The Pittsburgh Press (November 24, 1943)
YANKS IN CONTROL OF GILBERTS
Victory won in mid-Pacific, admiral says
Marines capture Makin; Japs still fighting on Tarawa
By William F. Tyree, United Press staff writer
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii –
Powerful U.S. forces secured victory in the Gilbert Islands today and defied the Japs to stop their rolling offensive on the mid-Pacific sea route toward Tokyo.
Only 80 hours after troops stormed islets in the coral chain on Japan’s outer line of empire defenses, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Pacific Fleet commander, announced that the Gilberts were in the firm grip of the United States.
He said:
While it isn’t a rosy road to Tokyo, we face the future with complete confidence. We went prepared to meet attacks. There will not be surprises.
Ready to meet fleet
U.S. attack units will consolidate their positions for further operations, he said, adding they were ready to meet the Jap fleet anytime.
Tokyo radio quoted a Jap naval spokesman as acknowledging that the islands were in Japan’s main defense line across the vast Pacific, adding that the chance for a naval “showdown” was welcomed. The spokesman predicted “tremendous” sea battles.
Adm. Nimitz spoke to newspapermen yesterday evening shortly after his daily communiqué reported that 27th Army Division’s troops from New York had captured Makin Atoll, that Marines slowly but surely were cleaning out Tarawa and that the situation on Apamama was “well in hand.”
Raid Marshalls
The communiqué also disclosed that carrier-borne aircraft from the big fleet, which accompanied the invasion forces, were teaming with Army Liberators from the South Pacific in continuous blows against the Marshalls to the north of the Gilberts. The Marshalls may be the next invasion objective.
The offensive so far, Adm. Nimitz said, cost only light casualties on Makin and somewhat heavier casualties on Tarawa. Not a U.S. ship had been lost up to the time of his report. The Japs had tried nothing but intermittent air attacks.
To get airfields
When newspapermen asked him to expand on the long-range aspects of the offensive begun 3,100 miles southeast of Tokyo – to answer the question “where do we go from here?” – Adm. Nimitz replied with a confident smile:
Wherever the Japs are. The object of the Gilberts offensive was to establish contact with the enemy. We expect to have some airfields, probably one on Makin as well as Tarawa. We have got to have places to roost when we start working on these people. We must be prepared to meet the Jap fleet.
Adm. Nimitz and his spokesman gave the first detailed reports on the Gilberts attacks which started with the invasion of Makin, northernmost of the islands, and Tarawa, to the south almost on the equator, on Saturday morning.
Very few enemy prisoners were taken and the Jap defenders suffered “very heavy casualties,” Adm. Nimitz said. There were only 1,000 enemy troops on Makin but some 4,000-5,000 on Tarawa and adjacent islands, which were attacked by Marine veterans of the Solomons.
On Makin, the Americans gained extensive military installations, a radio station, munitions dumps, barracks, a seaplane ramp and several piers into the lagoon. Some enemy planes were destroyed. Snipers were still being cleared out.
At Tarawa, the Marines landed on the western end of the 4,000-yard-long Betio Island, sweeping across to the eastern end where the Japs were cornered and being “rooted out.”
Put up barbed wire
The Japs had erected a barbed-wire entanglement off the narrow sandy beaches of Betio on a coral reef some 500 yards from the shore. It was believed the airstrip in the center of the island – bombed out by days of attack – was in Marine hands. Some bitter fighting was still in progress, but the communiqué said the island’s capture was assured.
The remainder of the Japs in the Gilberts “will be taken care of,” Adm. Nimitz said. The islands include 16 major coral reefs having a total area of only 166 square miles. Makin is within 200 miles of the nearest islands in the Marshall group. The Gilberts are 1,300 miles east of the big enemy naval base at Truk in the Carolines.
Five carriers in action
Adm. Nimitz expected strong counteraction from the Japs when they recover from the initial staggering blow, but new reports showed the U.S. Fleet sent to the mid-Pacific was a strong one. At least five U.S. aircraft carriers were believed participating.
Adm. Nimitz, expressing belief that at some point in the progress across the Pacific the enemy will throw his powerful units into action, said:
So long as the Japanese main fleet is intact, it behooves us to maintain sufficient forces to be sure the engagement comes out in our favor.
While saying he thought the Japs will finally be defeated from China, he added “we will not neglect any roads to Tokyo” and that the mid-Pacific route would be only one cut open when resources are available.