American map of Iwo Jima (1944)

This map of the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, was drawn up by the US Army in 1944 during the Second World War.

This is a reconnaissance map used to plan the United States' attack on Iwo Jima, which finally took place in early 1945. It includes a wealth of detail, notably topographical lines (in brown), the location of the Japanese army's various defensive structures (black symbols) and even the movements of Japanese troops (with annotations in red).

All the information on this map was obtained from aerial photographs taken by US military aircraft that surveyed the terrain. In fact, a note at the bottom of the map points out that the information may not be accurate, given the lack of reliable topographical data.

The map was kept secret, as indicated in several places, until the CIA made it public in 2000.

Sources

• Perry-Castañeda Library Map – Historical Maps of Asia Collection