A Glimpse of History - WWII & the Gilbert Islands

The islands of Kiribati did not feel the impact of World War II until the Japanese bombed Banaba 6 hours after bombing Pearl Harbor and then invading and capturing the islands of Butaritari and Tarawa on 9th-10th December of 1941, just 2 days after the Pearl Harbor bombing. Later occupying Banaba in May 1942 and Abemama in September 1942.

Tarawa and Gilbert Islands will always be remembered as the first major battle front of the American offensive during their Pacific campaign of WWII. Tarawa and Butaritari (formerly known during WWII as Makin) formed the stage of major conflict “Operation Galvanic” in the central Pacific. Betio, the islet on Tarawa atoll was heavily fortified and was developed into a commanding center in the Gilbert Islands while Butaritari was developed as a seaport for Japanese naval ships, sea planes and submarines.

Japanese occupation was also experienced on Abemama Atoll along with the some of the Gilbert atolls. In 1942, the Japanese captured 22 British (New Zealand) coast watchers who had been posted on the Gilbert atolls before the war and were all taken to Tarawa and executed on Betio where the Betio Memorial (ANZAC memorial) stands today at the Betio Cemetery.

During the Pacific WWII campaign, US Marines made two separate attack operations on the Japanese in the Gilberts, “The Makin Raid” in 17th-18th August 1942 and “Operation Galvanic” of November 1943, a large-scale amphibious operation in the Gilbert Islands that featured the “The Battle of Tarawa,” and the “The Battle of Makin,” and reconnaissance missions to wipe out Japanese occupation from the Gilbert atolls.

The key event in Operation Galvanic was the Battle of Tarawa, one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific in WWII. It was extremely costly in human lives, and it was the first initial stage of a great amphibious landing against heavily fortified position on the tiny islet of Betio. The Battle of Tarawa was considered a huge mistake by the U.S Military but they soon realized and learnt that it was a valuable lesson that would help them in their strategic battle plans as they fought their way across the Pacific towards Japan.