Marines Wrecked Makin Base

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 207, 31 August 1942, Page 5

Marines Wrecked Makin Base

JAPANxittfi HIT pEAxm xtAxiA-vjurt, Aug. 2y. frapuic iusi-uauu accounts or tne wuneu otutes recent raid uu tne seap.ia.ne uaso ox iuuuiu 4-Sianu, m tne uiiucrt uroup, were biven to-day uy xnt.utenant-wo.ionei oi v ans uanson, wno ieu tne l uiuers, anu uxajor names Roosevelt, tne second in vv/iiuuand. The marines wipea out the seaplane -use and insinuations and uestroyeu turee radio stations, IOOU barrels or aviation petrol, oonius, and looustuifs, said Major Roosevelt. Only two •Japanese out of a iorce of 300 survived the Marine’s sudden attack. The American losses were less than 10 per cent, of the enemy’s. Colonel Carlson revealed that the Marines were on the island 20 minutes before they were discovered, although the Japanese had maintained a continuous alert, with snipers strapped to the Lops of ? 0-foot coconut trees for days. “We fought until 11.30 a.m. the first day, when the first Japanese air-raiders came over,” the colonel added. ‘Meanwhile, we had sunk a 350-ton Japanese transport and a gunooat. The confused planes strafed and bombed in confuseu i.aohion, dropping more on their own troops than on us. “The fight ended at 4 p.m. on the 3econd day. “There were 1700 natives on the island, and they had been ill-treated by the Japanese. The natives' looked upon the Americans as deliverers, and served as an auxiliary intelligence corps. One of my hardest jobs was to keep my reserves from entering the firing lines, because they all wanted to shoot. “By accident, an officer and men in a boat got lost and came up at the rear of the Japanese. They shot eight and knocked out a Japanese radio station. They spent a day cutting the enemy communications, killing Japanese messengers, and generally raising hell. ‘ ‘ The battlefield was somo sight when wo left—dead Japs were behind almost every coconut tree.” Colonel Carlson said the Japanese were able to operate against Samoa and the Australian lifeline from Makin. As the Marines destroyed everything, the base was not of much use at present. Apparently several British subjects had been on the island when the Japanese landed, but the Marines found no indication of their fate.