BATTLE FOR BETIO

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 November 1943, Page 4

BATTLE FOR BETIO

BLOODIEST OF PACIFIC * WAR. ELABORATE JAPANESE DEFENCES. GARRISON FIGHTS TO DEATH. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 1.10 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 28. “The battle of Betio-Tarawa, in the Gilbert Islands, was the bloodiest mess of the Pacific war to date,” says the “New York Times” correspondent with the invasion forces. Officers who went through all the great United States campaigns , of the last war, as well as Guadal- | canal, Dieppe and Salerno, say that in their experience nothing approaches Betio for carnage. Twenty-four hours after Betio was taken, the dead of both sides lay all over the island. Out from the beaches, in shallow water, dead Marines hung over barbed wire barricades. Beneath one long pier, where the Marines crawled ashore under cover of wooden planking, the corpses of men who did not make it still clung to barnacled crossbeams. The Japanese defences included pillboxes so ingeniously “staggered” that when one was knocked out the Marines met the converging fire of two inner pillboxes. The natives said the Japanese estimated that it would take 100,000 Americans to capture Betio. ‘Before the Americans landed 3,000 tons of shells and bombs were directed against known objectives on Betio, which is only 21- miles long and 800 to 100 yards wide,” the correspondent adds. “The handful of Japanese who finally surrendered were members of non-combatant working parties. The garrison fought to the death. One hundred of them, armed only with sabres, made a suicidal counter-attack. They were led by four officers in full parade dress, wearing medals, with feathers in their hats. Machine-gun fire killed or wounded most of.the attackers and the few who reached the American posts were killed in hand-to-hand fighting.” . Lieutenant-Colonel James Roosevelt, a son of President Rbosevfelt, who took part in the landings, says the Japanese intended to construct a submarine base on Butaritari Island, south of Makin. They had taken there 300.000 barrels of oil. The American bombardment set some on fire and the remainder was salvaged by the Marines.