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50 free Iwo Jima trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Iwo Jima was a volcanic island eight square miles across, and for five weeks in early 1945 it was the bloodiest place in the Pacific. Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi abandoned the usual beach defence and dug 18 kilometres of tunnels, then let the Marines land before opening fire. The result was the only major Pacific battle in which American casualties outnumbered Japanese, and a photograph of six men raising a flag that became the most reproduced image of the war. These 50 questions cover the whole campaign: Operation Detachment and the three-day bombardment row, the black ash beaches, the Navajo code talkers, the 28th Marines cutting the island in two, both flag-raisings on Suribachi and who was really in Joe Rosenthal's picture, the Meatgrinder, the silent final charge, the kamikaze that sank USS Bismarck Sea and the B-29 landings used to justify it all afterwards. Easy questions cover the dates, the mountain and the photograph; the expert tier asks about the Nanpo Bunker, the 147th Infantry's mopping-up, the first emergency landing and the island that kept Japan's radar warning alive. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation. Play it solo or print it for a history night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was the battle fought?
1945
It ran from 19 February to 26 March, two months before the even larger fight for Okinawa.
Q 02What was the codename of the American invasion?
Operation Detachment
Its objective was the island's two airfields, South Field and Central Field.
Q 03The famous flag-raising took place on the summit of which peak?
Mount Suribachi
The tunnel linking it to the rest of the island was never finished, so Kuribayashi ran it as a semi-independent sector.
Q 04Which Associated Press photographer took the famous flag-raising picture?
Joe Rosenthal
It was reprinted in thousands of publications and is possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time.
Q 05How tall is the volcano at the island's southern tip?
169 m (554 ft)
Its heavy guns sat behind reinforced steel doors that opened to fire and shut again before counter-fire arrived.
Q 06Which lieutenant general commanded the Japanese defence of the island?
Tadamichi Kuribayashi
He knew he could not win and aimed instead to make an invasion of Japan itself look too costly to attempt.
Q 07Of about 21,000 Japanese defenders, roughly how many were taken prisoner?
216
Some were captured only because they had been knocked unconscious; 3,000 or more kept resisting in caves afterwards.
Q 08How many kilometres of tunnels had the defenders dug by the time of the landings?
18 km
The plan called for 27 km; barracks and command posts sat 75 feet below ground.
Q 09Uniquely among Pacific island landings, how did the American toll compare with the Japanese?
Americans suffered more casualties
The ratio was three American casualties for every two Japanese, though Japanese deaths were still three times American deaths.
Q 10On what date did the first wave of Marines land?
19 February
They came ashore at 08:59, one minute ahead of schedule, on a clear morning after days of poor weather.
Q 11On what date was the island officially declared secure?
26 March
An earlier 'secure' announcement on 16 March came while Kuribayashi's main stronghold in a northern gorge still held out.
Q 12General Schmidt wanted a ten-day bombardment; how many days did Admiral Blandy allow?
Three
Blandy wanted time to replenish his ships' ammunition; the Marines resented the decision for years.
Q 13Which admiral, aboard USS Indianapolis, was overall commander of the invasion?
Raymond Spruance
Mitscher's Task Force 58 carriers had been bombing the Japanese home islands instead of softening up the defences.
Q 21The famous photograph shows which of the day's flag-raisings on Suribachi?
The second
A larger flag was sent up to replace the first, smaller one that afternoon.
Q 22The first flag on Suribachi was hoisted on what improvised pole?
A Japanese water pipe
It was the first foreign flag ever to fly on Japanese soil.
Q 23Which Marine photographer shot the first, smaller flag going up on Suribachi?
Louis Lowery
He was the only photographer who climbed with Lieutenant Schrier's patrol.
Q 14Which Marine general, nicknamed 'Howlin' Mad', commanded the Expeditionary Troops?
Holland Smith
Reading the first day's casualty reports he called the unknown Japanese commander 'one smart bastard'.
Q 15Six Navajo code talkers handled how many error-free messages in the first two days?
Over 800
Their signal officer said that without the Navajos the Marines would never have taken the island.
Q 16What loose material on the beaches stopped Marines digging foxholes or finding footing?
Volcanic ash
Amtracs could not climb it either, so Seabees bulldozed roads off the beach under fire.
Q 17Which regiment cut across the island's narrowest point on day one to isolate Suribachi?
28th Marines
They were led by Colonel Harry 'Harry the Horse' Liversedge.
Q 18How wide is the island at the narrowest point the Marines crossed on the first day?
About 800 m
Cutting the neck of the island left the Suribachi garrison connected to the rest only by tunnel.
Q 19What traditional Japanese night tactic did Kuribayashi forbid as a futile waste of men?
Banzai charges
He did not get his way entirely: a local commander launched one on 8 March and lost 784 men.
Q 20The eight flamethrower-equipped Sherman tanks were nicknamed after what?
Cigarette lighters
'Ronson' and 'Zippo' tanks were hard to disable and forced defenders into the open to attack them.
Q 24Which Navy Secretary, landing below Suribachi, wanted the first flag as a souvenir?
James Forrestal
The battalion commander thought the flag belonged to his men, which is why a replacement went up.
Q 25The flag photograph is the only one to win which award in the same year it was published?
Pulitzer Prize
The image later became a bronze memorial near Washington.
Q 26Who sculpted the 1954 Marine Corps War Memorial based on the photograph?
Felix de Weldon
It was dedicated on 10 November 1954, the Marine Corps' birthday.
Q 27How many of the six flag-raisers in the photograph were killed in action days later?
Three
Sergeant Michael Strank, Corporal Harlon Block and Private First Class Franklin Sousley all died on the island.
Q 28Which surviving flag-raiser toured selling war bonds with Gagnon and Bradley?
Ira Hayes
Later inquiries found that neither Gagnon nor Bradley was actually in the picture.
Q 29A 2016 Marine Corps inquiry concluded which man, not John Bradley, was in the photograph?
Harold Schultz
A 2019 inquiry then found Harold Keller had been misidentified as Rene Gagnon.
Q 30Which escort carrier sunk off the island was the last U.S. aircraft carrier lost in the war?
USS Bismarck Sea
It went down in the battle's only kamikaze attack, taking 20 Wildcats and 11 Avengers with it.