Tarawa (2)

Betio, Tarawa after the fighting

Miscommunication blighted the operation. As a result, the 1^st Battalion spent a miserable night bobbing up and down in their landing craft before landing on the second day, not using a deep water channel that had been found, but once again wading across the reefs in the face of enemy gunfire.

Despite their struggles, the Americans were finally making headway.  Air strikes weakened the Japanese artillery, and Major Ryan’s 3^rd Battalion were able to advance, clearing the western beach and the coast opposite the pier.  More troops landed on the second evening.

The troopship Doyen was ordered into the lagoon to accept the most critically wounded.  Lt.Cmdr. James Oliver, Medical Corps, led a 5-man surgical team with experience in the Aleutians.  They treated 390 Marines and only lost 9 men.

Meanwhile, an air attack on the neighboring island of Bairiki blew up a Japanese fuel dump, allowing that island to be easily taken, cutting off the Japanese retreat.  A field hospital was established here to relieve the Doyen.

On the third day, the Americans made advances at various points across the island, breaking out of the beachheads in which most of them had been trapped. Light tanks proved ineffective against the sturdy Japanese defenses, but flame-throwers and M4 medium tanks allowed them to take out many enemy positions. By the end of the day, most of the remaining Japanese were contained in the east end of Betio. The remainder were mopped up over the following days, and by 28 November the island was cleared.

The defenders lost 4,690 dead, the attackers 1,696 KIA and 2,101 wounded; the USS Liscombe Bay was sunk on 23 November, 1943 and another 687 were KIA. Tarawa was considered a victory.  The relatively high cost in American lives shocked the public, once FDR allowed the information released.

The military learned vital lessons from the invasion of Tarawa. The organization of amphibious landings was changed, and by D-Day they would be far more effective.

To be continued……..

With the Marines at Tarawa

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Military Humor – 

Said no one, ever !

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Lawrence Combe Sr. – Covina, CA; US Army, WWII

John DeNiro – Syracuse, NY; USMC, WWII, PTO

James Hansen – Christchurch, NZ; RNZ Navy # 19365

Hugh Karr – LaSalle, IL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Enterprise

Leonard Klein – Maynard, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Div.

John S. Lolos – Springfield, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 1st Lt., P-47D pilot

Nancy Davis Reagan (nee Anne Francis Robbins) – Bethesda, MD; First Lady of the US & actress

Lachlan Scowcroft – Canberra, AUS; RA Army # 213399, Warrant Officer 2 (Ret.)

Russell Steiner – Broad Channel, NY; US Army, Vietnam

Stephen Whitney – Hawthorne, NJ; US Army, Vietnam

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