: Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa by Alexander Joseph H - United States. Marine Corps History World War 1939-1945; Tarawa Battle of Kiribati 1943 World War II

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Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa Setting the Stage Assault Preparations Sidebar: The 2d Marine Division at Tarawa Sidebar: Major General Julian C. Smith, USMC Sidebar: The Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces D-Day at Betio, 20 November 1943 Sidebar: LVT-2 and LVT2 Amphibian Tractors Sidebar: 'The Singapore Guns' Sidebar: Sherman Medium Tanks at Tarawa D+1 at Betio, 21 November 1943 Sidebar: Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC The Third Day: D+2 at Betio, 22 November 1943 Completing the Task: 23-28 November 1943 Sidebar: Incident on D+3 The Significance of Tarawa Sidebar: Tarawa Today Sources About the Author About the Series Transcriber's Notes

ACROSS THE REEF:

THE MARINE ASSAULT OF TARAWA

MARINES IN WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES

BY COLONEL JOSEPH H. ALEXANDER U.S. MARINE CORPS

Across the Reef:

The Marine Assault of Tarawa

In August 1943, to meet in secret with Major General Julian C. Smith and his principal staff officers of the 2d Marine Division, Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the Central Pacific Force, flew to New Zealand from Pearl Harbor. Spruance told the Marines to prepare for an amphibious assault against Japanese positions in the Gilbert Islands in November.

The Marines knew about the Gilberts. The 2d Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson had attacked Makin Atoll a year earlier. Subsequent intelligence reports warned that the Japanese had fortified Betio Island in Tarawa Atoll, where elite forces guarded a new bomber strip. Spruance said Betio would be the prime target for the 2d Marine Division.

General Smith's operations officer, Lieutenant Colonel David M. Shoup, studied the primitive chart of Betio and saw that the tiny island was surrounded by a barrier reef. Shoup asked Spruance if any of the Navy's experimental, shallow-draft, plastic boats could be provided. "Not available," replied the admiral, "expect only the usual wooden landing craft." Shoup frowned. General Smith could sense that Shoup's gifted mind was already formulating a plan.

The Gilbert Islands consist of 16 scattered atolls lying along the equator in the Central Pacific. Tarawa Atoll is 2,085 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor and 540 miles southeast of Kwajalein in the Marshalls. Betio is the principal island in the atoll.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff assigned the code name Galvanic to the campaign to capture Tarawa, Makin, and Apamama in the Gilberts. The 2d Marine Division was assigned Tarawa and Apamama ; the Army's 165th Regimental Combat Team of the 27th Infantry Division would tackle Makin.

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