Tarawa Operations, The R4 of 5

The Tarawa Operations R4 of 5 Bulldozer sealing bunker; dynamite exploded within. Dozer & steam shovels repairing airstrip, moving sand w/ trucks. 12:29:28 Landing defensive troops & artillery w/ LVT pulling supplies on rubber rafts. Crates carried ashore & stacked. Confusion. Grader smoothing airstrip & first fighter plane landing on Betio. 12:30:58 Raising US & British flags, saluting for returning island to Great Britain. Men inspecting dead bodies on sand. Wounded on stretcher w/ flies waved away; moved to ship & loaded by crane. Treating wounded on shore w/ plasma hung on rifle. 12:32:18 Dead Japanese bodies, badly burned & swollen. Suicide bodies w/ rifles in place. Eleven Japanese survivors stripped of clothing on beach & walked to LVT, boarding. 12:33:34 Large group of Korean laborers who surrendered. Bathing in surf & wounded treated. Questioning. 12:34:59 Pan over destroyed palm trees & bunkers. 8” British made defense guns inspected, some burned, in bunker positions. British 140mm guns in place. Other weapons showing heavy damage WWII Pacific; Battle; Diagrams; 1943; Tarawa Invasion; Fighting; Aftermath; Prisoners of War; POWs; WW2; Horrors of War; NOTE: Battle fought 20-23Nov43