WWII - Tarawa, Kwajalein
After capturing the Solomon Islands near New Guinea, the next step in Admiral Nimitz' island-hopping campaign against Japan was to take the Gilbert and Marshall Islands in the central Pacific.
The main battle in the Gilbert Islands was on the atoll of Tarawa in November, 1943. The video above shows supplies being landed on a neighboring atoll. Note that some of the workers are wearing clothes that are getting soaked, while others are more sensibly working naked.
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LIFE photographer John Florea took this photo of a base on Tarawa. From all of the clothing lying around on benches, it appears that the men are washing.
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And here's a closeup by Florea of a man bathing in what looks like half of an oil drum.
The next step was the capture of Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands on Jan. 31 - Feb. 3, 1944. This uncredited photo shows Marines enjoying the beach on Kwajalein after the battle.
An improvised shower on Kwajalein.
MPs of the 7th infantry division watch Japanese POWs on Kwajalein.
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LIFE photographer George Strock took this photo of captured Japanese soldiers.
An unattributed photo of captured Japanese soldiers on Kwajalein. Captured Japanese were made to strip naked to make sure they were not carrying any weapons.
4 comments:
I really like your wartime images.
Update on Tarawa. US Marines were slaughtered there in what is generally regarded as an unnecessary battle. It was a vanity project for Admiral Halsey, who was trying to recover from his past military failures. The dead were buried in mass graves on the island. Many of the bodies were reclaimed, but not the majority. The skeletons rise to the surface, and the natives toss them into bone piles. A GI found out, and tried to get the US to reclaim the skeletons. The US refused. Many are being dug up for housing developments and, again, being tossed in piles. That one GI made it his life's work to get names associated with the bodies. He died before he could get anyone to listen.
Support our troops!
Were captured American soldiers stripped naked similarly to captured Japanese soldiers?
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