Battle of Tarawa

The Battle of Tarawa was fought from 20 to 23 November 1943 on Betio, an islet of Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands, when United States Marines stormed a strongly fortified Japanese garrison. Nearly all of the roughly 4,500 Japanese defenders and Korean labourers were killed, and about 1,000 Americans died. The heavy losses shaped later American amphibious tactics in the Pacific War.