Tarawa
* The invasion of Tarawa in November 1943 was the first amphibious assault in the Pacific in which the Marines faced opposition on the beach. It was also covered by the media circus more thoroughly than any previous landing. The reports of over 1000 Marines and 30 Sailors killed in just 3 days, coupled with photo's of dead Marines washed ashore, shocked the nation. Because of the heavy loss of Allied Forces on Tarawa it prompted a congressional investigation. It was eventually stopped by a personal request by Lt. Gen. Vandegrift, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Many lessons were learned from Tarawa. First, naval gunfire as powerful as it was was often too short and often ineffective against the man-made and natural defenses of the Japanese held islands. Secondly, Maj. Gen. Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith argued for the use of amtracs as transportation from ship to shore was realized as the most efficient mode to get the Marines to the beach and also handle the difficult tides and treacherous reefs. Also the concept of more is better than less was demonstrated at Tarawa as many amtracs were disabled before they could land their troops. Naval and Marine planners overestimated the effects of naval gunfire and aerial bombardment and underestimated the Japanese will to fight to the last man.
Marines of the 2nd Division landed on Tarawa on 20 Nov 1943. Planners considered Tarawa an obvious target as Allied planes would be able to use the airstrip to control the Gilberts. Japanese also saw this and strongly fortified it. By the time the US Marines landed, the Japanese had 4800 navy troops on the island including 2600 men of the Special Naval Landing Force-Japanese Marines. They constructed beach defenses of concrete and barbed-wire fences to stop amphibious craft. A formidable array of heavy-caliber harbor defense guns were in place.
Heavy naval bombardment and carrier-based bomber strikes preceded the invasion. Six million pounds of explosives were hurled at the island from naval gunfire. But because of a flat trajectory, many of the shells bounced off into the ocean beyond. Because of heavy dust and smoke Navy pilots couldn't see their targets. Thus they spent very little time over Tarawa. The bombardment was effective enough to keep the enemy's head down and allow the first three waves of Marines to land on the beaches. However, the Japs were still able to disable or destroy 72 of the 125 amtracs that were launched during the first three waves. 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, under the command of Major General Julian C. Smith, even made it as far as the air strip. The rest of the landing force didn't have it so easy. Because of the changing tides and depth of the water at the coral reef amtracs had to unload their troops half a mile from the shore. Because of poor communications, smoke, and coral dust, naval bombardment was halted for 30 minutes. This break in the action allowed the Japanese to regroup and prepare their defenses. Because of low tide the Marines waded ashore in a hail of gunfire, suffering heavy casualities. It was here that the phrase "bloody Tarawa" was born. As Marines landed on the beach, some were trapped in barb-wire or cut down by the murderous defensive fire. Others were cut off from their units and because of bad communications Marines were unable to move to their proper beaches. The Japanese commander, General Shibasaki was said to have been killed on the first day by US Navy planes. The Japanese suffered communication problems as well on D-Day. Because of the loss of General Shibasaki and poor communications these two factors may have prevented the Japs from their only chance to defend Tarawa. Many believed that if the Japs had carried out a counterattack that first night it might have succeeded. Several Japanese were able to swim out to a grounded Jap freighter and set up machine guns. Marine troops on the beach were getting hit from the rear as well. It wasn't until midnight of D-Day-plus-1 that the rising tide enabled Higgins boats to bring in badly needed supplies and reserve troops to support the Marines on the beach. D-Day-plus-2 the Marines were finally able to start destroying Japanese pillboxes and bunkers.
After three days of bloody battle and heavy US casualities enough Marines were able to make it ashore and sweep the atoll, aided by tanks and howitzers. By the afternoon of the 23rd of Nov, Tarawa was fully in American hands.
Only 17 out of 4836 Japanese survived Tarawa.
During battles that the Japanese knew that they would lose they would attempt a suicide charge. The aim of the wild frontal assault was to kill as many Marines as possible. Sometimes they strapped TNT to their bodies to explode apon jumping into a foxhole or machine gun nest. The charge called "Banzai" meaning "Long live the Emperor" or "Die for the Emperor".
Code breakers bring down Yamamoto
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was killed on 18 April 1943 when his plane was shot down just before landing at Kahili airfield at the southern tip of Bougainville. P-38's from Guadalcanal had been sent up to "get Yamamoto" after the U.S. had intercepted coded radio messages informing the appropriate Japanese military authorities of his arrival. It was surprising the Japanese did not consider the possibility that the code was compromised, for this was another instance of clear intelligence data again used by the Allied forces. No effort was made to change the code. The loss of the respected naval officer was a shock to the Japanese people and is said to have demoralized everyone. For Americans, Yamamoto was the Japanese who ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor. What was not known then is that Yamamoto opposed the war, feeling it could not be won.
