Kiska

Corlett with other senior officers planning the Kiska expedition

Although World War II had begun in September 1939, the United States chose to remain neutral and did not enter the conflict until December 8, 1941, due to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day. Corlett was promoted to the temporary rank of major general on September 6, 1942^[6] and was placed in command of the Kiska Task Force that consisted of 35,000 soldiers, including the 7th Infantry Division, First Special Service Force, 87th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division, 184th Infantry Regiment, and the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade. The Task Force was to retrieve the island of Kiska, the first of the only two locations (along with Attu Island) in the United States occupied by enemy forces during World War II. Both islands were two of the westernmost islands in the Aleutian Chain, posing a threat to strategic targets and population centers across the United States West Coast. Kiska was a Japanese seaplane and submarine base with well-established infrastructure and an estimated force of 10,000.

Before the Kiska attack in August 1943, Attu was secured after several weeks of combat in extremely difficult weather. The American troops on Attu were ill-prepared for the cold, stormy environment of the Aleutians, but they were better prepared for the Kiska campaign with heavier clothing and training supplemented by 15–45 days of acclimatization and maneuvers in the Aleutians. Beginning in January, the United States Navy blockaded the island and bombed it almost every day in conjunction with the United States Army Air Forces. Aerial photographs of the area showed enemy vehicles as late as August 13.

The U.S. amphibious attack on Kiska began the night of August 15. The soldiers expected enemy fire, but they were greeted by only silence as they scrambled ashore in heavy, unrelenting fog. On August 16, the second half of the powerful invasion force came ashore on the northern part of Kiska, again to a deserted island. The Japanese had left under cover of night, fog, and storm two weeks earlier. At noon on August 17, Major General Corlett conceded that the enemy was really gone, leaving great stores of supplies. Nevertheless, Allied forces suffered 313 casualties including friendly fire, land and naval mines, and car accidents in foggy conditions. This phantom battle marked the end of the Japanese occupation of American soil and its only campaign in the Western Hemisphere.

Kwajalein

Corlett was then transferred to Fort Ord, California, to organize, train, and equip the 9th Amphibious Corps, including the 7th Infantry Division and other special troops who later distinguished themselves in many battles in the South Pacific. He received orders to take command of the 7th Infantry Division and report to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz at Pearl Harbor, where Nimitz informed him that he was to be in command of the army forces that would capture Kwajalein Island on the southern part of Kwajalein Atoll, a major Japanese naval-air base and part of the Marshall Islands, 2,350 miles southwest of Honolulu. Kwajalein, the world's largest atoll, was defended by 5,000 troops, who were ordered not to surrender.

After extensive amphibious training on Maui for 5 months and many days of aerial bombardment of the island, the 7th Division attacked and fought in Operation Flintlock on January 31–February 7, 1944, a campaign resulting in the capture of 27 islets, 12 of which were rigorously defended to the death by the enemy.

Kwajalein has been called by some military observers the most nearly perfect of all U.S. amphibious operations because of the flawless execution of a well-thought-out plan. Casualty results attest to this evaluation and were attributed to careful planning and preparation by the 7th Division: 177 U.S. soldiers killed, 4,398 Japanese killed, and 174 enemy soldiers taken prisoner.

Western Europe

Major General Edward H. Brooks observing General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill and Lieutenant General Omar Bradley fire M1 carbines. Stood to the far left, with peaked cap, is Major General Charles H. Corlett.

In April 1944, Corlett was ordered to the European Theater of Operations (ETO). In London he reported to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the theater, and was informed he was to become commander of the XIX Corps, part of the U.S. First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. The corps, initially consisting of the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions and the 29th and 30th Infantry Divisions, would battle across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. He immediately began training the corps in Warminster, Wiltshire, England, for the anticipated amphibious assault on Northern France, scheduled for June 1944.

