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Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
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Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first battles of a large-scale offensive across the Central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The goal of the campaign was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow American air and naval assets to support future operations across the Central Pacific. Operation Galvanic and Operation Kourbash were the codenames for the Gilberts campaign (in modern Kiribati), and included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin, which took place during the Battle of Tarawa on 20–23 November 1943 and the Battle of Makin on 20–24 November 1943. Operation Flintlock and Operation Catchpole had the goal of capturing Japanese bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Majuro in the Marshall Islands.
The Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Gilbert Islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese built a seaplane base on Makin and dispersed troops along the coastlines of the northern atolls to monitor the Allied forces' movement in the South Pacific. The Marshall Islands are located approximately 220 miles (350 km) northwest of the Gilbert Islands, and had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I as part of the South Seas Mandate. The Japanese regarded the islands as an important outpost for their navy.
Allied commanders believed that an eventual surrender of Japan would require the capture of these islands.[why?] While General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the United States Army in the south Pacific, wanted to push towards the Philippines via New Guinea, United States Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz favored a drive across the Central Pacific, leapfrogging through the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the Marianas. This would place American B-29 bombers within range of Tokyo. In addition to forcing the Japanese to fight two fronts against the Allies (Nimitz driving from the east and MacArthur from the south), Nimitz's plan would neutralize important outlying Japanese defenses and provide bases American forces to conduct future attacks against Japanese-occupied islands. The plan called for the seizure of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands, and Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls.
Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands on 9-10 December 1941, landing troops of the South Seas Detachment on Tarawa and Makin Islands (now Butaritari and Makin), a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. These forces were tasked with protecting the southeastern Japanese flank from Allied counterattacks, and with isolating Australia. The islands were designated as a staging point for the planned invasion of the Ellice Islands during Operation FS, but the Japanese setback at the Coral Sea delayed these plans, and their defeats at Midway and later in the Guadalcanal campaign put a definitive end to an offensive utilization of the islands by the Japanese.
Following Carlson's Raiders' diversionary raid on Makin Island and the defeat at Guadalcanal, the Japanese command had grown aware of the vulnerability and strategic significance of the Gilbert Islands, and started adopting a defensive stance. Because Japanese planners wanted to heavily fortify the Marianas and Palau before the Americans could arrive there in force, garrison commanders in the outer islands were told to hold out as long as possible with minimal support. Fortifications were quickly improved by the Japanese beginning in March 1943. Makin Atoll had a seaplane base built on the main island of Butaritari, while Tarawa housed barely enough room for an airfield on its main harbor island, Betio.
American forces seized Tarawa from nearly 5,000 Imperial Japanese Naval Landing Forces (3,000 Special Naval Landing Forces and 1,247 construction laborers) from 20-23 November 1943. The Makin Islands, in contrast, were only held by a total of 798 Japanese troops, including some 100 isolated Japanese aviation personnel. A detachment of 300 soldiers from Tarawa also occupied the island of Abemama in September 1942, but by the time American troops landed there in November 1943, most Japanese soldiers had been evacuated back to Tarawa, leaving only 25 Special Naval Landing Forces behind to defend the island.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Seizo Ishikawa, the Japanese commander in charge of defending Makin, ordered his troops to build extensive fortifications on the island. These included several 8 in (203 mm) coastal defense guns, 1.5 in (38 mm) anti-tank gun positions, machine gun emplacements, rifle pits, and 15-foot (4.6 m) deep tank barriers with anti-tank guns and barbed wire. These were ostensibly designed to hold the island until reinforcements could arrive.
On Tarawa, Keiji Shibazaki had 4,836 troops, including around 2,600 Special Naval Landing Forces, 1,000 Japanese construction workers and 1,200 Korean laborers. He intended to primarily defend Betio, the largest island in the atoll and the site of a crucial Japanese airfield. Shibazaki had 14 coastal defense guns, 50 pieces of field artillery at his dispoal, and oversaw the construction of over 100 machine gun nests, 500 pillboxes, and a large wall across the northern lagoon.
