UNLOADING ON THE BEACH ON IWO JIMA. Initially during the landing on Iwo Jima all went according to plans. The water was calm, no underwater obstacles were found, and the heavy preinvasion shelling had destroyed some of the mine fields. One hour after the first waves of marines were ashore the enemy opened fire with automatic weapons, mortars, and artillery. Later in the day heavy seas hurled landing craft on to the beach, which added greatly to the difficulty of getting men and supplies ashore.
IWO JIMA
STEEL MATTING BEING LAID on the beach at Iwo Jima to facilitate the unloading of heavy equipment over the sand. Both on the beaches and inland the loose volcanic soil made the movement of vehicles extremely difficult. Trucks bogged down and supplies soon piled high on the beach.
IWO JIMA
75-MM. GUN MOTOR CARRIAGES M3 FIRING at enemy positions on Iwo Jima (top). 4.5-inch automatic rocket launchers T45 mounted on two ¾-ton trucks, firing; this gravity-feed automatic launcher was developed as a Navy standard item for firing the 4.5-inch Navy barrage rocket (bottom).