Menu
  • Home
  • Maps and Intelligence
  • Tracks in the Sand
  • The Tanks
  • Hall of Fame
  • M4A2 on BETIO - Today
  • The Marines / The Uniforms
    • Roster
  • Further readings
  • Acknowledgements and credits
  • Who we are
  • Website's policy
  • Contact us
  • Phil's comments
Tanks on Tarawa

Tanks in hell - a marine corps tank company on Tarawa

Photo
Click on the image to know more about this book

Tank & military vehicles - issue n°27

Picture
Article: M4A2 à Tarawa. 3ème partie : Tank-infanterie, coopérer pour survivre. By R. CANSIERE. (French Language only).
January 2016.
Last part of an article dedicated to the actions of the tanks from C Company, I Corps Medium Tank Battalion on Tarawa. It describes the events related to the tanks (light and medium) from D+1 thru D+3.
The article concludes on how Tarawa changed the way tanks were employed in the late Pacific campaigns, especialy for A Company 2nd Tank Battalion (ex-C Company I Corps Medium Tank Battalion) on Saipan, Tinian, Ie and Okinawa.
Photos, color profiles and a map are included.

Purchase it here: http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/tank-military-vehicles/3951-tank-military-vehicles-n027.html

tank & military vehicles - issue n°26

Article: M4A2 à Tarawa. 2ème Partie : Bienvenue en enfer. By R. CANSIERE. (French Language only).
Second part of an article dedicated to C Co. I Corps Medium Tank Battalion.
The action takes place on the reef of Betio, Tarawa atoll on D-Day 20 November 1943. The reader can follow the tracks of each individual vehicle all along the day.
Included are photos and color profiles.

Order here: http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/tank-military-vehicles/3911-tank-military-vehicles-n026.html

Picture

Tank & military vehicles - issue n°25

Picture
Article: M4A2 à Tarawa. 1re Partie : Les préparatifs. By R. CANSIERE. (French Language only).
Pages 52 through 58 from this magazine presents the first of a three parts article dedicated to the actions of C Company, I Corps Medium Tank Battalion on Tarawa.
This first article introduces the company, the vehicles, the training period and the invasion plan of Betio.
It includes a lots of photos, a map and a color profile.

You can order here: http://www.histoireetcollections.com/fr/tank-military-vehicles/3870-tank-military-vehicles-n025.html

Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific, by Oscar E. Gilbert

Photo
“The tankers suffered alongside the infantrymen they protected. They were sprayed with red-hot fragments when antitank rounds went in one armoured flank and out the other. They were torn and burned when the enemy struck with explosive charges and grenades. They died without leaving a body for burial when huge mines lifted their 35-ton tanks high into the air, gutted them, and tossed them aside like empty cans. They shivered with malaria and baked inside sealed tanks in the 110 degree heat, drowned in flooded tanks, and were crushed when tanks broke loose and slid about in the holds of storm-tossed ships. But in the end, they triumphed.
They were United States Marines.”
Author’s Prologue

This is the summary of what Marine Corps tankers lived during those dark hours of WWII.
It is a very interesting book, covering the period 1941-45 including all the Pacific battlefield where USMC tanks played a role.
Enriched with many WWII veterans' interviews, we are totally immersed in the hell of the USMC tank warfare in the Pacific.


“It is the most authentic book on the subject. Oscar Gilbert did a marvelous job in his research effort. He was devoted to the task and interviewed people in person as well over the phone and through e-mail. There was no reliance on some of the so-called experts.” (Colonel Ed Bale, USMC Ret.)

Highly recommended!

Purchase it now:

on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Tank-Battles-The-Pacific/dp/1580970508/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343844875&sr=8-1&keywords=marine+tank+battles+pacific
on Barnesandnoble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marine-tank-battles-in-the-pacific-oscar-e-gilbert/1004132300



MARINES UNDER ARMOR - The Marine Corps and the Armored Fighting Vehicle, 1916-2000, by Kenneth Estes.

Photo
This book is  the reference on the Corps armored fighting vehicles procurement all along from WWI to the beginning of XXIst Century.
Ken Estes has search the archives and interviewed many people from the Marine Corps staff to gather the most complete account on these Marine Corps vehicles.