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Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was a series of engagements fought from August 1942 to February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first battles of a large-scale offensive across the Central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The goal of the campaign was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow American air and naval assets to support future operations across the Central Pacific. Operation Galvanic and Operation Kourbash were the codenames for the Gilberts campaign (in modern Kiribati), and included the seizures of Tarawa and Makin, which took place during the Battle of Tarawa on 20–23 November 1943 and the Battle of Makin on 20–24 November 1943. Operation Flintlock and Operation Catchpole had the goal of capturing Japanese bases at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, and Majuro in the Marshall Islands.
The Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Gilbert Islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese built a seaplane base on Makin and dispersed troops along the coastlines of the northern atolls to monitor the Allied forces' movement in the South Pacific. The Marshall Islands are located approximately 220 miles (350 km) northwest of the Gilbert Islands, and had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I as part of the South Seas Mandate. The Japanese regarded the islands as an important outpost for their navy.
Allied commanders believed that an eventual surrender of Japan would require the capture of these islands.[why?] While General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the United States Army in the south Pacific, wanted to push towards the Philippines via New Guinea, United States Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz favored a drive across the Central Pacific, leapfrogging through the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the Marianas. This would place American B-29 bombers within range of Tokyo. In addition to forcing the Japanese to fight two fronts against the Allies (Nimitz driving from the east and MacArthur from the south), Nimitz's plan would neutralize important outlying Japanese defenses and provide bases American forces to conduct future attacks against Japanese-occupied islands. The plan called for the seizure of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands, and Majuro, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok in the Marshalls.
Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands on 9-10 December 1941, landing troops of the South Seas Detachment on Tarawa and Makin Islands (now Butaritari and Makin), a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. These forces were tasked with protecting the southeastern Japanese flank from Allied counterattacks, and with isolating Australia. The islands were designated as a staging point for the planned invasion of the Ellice Islands during Operation FS, but the Japanese setback at the Coral Sea delayed these plans, and their defeats at Midway and later in the Guadalcanal campaign put a definitive end to an offensive utilization of the islands by the Japanese.
Following Carlson's Raiders' diversionary raid on Makin Island and the defeat at Guadalcanal, the Japanese command had grown aware of the vulnerability and strategic significance of the Gilbert Islands, and started adopting a defensive stance. Because Japanese planners wanted to heavily fortify the Marianas and Palau before the Americans could arrive there in force, garrison commanders in the outer islands were told to hold out as long as possible with minimal support. Fortifications were quickly improved by the Japanese beginning in March 1943. Makin Atoll had a seaplane base built on the main island of Butaritari, while Tarawa housed barely enough room for an airfield on its main harbor island, Betio.
American forces seized Tarawa from nearly 5,000 Imperial Japanese Naval Landing Forces (3,000 Special Naval Landing Forces and 1,247 construction laborers) from 20-23 November 1943. The Makin Islands, in contrast, were only held by a total of 798 Japanese troops, including some 100 isolated Japanese aviation personnel. A detachment of 300 soldiers from Tarawa also occupied the island of Abemama in September 1942, but by the time American troops landed there in November 1943, most Japanese soldiers had been evacuated back to Tarawa, leaving only 25 Special Naval Landing Forces behind to defend the island.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Seizo Ishikawa, the Japanese commander in charge of defending Makin, ordered his troops to build extensive fortifications on the island. These included several 8 in (203 mm) coastal defense guns, 1.5 in (38 mm) anti-tank gun positions, machine gun emplacements, rifle pits, and 15-foot (4.6 m) deep tank barriers with anti-tank guns and barbed wire. These were ostensibly designed to hold the island until reinforcements could arrive.
On Tarawa, Keiji Shibazaki had 4,836 troops, including around 2,600 Special Naval Landing Forces, 1,000 Japanese construction workers and 1,200 Korean laborers. He intended to primarily defend Betio, the largest island in the atoll and the site of a crucial Japanese airfield. Shibazaki had 14 coastal defense guns, 50 pieces of field artillery at his dispoal, and oversaw the construction of over 100 machine gun nests, 500 pillboxes, and a large wall across the northern lagoon.
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