Tarwa
Battle of Tarawa (November 20-23, 1943)
Next 3 days of battle (November 21-23)
- Tarwa was the most heavily fortified island in all of the island hopping campaign
- Low tides prevented some U.S. landing crafts from clearing the coral reefs that ringed the island
- The US Navy arrived at Tarwa on November 19 and air and sea bombardments on the islands were set to happen the next day to help alleviate the battle the 18,000 Marines were going to take on
- There was already implications before the battle even started
- There was a heavy sea turbulence which slowed transfer operations of the Marines to the landing crafts which were on the sides of the ships
- Air raids were delayed
- Lower then expected tide level
- Many Marines were faced to jump out of landing craft and go onto shore. When they landed on shore they were ill equipped and/or exhausted
- The assault path through the lagoon to the shore became congested with disabled landing crafts and bloodied bodies
- At the end of the first day there was 5,000 Marines who reached the shore and 1,500 had passed away
Next 3 days of battle (November 21-23)
- Marines were starting to get shot at on all sides
- Snipers were on the abandoned assault vehicles because they positioned themselves there under the cover of darkness
- November 21 the tides began to rise and it was easier to get reinforcements to shore, then it was just down hill for the Japanese