Operation Cottage was a joint U.S.-Canadian Operation to recapture Kiska Island in the  Aleutian Islands from the Japanese who had occupied it in June 1942 as a diversion from the Japanese campaign to capture Midway island. However, two weeks before the bombardment of Kiska by aircraft and three battleships in preparation for the Allied landings, the Japanese evacuated their forces of 5,600 men on July 28 under the cover of fog without the Allies being aware. On August 15, the Allied invasion force of 34,426 troops landed only to find the Japanese installations abandoned. Among the landing forces was the First Special Service Force fresh from their training at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana. Allied forces suffered over 500 casualties from harsh inclement weather, booby traps, and friendly fire accidents.