Gilbert Islands

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Japan > Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands, updated by RAC 18 May 2022. 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 Tarawa 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

Sources for the 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 Area WWII Dead - The Gilbert Islands:

Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

08-01 - Central Pacific > The Gilbert Islands: (four dead, updated 23 Oct 2021)

See also Naval War with Japan > Third & Fifth Fleets - two Liscome Bay crew died supporting the Gilbert Islands operation.

† Lee, Raymond Nathan, SN 320153, USMC, Pott. Co.

Co. C, 8th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 21 Nov 1943 Betio Is., Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; Battle of Tarawa - Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands; BNR.

† Moore, Ned Leo, SN 485544, USMC, Pott. Co.

Co. L, 2nd Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 20 Nov 1943 Betio Is., Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is; Battle of Tarawa - Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands.

† 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.; Battle of Tarawa - Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands.

† Rommel, Max C., SN 510622, USMC, Pott. & Fremont Cos.

Co. E, 6th Marine Regt., 2nd Marine Div.; KIA 27 Nov 1943 on Buariki Is., Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Is.; Battle of Tarawa - Central Pacific > Gilbert Islands.

Notes: Above are two members of the same Marine company in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment:

Ralph Paulson was the nephew of my uncle, Louis Petersen.
Max Rommel was the brother of Margaret Rommel, earlier a Big Pigeon area rural 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.