Combat· World War II
Battle of Tulagi
Tulagi was a small island across the channel from Guadalcanal where the Japanese had built a base.
Taking it was part of the same operation that put Marines ashore on Guadalcanal, since the harbor and the enemy troops there had to be cleared to secure the larger prize. Unlike on Guadalcanal, the defenders here meant to fight to the death. Marines made an opposed landing and pushed inland against fierce resistance. The 1st Raider Battalion and a battalion of the 5th Marines drove across the island, clearing Japanese troops out of caves and dug-in positions. The defenders launched repeated night counterattacks that were thrown back. A battalion of the 2d Marines came ashore to add weight to the attack, and after several days of close, hard fighting the Marines wiped out the garrison and took the island.
Podcast episodes on World War II
Record no. 101