Combat· World War II
Apamama Seizure
Apamama was an atoll south of Tarawa with a deep lagoon that would make a fine naval base and airfield site.
Before committing a large force, the Allies needed to know how strongly the Japanese held it. A small reconnaissance company, carried in by submarine, slipped ashore from rubber boats at night to scout the islands. They found only a small enemy garrison dug in at the southern end of one island. The Marines pushed toward them but ran into stiff rifle and machine gun fire across a narrow sandspit. The submarine and a destroyer shelled the position. When the fire lifted, the Marines found nearly all the defenders dead, most by their own hand. A battalion of the 6th Marines then arrived to occupy the atoll, and engineers soon began carving out an airstrip.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 872