On 10 November, 1943, men of the United States Marine Corps invaded the island of Betio, located at the southwest corner of Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands chain in the Central Pacific. This invasion, known as Operation Galvanic, was a phase of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
The landings on Betio were the Americans' third amphibious operation of the Pacific War, after Guadalcanal Island and Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island, but the first in which the Japanese vigorously resisted the landings on the beaches, pinning the Marines down with machine-gun and mortar fire. Worse, American planners at Pearl Harbor had grievously misjudged the timing of high tide at Betio, leaving the landing craft stranded on the shallow coral reefs where the Marines were slaughtered.
The island was declared secure after three days. Given the small size of Betio (0.59 sq. mi.), planners had expected it to take one.
Command structure
Naval
The roles of Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA) and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC), were both exercised by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from his headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Since the Gilberts and Marshalls lie in the Central Pacific, their capture was the responsibility of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, led by Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance from aboard his flagship, heavy cruiser Indianapolis.
The ships and troops of Operations Galvanic (landings on Tarawa Atoll) and Kourbash (landings on Makin Atoll) were under direct operational command of Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner aboard old battleship Pennsylvania.
Ground troops
V Amphibious Corps
Major General Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith
Tarawa: 2nd Marine Division (Major General Julian C. Smith) Makin: 27th Infantry Division (Army) (Major General Ralph C. Smith)
Both Admiral Turner and General Holland Smith sailed with the Northern Attack Force even though it was obvious that Tarawa would be the scene of the main ground action. If the Japanese mounted a counterattack, it was most likely to come from the Marshalls since the closest Japanese bases to the Gilberts were located there. Nimitz and Spruance wanted the two highest-ranking officers to sail with the forces that would be the first to encounter any such enemy response. Unbeknownst to the Americans, the Japanese had stripped almost all their naval and air assets from the Marshalls in an attempt to resist the Allied effort in the Central Solomons. Thus, no counterattack materialized.
American
Ground forces – Tarawa
2nd Marine Division
Major General Julian C. Smith
Asst. Div. Cmdr.: Brig. Gen. Leo D. Hermle
Chief of Staff: Col. Merritt A. Edson
Personnel officer (G-1): Lt. Col. C.P. van Ness
Intelligence officer (G-2): Lt. Col. Thomas J. Colley
Operations officer (G-3): Lt. Col. James P. Riseley
Logistics officer (G-4): Lt. Col Jesse S. Cook
Eastern landing area: 8th Marine Regiment Colonel Elmer E. Hall Exec. Ofc.: Lt. Col. Paul D. Sherman First Wave (Red Beach 3): 2nd Battalion (Maj. Henry P. Crowe) Second Wave (Red Beach 3): 3rd Battalion (Maj. Robert H. Ruud) Third Wave (Red Beach 2): 1st Battalion (Maj. Lawrence C. Hays Jr.)
Central landing area: 2nd Marine Regiment Colonel David M. Shoup Exec. Ofc.: Lt. Col. Dixon Goen First Wave (Red Beach 1): 3rd Battalion (Maj. John F. Schoettel) First Wave (Red Beach 2): 2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. Herbert R. Amey, Jr. (KIA 20 Nov), then Lt. Col. Walter I. Jordan) Second Wave (Red Beach 2): 1st Battalion (Major Wood B. Kyle)
Western landing area: 6th Marine Regiment Colonel Maurice G. Holmes Exec. Ofc.: Lt. Col. Russell Lloyd Third Wave (Green Beach): 1st Battalion (Maj. William K. Jones) 21–24 Nov (Outer Islands of Tarawa): 2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. Raymond L. Murray) Fourth Wave (Green Beach): 3rd Battalion (Lt. Col. Kenneth F. McLeod)
10th Marine Regiment (Artillery) Colonel Thomas E. Bourke Exec. Ofc.: Lt. Col. Ralph E. Forsyth 1st Battalion (Lt. Col. Presley M. Rixey) 2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. George R. E. Shell) 3rd Battalion (Lt. Col. Manly L. Curry) 4th Battalion (Lt. Col. Kenneth A. Jorgensen) 5th Battalion (Maj. Howard V. Hiett)
18th Marine Regiment (Engineer) Colonel Cyril W. Martyr Exec. Ofc.: Lt. Col. Ewart S. Laue 1st Battalion (Engineers) (Maj. George L.H. Cooper) 2nd Battalion (Pioneers) (Lt. Col. Chester J. Salazar) 3rd Battalion (Seabees) (Cmdr. Lawrence E. Tull, USN)
Other units
2nd Defense Battalion
2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion (Maj. Henry C. Drewes (KIA 20 Nov)) 2nd Tank Battalion (Lt. Col. Alexander B. Swenceski)