The 1st Corps Tank Battalion is extensively covered here. You'll learn more about how the first medium tanks entered service into this battalion, the maintenance nightmare and spare parts supply troubles found in early 1943. Description of the battalion way of life and discipline - "which was not one of the best", is also well described. 

This is mostly a text book.

Purchase it Now: 
On Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1557502374/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1424341419&sr=8-1&keywords=marines+under+armor
On Barnes and Noble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marines-under-armor-kenneth-w-estes/1114064610?ean=9781591142454

After the Battle - TARAWA and operation Galvanic - ISSUE 15, Bill Bartsch and Al.

Photo
This magazine is perticularly interesting because of its poswar analysis of the battlefield of Betio and other Tarawa Atoll islands.
Bill Bartsch
(http://www.writingthepacificwar.com/) travelled across the atoll in 1974 and took a lots of photos from the war remains. This priceless contemporary account shows the island of Betio before the extensive constructions that covered the island today. 
Bill Bartsch, in addition to commenting his photographs, wrote the text from notes he took on the field. 
Among others, there is an interesting aerial photo of the island showing the disposition of the war remains and a photo of the remaining visible M4A2.
Many photos show relics that are today gone due to errosion or scrap metal dealers.

Very Interresting!

Purchase it Now:
https://www.afterthebattle.com/store/index.php?id_product=17&controller=product

US Marine Corps Tank Crewman 1941-45, by Kenneth W. Estes

Photo
This book presents the experiences of the tank crews and how they evolved throught the Pacific war.
For this purpose, Lt. Colonel Estes (USMC, Ret.) created a fictional character, Fred Crowley, who lives the Pacific tank battles from school training to the post-war occupation of Japan. Although the character is fictional, the experiences are real, based on actual events.

Even if the battle of Tarawa does not take a lot of space in the book, it allows us to imagine the daily life of the US Marine Corps tank crewmen in the ferocious Pacific war.

The book is accurate in the details and the text is illustrated with many photos, color plates and maps.


Fascinating!


Purchase it now:

on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.fr/Marine-Corps-Tank-Crewman-1941-45/dp/1841767174

on Barnesandnoble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/us-marine-corps-tank-crewman-1941-45-kenneth-estes/1007055026

TARAWA, the Story of a Battle, by Robert Sherrod

Photo
In his book, Time Magazine war correspondent Robert Sherrod described his experience in the Tarawa battle. Written in 1944, from his notes taken during the fight, the book immerses us in the terrific battle for Betio. Feelings of the Marines, the noise, the odors... this indispensable work is highly detailed.

Even though highly colored by wartime propaganda, it remains a really interesting book.



Indispensable !


Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa, by Joseph H. Alexander

Photo
This paperback history could be described as the prelude to retired Colonel Joseph Alexander's book Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa.

This document gives us an objective view of the Tarawa battle, thanks to the author's research into the archives and veterans’ interview.

There is not a lot of accurate information about tanks, but it allows us to see how the different units worked together and how the Marines progressed in their conquest of Betio.



Very interesting!


Purchase it now:

on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.fr/Utmost-Savagery-Three-Days-Tarawa/dp/159114003X

USMC Uniformes, Insignes et Equipements du Corps des Marines 1941-1945, by Bruno Alberti and Laurent Pradier

Photo
This French book is entirely dedicated to the Marine Corps uniforms and equipment during WWII.
It is a beautiful book, with considerable information for persons captivated by history and details. It is augmented by many WWII period pictures but also by models depicting the sometimes unique equipment of the USMC.
Collectors will appreciate this work!


Beautiful and complete!



Purchase it now:

on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.fr/MARINE-1941-1945-Alberti-Laurent-Pradier/dp/B00B5RGBXM

An English version of a similar book was edited years before this one: US Marine Corps Uniforms and Equipment in World War II by Jim Moran.
It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Uniforms-Equipment-World/dp/1872004571/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383876013&sr=1-9&keywords=marine+corps+uniforms


Back to Further Readings