1978.WWII Central Pacific.Gilbert Islands.Nimitz.Tarawa

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i000000 1978.WWII Central Pacific.Gilbert Islands.Nimitz.Tarawa Description : EDWIN P. HOYT (U. S. Army Air Corps) STORM OVER THE GILBERTS WAR IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC: 1943 MASON/CHARTER NEW YORK DESCRIPTION: Hard Cover. Very Good/ in Good Dust Cover. 1978. 5 3/4 X 8 1/2". [6], 162 pages. Index Cover of blue cloth with title on spine in silver. Very good cover with slight rubbing to edges and bottom of spine bumped. Dust cover is good with a few chips. Now protected in an acetate cover. Interior is excellent. Brilliantly illustrated with original photographs! 1943 Gilbert Islands battles including Tarawa, Liscome Bay, Gilbert Islands. Admiral Raymond Spruance! An heroic tale told by the men who were t Second Battle of Makin 13-23 Nov 1943Makin atoll was occupied by Japanese forces on 10 Dec 1941 uncontested, and was converted to a strategically important seaplane base. The Japanese commander in charge of defending Makin was Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Seizo Ishikawa with a garrison of 798 men (including 276 laborers and 100 aviation ground crew) with no boats and no planes. On the coast of the main island of Butaritari, 8-inch coastal defense guns, three 37-mm anti-tank gun positions, 10 machine gun emplacements, and 85 rifle pits protected the beaches from amphibious assaults. Should any landings succeed, two land barriers stretched the entire island to slow enemy advances. The western tank barrier was 12 to 13 feet wide and 15 feet deep, reinforced by one anti-tank gun shielded by concrete, six machine gun positions, and 50 rifle pits. The eastern barrier was 14 feet wide and 6 feet deep, reinforced by barb wire, gun emplacements, and rifle pits. The main philosophy behind the defense was to hold out for as long as possible until reinforcements could arrive to relief the defenders.On 13 Nov, US Army Air Force began aerial attacks on Makin by sending B-24 horizontal bombers from Ellice, while Naval Dauntless dive bombers were sent in from escort carriers Liscome Bay, Coral Sea, and Corregidor. On 20 Nov 1943, the Army 27th Division, a National Guard unit from New york, landed on Butaritari. At Red Beach, the landing was rather uneventful, slowed only by an inefficiently conducted landing operation that was vulnerable to Japanese sniper fire. on Yellow Beach, problems due to inexperience in amphibious operations also occurred, which centered around the miscalculation of high tide sea level. Nevertheless, both landings were completed with rather small casualties. They soon realized that the Japanese did not defend at the beaches as the Americans had hoped. Withdrawing into inland defensive strong points. It took the Americans two days to clear out the defensive barriers at the cost of 66 deaths with an additional 152 wounded. Ralph Smith reported "Makin taken" on 23 Nov. The Japanese lost 395 lives in the defense.Reacting to the American action directed at Makin, the Japanese launched a serious air raid with 46 planes from the Marshalls on the evening of 20 Nov. The carrier Independence was damaged and was sent back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Later, on 24 Nov, submarine I-175 from Truk commanded by Lieutenant Commander Sunao Tabata sank the escort carrier Liscombe Bay with a single torpedo. Overall, on the high seas the Japanese lost a total of 100 planes with various counterattacks against the Americans during the Gilberts operation. The Americans lost 46 planes (plus another 73 in accidents by inexperienced pilots) and two submarines. Battle of Tarawa 20-23 Nov 1943To the south, the southern task force headed for Tarawa. Like most islands in this region, Tarawa was actually an atoll consisted of 38 islands surrounded by coral reef. The main defense was on the island of Betio on the western edge of the atoll half the size of New York City's Central Park. The value of the island was on the precious airfield on this tiny island. Rear Admiral Shibasa... read more

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