The Gilbert Island Campaign

With the Japanese navy decimated at Midway and Guadalcanal occupied by Allied troops, the Allies had won decisive victories in the Pacific before the end of 1942. But the Japanese Empire still retained many territories such as the Marianas, Philippines, Gilbert and Marshall Islands. Just a few days after Pearl Harbor, their armies had occupied the Gilberts; and it was there that another notable campaign emerged in 1943.

After their victories, the Allies drafted plans for further advances in the Pacific. To reach additional territories and islands of the Japanese Empire, they first had to take more eastern positions that were closer to U.S. held positions such as Midway and Pearl Harbor. Then when one island chain had fallen, they could proceed to occupy another further westward from Pearl Harbor. This was Allied island hopping in the Pacific which would eventually take them to the Japanese home islands.

However, first they had to occupy the Gilbert Islands. The Gilbert Islands were the first targeted by the Allies, as from there they could then advance toward the Marshalls and later the Mariana Islands. In the Gilberts the primary island was that of Tarawa, which also included surrounding atolls such as Makin.

It was at the Makin atoll that the Gilbert Island Campaign first begun. U.S. B-24 and SBD aircraft first bombed the Makin atoll. Makin had only a small Japanese garrison amounting to 798 men to hold it, most of whom were stationed further inland. When the Marines landed, it took two days before they could fully defeat the Japanese troops stationed there and occupy Makin.

However, the Battle of Makin was only a subsidiary battle of the campaign. The primary battle in the Gilbert Islands was in Tarawa where the Japanese army had stationed the vast majority of their troops for the campaign. The Japanese army stationed about 4,836 troops in Beito. They fortified Tarawa with a variety of artillery pieces, hundreds of machine gun nests and pillboxes.

Before the Marines landed at Tarawa, a naval bombardment decimated Tarawa's landscape. A brief aerial blitz over Tarawa was also provided. However, they could not wipe out the pillbox positions that the Japanese had established at Tarawa. Japanese troops constructed their pillboxes with large coconut logs, and entrenched them within feet of sand.

As such, when the Marines landed on 20 November they slowly advanced up the beaches. As there were low tides the Marines abandoned their landing crafts before reaching the beaches. Japanese troops pinned the Marines down at the beaches for about three days, and they had heavy losses before securing a beachhead. The Marines took the airfield at Beito, and moved up the remaining islands of the atoll to clean up remaining Japanese pockets.

The Gilbert Island Campaign was effectively over after the fall of Beito. The Gilberts were among the first Japanese held positions to fall in the Pacific. The Allies occupied the Marshalls soon after, and then the Mariana Islands with more effective amphibious landings.




By Matthew A