Between November 20-23, 1943, 35,000 American troops secured Betio island, part of Tarawa Atoll. This was an impressive feat, as the Japanese had anticipated it would to take one million men 100 years to do. The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the Central Pacific and was the first time the Japanese had opposed an amphibious landing by US forces. Lasting four days, it taught the US military lessons that proved crucial to ensuring the success of future landings.
Betio island and the American strategy
Located 2,400 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor, the small island of Betio played an important role in the American strategic plan in the Pacific during the Second World War. The United States, as part of its “island-hopping” campaign, needed to set up bases in the Marianas to support operations across the area, as well as in the Philippines and Japan. According to naval doctrine at the time, however, land-based aircraft were needed to protect the invasion forces and weaken enemy defenses.
The Marshall Islands were determined to be the closest land masses capable of providing an air base from which such an offensive could be launched. There was just one problem: they were cut off from direct communication with Hawaii by a Japanese garrison and air base on Betio, in the Tarawa Atoll. As such, to secure the Mariana Islands, it first needed to be taken.
The Japanese forces fortified the coast of Tarawa
It wouldn’t be a simple invasion. In February 1943, the Japanese 3rd Special Base Defense Force (previously the 6th Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force) reinforced Betio. The garrison stationed on the island comprised Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) troops; the 3rd Special Base Defence Force was 1,112 men strong and was reinforced by the 7th Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force, consisting of 1,497 men and commanded by Cmdr. Takeo Sugai.
Under the command of Rear Adm. Tomonari Saichirō, the Defense Force began constructing sophisticated defensive structures on Betio. The goal of the scheme was to halt any invasions by stopping attackers in the water or pinning them on the beaches.
It took 1,247 men of the 111th Pioneers and 970 men of the Fourth Fleet’s construction battalion almost an entire year to fortify the island, during which time they constructed 500 pillboxes and 40 artillery pieces along the beaches. On top of this, 14 coastal defense guns were prepped, including massive BL 8-inch howitzers that had been purchased from the British in the early 1900s.
The battalion cut an airfield into the center of Betio and dug trenches that connected all parts of the island, allowing troops to move to where they were needed. However, the Japanese didn’t anticipate much fighting in the interior.
Rear Adm. Keiji Shibazaki, an experienced combat officer, took over on July 20, 1943, in anticipation of the coming fight, and preparations continued until the day of the invasion that November.
The Americans assembled a large landing force
Following the completion of the Guadalcanal Campaign in February 1943, the 2nd Marine Division withdrew to New Zealand to replace…
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