How many troops were in the Battle of Midway?

Answer 1

A few. There was the shore garrison at Midway itself, which consisted of a few thousand men. Local Defenses were incharge of Colonel Harold Shannon, Fleet Marine Force commander which consisted of C and D Companies of the 2nd Raider Battalion, USMC and the 6th Defense Battalion (Reinforced) USMC under command of Colonel Shannon. It was not expected that they could successfully repel a concentrated attack of any large force. Their participation was predominantly in providing anti-aircraft fire against the Japanese aircraft and doing their best to get planes into the air. The Army at Midway was represented by the Army Air Corps forward detachment of the 7th Air force with 17 B-17 and four B-26 with a small support staff. The Navy had 30 PBY's and six TBF's on the Island. Marine Air Group 22 contributed 28 Fighters and 34 Dive Bombers. The B-17's were probably missuesd in the role of long range patrol aircraft and despite their many claims, only one Japanese vessel was confirmed as sunk by a B-17 attack and that was a transport. The four B-26's fared no better. They mistook the US Fleet as the Japanese Invasion Fleet and bombed it. There were no friendly fire casualties. The ground forces at Midway consisted of Marine Defense Battalion of 33 officers and 810 enlisted armed with six 5" Naval Guns, 12 three inch Anti-Aircraft Guns and 60 machine guns. The Island was ill defended and could not have withstood an invasion. It didn't matter. The fleets at sea engaged, the US Fleet was victorious and the Invasion Fleet was called off. This was a major turning point in the Pacific War and stopped Japanese expansion to the East.