On the fourth day after D-Day (June 10), the XIX Corps landed in France at Omaha Beach, where the 29th Infantry Division, in its first battle, suffered very heavy casualties, near Colleville-su-Mer. In the next few weeks they took St. Lo after difficult hedge-row fighting and spearheaded the Operation Cobra breakthrough to Mortain and the Falaise Pocket, where they destroyed 100 German tanks and captured 3 German divisions. While dealing with thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) the corps occupied the towns of Évreux and Elbeuf and took Tessy-sur-Vire on August 1. They captured Percy on August 5. After stopping the last German offensive in Normandy and battling nearly 100,000 troops in the Argentan-Falaise Pocket, they crossed the river Seine on August 28.

Ordered to drive northwest as quickly as possible, the XIX Corps faced the bulk of the German Army in the West, which was retreating as fast as it could to prevent any further encirclement, but capable of counterattacking and defending in force.

Building bridges and shooting down 42 German planes, the XIX Corps reached Belgium in 2 days, crossing the river Somme on September 2, the first Allied soldiers to enter Belgium and the Netherlands. They took Tournai on September 2, followed by Fort Eben-Emael, Maastricht, and Sittard. On September 14, the corps crossed the Meuse River and entered Germany, establishing a bridgehead across the Albert Canal. The XIX Corps was struggling to close an escape route known as the Aachen Gap when, because of illness, Corlett was relieved of command of the corps on October 15, 1944, and assigned to the U.S. 12th Army Group in France. From D-Day to October 15, the XIX Corps captured 29,867 POWs, shot down 55 enemy airplanes, built 160 bridges, and crossed the Vire, Seine, Somme, Meuse, and Maas Rivers. During this same period, soldiers of the corps were awarded 26 Distinguished Service Crosses, 737 Silver Stars, and 3,390 Bronze Stars.

Planned invasion of the Japanese mainland

In November 1944, Corlett reported to Admiral Nimitz in Honolulu and took command of the XXXVI Corps in the planning of the northern attack on the Japanese mainland from the Kurile Islands in the projected Operation Downfall. In connection with that order and at the time of Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day), he was writing a training course in amphibious operations for divisions returning from Europe.

Major General Corlett retired from the army in 1946.^[6]

Assignments

• Company B, 30th Infantry, Fort St. Michael, Alaska
• Company A and Company I, Plattsburg Business Men's Training Camp
• Radio Company A, 30th Infantry, Eagle Pass, Texas
• Signal Corps, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey
• Signal Corps Supplies, American Expeditionary Forces, France
• 48th Infantry, Fort Harvey J. Jones, Arizona
• 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry, San Antonio, Texas
• Civilian Conservation Corps, Eugene, Oregon
• 30th Infantry, Presidio, San Francisco, California
• Special Forces, Fort Shafter and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
• 9th Army Corps, Fort Lewis, Washington
• 4th Army Corps, Fort Ord, California
• 7th Division, Fort Greely, Alaska - 7 April 1943 to 25 February 1944
• 9th Amphibious Corps, Marshall Islands, South Pacific
• XIX Corps, European Theater, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany - 10 March 1944 to 15 October 1944
• XXXVI Corps, U.S. Pacific Command - 10 November 1944 to 25 September 1945

Battles, wars

• Mexican Border Campaign
• World War I
  • Meuse-Argonne Offensive
• World War II
  • Kiska
  • Kwajalein Atoll
  • Falaise Pocket
  • Belgium

Military awards

Promotions

Insignia	Rank	Component	Date
No insignia	Cadet	United States Military Academy	March 1, 1909
No insignia in 1913	Second lieutenant	Regular Army	June 12, 1913
	First lieutenant	Regular Army	July 1, 1916
	Captain	Regular Army	May 15, 1917
	Major	Temporary	October 20, 1917
	Lieutenant colonel	Temporary	October 22, 1918
None	Resigned		May 29, 1919
	Captain	Regular Army	July 1, 1920
	Major	Regular Army	September 11, 1923
	Lieutenant colonel	Regular Army	February 1, 1936
	Colonel	Army of the United States	June 26, 1941
	Brigadier general	Army of the United States	September 30, 1941
	Major general	Army of the United States	September 6, 1942
	Colonel	Regular Army	March 1, 1943
	Major General	Retired List	May 31, 1946

^[8]