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355:, commanded by Captain G. J. (Jack) Webster in which they returned from Nonouti to Fiji. News of the massacre was covered up by British authorities at the time to the extent that New Zealand and Fijian governments were prevented from informing the families of the men killed of their deaths. However, persistent rumours eventually reached the families, and it is believed that the shooting of Japanese prisoners held in a New Zealand
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Unexploded artillery shells, mortar rounds, anti-aircraft shells and live machine gun bullets left over from the Second World War are littered throughout the island and surrounding reef, as well as the remains of several hundred U.S. and
Japanese soldiers. The remains of 30 U.S. soldiers and Marines
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Source: Australian
National Archives; Report on Japanese atrocities at Tarawa, Gilbert and Ellice Islands (execution of European prisoners at Betio, Tarawa on or about 15 October 1942), compiled by Major DCI Wernham, District Officer, Gilbert Islands, supplied to Australian government by High
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Before the massacre, seamen and civil servants who were housed on the island escaped in a small, open launch, towing a lifeboat. They sailed to
Nonouti, in the Southern Gilberts, where they were met by the
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camp was done in retaliation for this massacre. The New
Zealand camp guard who fired on the Japanese prisoners during the prison riot was the brother of one of the coastwatchers executed on Betio.
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was constructed in the early 1980s, leading to an increase in human contact with the island. Due to changing currents resulting from the construction of the causeway,
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military and civilian coastwatchers by
Japanese forces prior to the US landings. The massacre was in retaliation to an American air raid.
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created the Betio Town
Council in 1972. Since the 1970s, the islet has become a major centre of economic activity in Kiribati, and a
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Tarawa on the Web: The
Assault of the Second Marine Division on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, 20–23 November 1943
370:, would later be used as a machine gun post by the Japanese against the US forces that re-took Tarawa. The RCS
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invasion, and the subsequent
American assault on the islet in 1943, remain there. After the battle the
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510:"Graves of World War II Marines, sailors likely found on remote Pacific island of Tarawa"
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was a steel-hulled vessel, part of which is still visible on the reef off Red Beach.
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along its length. Many bunkers remain, as well as the remains of military equipment.
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Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. In 1967, the
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Commissioner for the
Western Pacific, February 1944.
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It was also the scene of a massacre by beheading of
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366:, a Japanese merchant ship often mistaken for the
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241:Japanese causeway between Betio and Bairiki
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285:Armorers place a .50-caliber aircraft
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374:was a wooden-hulled ketch, whereas
196:1.54 km (0.59 sq mi)
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362:The partly submerged hulk of the
29:Town in Gilbert Islands, Kiribati
385:Guns left over from World War II
316:The island was the scene of the
304:as interested Gilbertese look on
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390:were discovered in March 2019.
312:Map of Betio from World War II.
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217:11,000/km (29,000/sq mi)
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498:Source: NZ National Archives
298:North American B-25 Mitchell
226:is the largest township of
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259:Gilbert and Ellice Islands
410:. Premier Postal Auctions
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514:www.marinecorpstimes.com
406:Premier Postal History.
73:Location in South Tarawa
476:Scuttled Ship "Niminoa"
481:30 August 2009 at the
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295:41st Bombardment Group
247:Marine Training Centre
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132:1.35000°N 172.93333°E
214: • Density
104:Location in Kiribati
300:at the airfield on
128: /
460:War in the Pacific
408:"Post Office List"
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257:, governor of the
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206: • Total
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137:1.35000; 172.93333
293:in the nose of a
255:John Hilary Smith
230:'s capital city,
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16:(Redirected from
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508:McAvoy, Audrey.
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458:Resture, Jane. "
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324:. Relics of the
318:Battle of Tarawa
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437:Pacific Wrecks
433:Betio (Tarawa)
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113:Coordinates:
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540:South Tarawa
517:. Retrieved
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412:. Retrieved
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332:was renamed
322:World War II
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289:machine gun
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232:South Tarawa
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166:Island group
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18:Betio Island
345:New Zealand
277:Pacific War
251:Hamburg Süd
135: /
123:172°56′00″E
394:References
376:Saidu Maru
364:Saidu Maru
201:Population
120:01°21′00″N
534:Category
479:Archived
330:airstrip
326:Japanese
263:causeway
228:Kiribati
160:Kiribati
519:29 June
372:Nimanoa
368:Nimanoa
320:during
267:Bairiki
148:Country
414:5 July
209:17,356
182:Tarawa
157:
353:Degei
338:palms
224:Betio
177:Atoll
98:Betio
36:Betio
521:2019
416:2013
291:M2A1
188:Area
58:Flag
43:Town
485:".
435:".
357:POW
265:to
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20:)
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