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Guest » 8pm - May 23, 2012
http://thefilmarchive.org/In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the...
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Category: Marshall Islands
Tags: Education, war, department, footage, marines, marshall, islands, firepower, landing, troops, vivid, battle, dead, wounded, surrendering, enemy, soldiers, americans, general, eisenhower, bond, appeal, world, guitar, ww2, germany, military, weapons, world war, history, russia, army, james
http://thefilmarchive.org/In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S. Marines in August, 1942.Japanese bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands were the outer perimeter of eastern defenses for the Japanese Empire. The Marianas campaign followed the next summer.The Japanese forces occupied the Gilbert Islands 3 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As a provided token defense of Tarawa, they built a seaplane base on Makin and dispersed troops along the coastlines of the atolls to monitor the Allied forces movement in South Pacific. It was only after Carlson's Raiders attacked Makin in August 1942 that the Japanese began to fortify and reinforce the Gilberts. The largest and most strategically important islands of the Gilberts was Tarawa. Fortifications were quickly built up by the Japanese starting in March 1943 with nearly 5,000 troops stationed abroad. An additional 3,000 Special Naval Landing Force and base force troops and 940 naval construction units were supplemented by 1,247 laborers.By comparison, the Makin islands were held by only a total of 798 combat troops, including some 100 isolated Japanese aviation personnel. General Holland M. Smith, Commanding General of V Amphibious Corps blamed the Carlson raid for the rapid build-up of Japanese forces and staunchly felt, even long after his retirement, that Tarawa should have been bypassed, instead of incurring heavy Marine casualties during the seizure. Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Ernest King and Raymond A. Spruance believed that retaking the Gilberts was essential and strategically important for continued movement toward the Marshall Islands. The code name for the capture of the Gilberts was Galvanic, which called for the seizures of Tarawa, Makin and Apamama.On the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded the Gilbert Islands, occupying them by December 10.On 17 August 1942, 221 U.S. Marines of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion raided Makin from two submarines. The raid was intended by the Americans to confuse the Japanese about US intentions in the Pacific. It is instead believed to have alerted the Japanese to the strategic importance of the Gilbert Islands and led to their reinforcement and fortification.Tarawa and Abemama were occupied in force by the Japanese in September 1942 and during the next year garrisons were built up on Betio (Tarawa Atoll), and Butaritari (Makin Atoll). Only nominal forces were placed on other islands in the Gilberts.On 20 November 1943, the United States Army and U.S. 2nd Marine Division landed on Makin and Tarawa, initiating the battles of Makin and Tarawa, in which the Japanese were defeated. The Gilbert Islands were then used to support the invasion of the Marshall Islands in February 1944.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands_campaignhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Islands
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