Across The Reef – The Marine assault of Tarawa

Across The Reef: The Marine assault of Tarawa is a real account of world War II, written by Colonel Joseph H. Alexander who was serving the U.S.Marine Corps. The author narrates the incidents during August 1943, which planned the execution of assault of Tarawa.
Excerpts:
The Gilbert Islands consist of 16 scattered atolls lying along the equator in the Central Pacific. Tarawa Atoll is 2,085 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor and 540 miles southeast of Kwajalein in the Marshalls. Betio is the principal island in the atoll.
The Japanese seized Tarawa and Makin from the British within the first three days after Pearl Harbor. Carlson’s brief raid in August 1942 caused the Japanese to realize their vulnerability in the Gilberts. Shortly after the raid, the 6th Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force arrived in the islands. With them came Rear Admiral Tomanari Saichiro, a superb engineer, who directed the construction of sophisticated defensive positions on Betio. Saichiro’s primary goal was to make Betio so formidable that an American assault would be stalled at the water’s edge, allowing time for the other elements of the Yogaki (“Waylaying Attack”) Plan to destroy the landing force.