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History–Tours
194320–23 November 1943 · Betio, Tarawa

Battle of Tarawa

The rusting hull of a Sherman tank from the battle on the shallow reef flats of Betio
Photo: Cold Press Publishing. CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

US Marines assaulted Betio, the fortified islet at the tip of Tarawa Atoll, in the first American offensive in the central Pacific. Landing craft grounded on the reef and many men waded hundreds of metres under fire. In 76 hours about 1,000 Americans and nearly all of some 4,700 Japanese defenders and Korean labourers died. The losses reshaped how the US planned amphibious landings for the rest of the war.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Red Beach and the reef flats, BetioLanding beaches with rusting amtracs and tanks out on the reef at low tide.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Japanese command bunker, BetioTwo-storey concrete headquarters bunker, still scarred by shellfire.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Japanese coastal guns, BetioLarge-calibre naval guns still in their emplacements at the western tip.Map ↗

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More from the Second World War

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