The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in the winter of 1945, and lasted over a month from February 19 to March 26. One of the legendary battles in the history of the United States military, it was won by U.S. Marines when they captured the tiny Pacific island from the grips of the Japanese Imperial Army with an invasion dubbed at the time “Operation Detachment”.

It’s long been considered one of the “fiercest and bloodiest” battles of World War II, and was made even more iconic by Joe Rosenthal’s indelible photograph that captured five Marines and one Navy combat corpsman raising an American flag on Mount Suribachi on the fifth day of the battle.

One of the keys to the victory — aside from the edge in arms and overall numbers — was air power. The United States dominated the sky over Iwo Jima, and it paid huge dividends.

Incredibly, motion footage exists (in color, no less) of the Navy’s prowess in the clouds during the fateful battle. See it here: