The Battle of Makin was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 20 November to 24 November 1943 on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

The end of the Aleutian Islands campaign and progress in the Solomon Islands, combined with increasing supplies of men and materials, gave the United States Navy the resources to carry out an invasion of the central Pacific in late 1943. Admiral Chester Nimitz had argued for this invasion earlier in 1943 but the resources were not available to carry it out at the same time as Operation Cartwheel, the envelopment of Rabaul in the Bismarck Islands. The plan was to approach the Japanese home islands by "leap-frogging": establishing naval and air bases in one group of islands to support the attack on the next. The Gilbert Islands were the first step in this chain.

There had been a previous US attack on Makin. On 17 August 1942, 221 marines of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion were landed on Makin from two submarines. They killed 83 Japanese soldiers and destroyed installations for the loss of 21 killed (mostly by air attack) and 9 captured. The prisoners were taken to Kwajalein Atoll and beheaded. The raid was intended by the Americans to confuse the Japanese about US intentions in the Pacific. However, it had the effect of alerting the Japanese to the strategic importance of the Gilbert Islands and led to their reinforcement and fortification.

The invasion fleet, Task Force 52 commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner left Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1943. The landing force consisted of units of the US 27th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Ralph C. Smith .

Air operations against Makin began on 13 November and troops began to go ashore at two beaches at 08:30 on 20 November.

External links

• US Army Campaigns of World War II: Central Pacific 1941-–1943