North & Central Pacific

bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Japan > North & Central Pacific > Gilbert & Marshall Islands, updated by RAC 11 Sep 2020.  Not yet complete.

Overview - The Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign - November 1943 - February 1944

• The Marshall Islands were a former German colony administered by Japan as a League of Nations mandate after WW I.
• Japan invaded portions of the Gilbert Islands, a British protectorate, soon after the War with Japan began.
• The US Central Pacific campaign began with the invasion of Tarawa and Makin Atolls in the Gilbert Islands on 20 November 1943.

Major Invasions:

• 20 Nov '43: Tarawa Atoll, northern Gilbert Islands
• 29 Jan '44, Kwajalein Atoll, central Marshall Islands, 600 miles NW of Tarawa.
• 17 Feb '44, Eniwetok Atoll, northwestern Marshall Islands, 400 miles NW of Kwajalein.

​Due to quick success in the invasions  of Kwajalein and Eniwetok, it was decided to bypass the Caroline Islands to the southwest and next attack Saipan in the Mariana Islands, 1,200 miles NW of Eniwetok.

Gilbert & Marshall Islands

The Gilbert Islands

The Gilbert Islands - Tarawa Atoll:
On 20 November 1943, the Second Marine Division landed on the west shore of Betio Islet, on the southwest end of Tarara Atoll. Betio was heavily fortified and strongly defended - five days of combat followed, with the first day being particularly deadly.

Various internet sources err when they state that the Tarawa battle ended on the fifth day, 24 November. Indeed combat on Betio Islet ended on 24 November, but combat on Tarawa Atoll ended with the Battle of Buariki Islet, in the northeast corner of Tarawa Atoll, on 27 November. Two men with Pottawattamie County connections died while securing Buariki.

The 2nd Marine Division lost more men in eight days on Tarawa than the 1st Marine Division had lost the previous year in their nearly three months of combat on Guadalcanal. On Tarawa, 894 men were killed in action and 84 later died of wounds.

The Battle for Betio, Tarawa Atoll

The Gilbert Islands - Makin Atoll:
Also on 20 November 1943, elements of the 27th Infantry Division landed on Makin Atoll to the north of Tarawa. Unlike Tarawa, Makin was lightly defended, and combat ended on 23 November. 66 US Army troops died securing Makin.

The Battle for Butaritari, Makin Atoll

The Sinking of the Liscome Bay:

• Task Force 52, which provided naval support for the Makin Atoll invasion, included three new escort aircraft carriers, the Liscome Bay (CVE-56), Coral Sea, and Corregidor.  
• ​Off Makin, a screen of 14 destroyers protected the task force battleships and escort carriers. On the morning of 23 November, the Japanese submarine I-175 exploited a gap in the destroyer screen and launched a spread of torpedoes, one of which hit the Liscome Bay, causing a massive explosion in the bomb storage area.
• The Liscome Bay sank in 23 minutes, with 644 dead and only 272 survivors. This remains the highest death toll from any US aircraft carrier.

USS Liscome Bay stateside in 1943

The Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands, Kwajalein Atoll:
​531 dead
4th Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division

Kwajalein Atoll, January 1944

The Marshall Islands, Eniwetok Atoll:
​390 dead
22nd Marine Regiment
106th Infantry Regiment

Eniwetok Atoll, 1944

Sources for the WW II - Gilbert and Marshall Islands webpage:

• The Gilbert & Marshall Islands map is from the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls volume in the United States Military in World War II series, produced by the Department of the Army's Office of Military History at https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Gilberts/maps/USA-P-Gilberts-2.jpg
• The Battle of Betio, Tarawa Atoll and Battle for Butaritari, Makin Atoll maps are courtesy of The Map Archive.
• The stateside photo of the USS Liscome Bay is courtesy of http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/0305607.jpg.
• The Kwajalein Atoll, January 1944 map is courtesy of the United States Military Academy at  https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/world-war-two-asia.
• The Eniwetok Atoll, 1944 map is courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Eniwetok_map.png.

Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Gilbert and Marshall Islands:

• Taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea.

06-02 - North & Central Pacific - Tarawa and the Marshall Islands: (seven dead, updated 24 Jul 2020)
† Brunk, Edwin Samuel, SN 859-18-62, USN, Polk & Pott. Cos.
escort carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56); KIA 24 Nov 1943 near Makin in the Gilbert Islands; Japanese submarine I-175 sank Liscome Bay during the US Tarawa/Makin invasion, 702 dead; BNR.
† Ingalls, Paul Irvin, SN 17-003-249, USAAF, Pott. Co.
392nd Bomb Sqdn., 30th Bomb. Gp, 7th AF; based at Canton, Phoenix Islands; B-24 aerial photographer; KIA 28 Dec 1943 Gilbert or Marshall Is., Central Pacific.
† Lee, Raymond Nathan, SN 320153, USMC, Pott. Co.
Co. C, 8th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 21 Nov 1943 Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; BNR; Battle of Tarawa.
† Moore, Ned Leo, SN 485544, USMC, Pott. Co.
Co. L, 2nd Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 20 Nov 1943 Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; Battle of Tarawa.
† Nelson, Herbert Sidney, SN 821-82-95, US Navy, Pott. Co.
escort carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56); KIA 24 Nov 1943 SW of Makin, Gilbert Is.; Japanese submarine I-175 sank Liscome Bay during the US Tarawa/Makin invasion, 702 dead; BNR.
† Paulson, Ralph Lloyd, SN 428145, USMC, Story Co.
Co. E, 6th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 27 Nov 1943 on Buariki Is, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; died w/ Max Rommel; Battle of Tarawa.
† Rommel, Max C., SN 510622, USMC, Pott. & Fremont Cos.
Co. E, 6th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 27 Nov 1943 Buariki Islet, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; died w/ Ralph Paulson; Battle of Tarawa.
The above lists two members of the same Marine company in the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment:

• Ralph Paulson was the nephew of my mother's sister, Edna (Larson) Petersen.   
• Max Rommel was the brother of Margaret Rommel, earlier a Big Pigeon area schoolteacher. 
• The Second Battalion, previously in reserve during the Battle of Betio Islet, was assigned to pacify the remaining Tarawa Atoll islets. Ralph and Max died on Buariki Islet at the north end of Tarawa Atoll at the very end of the Tarawa campaign.