Securing this area would provide a staging ground for further advances toward the northern part of the island.Challenges: The beaches in this zone were subjected to intense Japanese ART. and MG. fire from multiple directions, including Mount Suribachi to the south and fortified positions in the "Meat Grinder" to the north. The Marines also faced heavy resistance from Japanese defenders entrenched in bunkers and pillboxes.Yellow Beach (Yellow 1 and Yellow 2)Location: Yellow Beach was also divided into two zones, Yellow 1 and Yellow 2, located north of Red Beach and near the middle of the landing area. These zones faced the central and northern sections of the island.Assigned Units: The 4th Marine Division's 23rd Marine Regiment landed on Yellow 1, while the 24th Marine Regiment landed on Yellow 2.Objective: The primary objective for the Marines landing on Yellow Beach was to secure the right flank of the invasion force and advance toward the second Japanese airfield (airfield number 2) and the northern part of the island.Challenges: The Yellow Beach zones were some of the most heavily defended areas, with the Japanese employing a dense network of tunnels, bunkers, and artillery positions. The Marines faced fierce resistance as they attempted to advance from the beaches toward the interior of the island. This extremely rare and museum-grade "SECRET" marked WWII Battle of Iwo Jima D-Day amphibious beach diagram vividly illustrates the intensive planning and operational accuracy that went behind Operation Detachment. Titled "Oblique Photographs - South Eastern Beaches Iwo Jima" this original SECRET Iwo Jima D-Day beach diagram was prepared by the Intelligence Section Amphibious Forces Pacific only a few months before the D-Day invasion of Iwo Jima in February 1945. These Iwo Jima invasion beach diagrams were studied and used by Captains of Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) and the initial waves of U.S. Marines set to land on their designated black sand beachheads. These invasion maps were vital to the initial landing success as they not only showed the visual views for the designated beachheads, but they also noted all of the updated Japanese defenses on Iwo Jima near that designated landed sector. This SECRET Iwo Jima D-Day amphibious beach diagram was the original intelligence document used to make the infamous SECRET Iwo Jima invasion map. These were the Iwo Jima invasion intelligence documents used to make that exact map. It shows little in the way of manmade impediments to amphibious invasion, belying the extensive Japanese fortifications and the dogged resistance that the Marines would face from the roughly 20,000 defenders. Eschewing Japanese doctrine, which called for him to contest every inch of the landing beaches, the commanding Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi instead instructed his soldiers to allow the American forces to land en masse, before springing traps to take as many newly-landed troops as possible. American planners also misunderstood the nature of the volcanic sand and terrain of the beaches, most of which was thought to be perfectly suitable for disembarking and traversing. In these diagrams, little mention is made of the softness of this sand, and few obstacles are listed. In reality, the ash was very difficult to traverse, and equally difficult to dig into, greatly complicating the unloading of equipment and vehicles and the excavation of foxholes and trenches.These errors were symptomatic of a general lack of accurate pre-invasion intelligence, which ultimately cost hundreds, even thousands of American lives. The Role of Oblique Photograph Secret Invasion Beach Diagram Maps:In preparation for the invasion of Iwo Jima, the U.S. military recognized the need for detailed and accurate intelligence about the island's topography and Japanese defenses. Traditional vertical aerial photographs, while useful, were insufficient for the task at hand due to the unique challenges posed by the island's terrain. Instead, the U.S. military employed oblique aerial photography, which involved taking photographs from an angle, rather than directly overhead. These oblique photographs provided a more realistic and three-dimensional view of the terrain, revealing details that would be obscured in vertical images. The oblique photographs were used to create secret invasion beach diagram maps, which were crucial for planning the amphibious assault. These maps provided a detailed view of the landing beaches, the terrain beyond, and the Japanese defenses. They allowed the planners to identify potential obstacles, such as sandbars, reefs, and cliffs, as well as the locations of enemy fortifications. This intelligence was vital for selecting the best landing sites and determining the sequence and timing of the assault waves. One of the most critical aspects of the oblique photograph maps was their ability to reveal the positions of Japanese bunkers, pillboxes, and ART. emplacements. The Japanese had gone to great lengths to conceal their defenses, camouflaging them and integrating them into the natural terrain. The oblique photographs, however, exposed subtle variations in the landscape that indicated the presence of these hidden fortifications. This information allowed the U.S. forces to target these positions with pre-invasion bombardments and to plan the movement of assault troops to avoid the most heavily defended areas.

Price: 8550 USD

Location: San Tan Valley, Arizona

End Time: 2025-01-16T22:53:11.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12.5 USD