Battle of Tarawa

battle_name=Battle of Tarawa

November 22nd

The battle for the third day consisted primarily of consolidation of existing lines, and moving onshore of additional heavy equipment and tanks. During the morning the forces originally landed on Red 1 made some progess towards Red 2, but at some cost. Meanwhile the units of the 6th landed on Green to the south of Red 1 formed up while the remaining battalion of the 6th landed.

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By the afternoon the 1st battalion of the 6th was sufficiently organized and equipped to start an offensive. At 12:30 they started off, and were soon pursuing the Japanese forces across the southern coast of the island. By the late afternoon they had reached the eastern end of the airfield, and formed a continuous line with the forces that had landed on Red 3 two days earlier.

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By the evening the US clearly had the upper hand. The remaining Japanese forces were either squeezed into the tiny amount of land to the east of the airstrip, or located in several pockets near Red 1/Red 2 or near the eastern edge of the airstrip.

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Realizing this, the Japanese forces formed up for a counterattack, which started at about 19:30. Small units were sent in to infiltrate the US lines in preparation for a full-scale assault, but were beaten off by concentrated artillery fire and the assault never took place. Another attempt was made at 23:00, and made some progress.

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