Issue in Doubt PTO (id:#57826)

Heat of Battle (Blood Reef Tarawa ID: BR CG 1)   [next]   [previous]

Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands 1943-11-20 (25 others)

Overview:

At 0922 on D-Day the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines hit Red Beach Two. Red Two was in center of the invasion area with the left flank being the long central pier. The right flank was the point where the breast turns south. The rikusentai of the Ist company had extra time to prepare for the onslaught as 2/2 was the last to hit the beach. F company was to land on the right, while E company landed on the left. The Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Amey Jr. Was killed while wading ashore with G company. Lieutenant Colonel Jordan an observer from the newly created 4th Marine Division took command. Jordan could not have imagined a worse situation for him to take a leading role. Parts of E company were completely gone, assumed destroyed. The LVT drivers found the fire too intense and diverted to the re-entrant cove part of Red Beach One. The other Marines that had made the beach were pinned down by sheets of steal from the Japanese positions only yards from shore. The rikusentai made the slightest move the last. Out in the reef, G company, parts of the regimental staff, and the supporting elements were struggling to shore wading across the open reef. By nightfall only a few yards of beach had been taken.

Defender: Japanese (3rd Special Boat Force with 111th Contruction Battalion and 1st Company. 7th Special Landing Force)  

Errata (source)