Betio Island 74th Anniversary

David reminds us that the battle for the Tarawa Atoll began 74 years ago yesterday on Betio Island. It’s become better known to us because of the efforts of the folks at History Flight to recover the remains of US combatants of the battle. More than 6400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died during the 76 hours of combat.

From Business Insider;

Betio’s defenders deployed steel tetrahedrons, minefields, and dense thickets of barbed wire. Walls of logs and coral surrounded much of the island. Machine guns, rifle pits, and anti-tank ditches were often integrated into the barricades, and many emplacements, like pillboxes, were built to have converging fields of fire.

Anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines were scattered around the island, its lagoon, and its reef. Japanese forces on the island also had naval guns, coastal-defense guns, as well as field artillery and howitzers.

The 2d Marine Division and the 27th Infantry Division, about 35,000 US troops, assaulted the beach in the first amphibious landing seriously contested by the 4600 Japanese defenders, soldiers and laborers. Only 17 Japanese soldiers and 129 laborers were taken prisoner. 500 “pill boxes” faced the attackers along with about 40 artillery pieces and four large Vickers 8-inch guns that the Japanese had bought from the British during the Russo-Japanese War.

History Flight and DPAA are still sorting through the remains of more than 2,000 casualties left there after the battle, including those of Alexander Bonnyman, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions on Betio Island.

Category: Historical