Editing Tuvalu (section)

===Second World War===
During the [[Pacific War|Second World War]], as a [[Crown colony|British colony]] the Ellice Islands were aligned with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] of the war. Early in the war, the [[Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands|Japanese invaded and occupied]] [[Butaritari|Makin]], [[Tarawa]] and other islands in what is now [[Kiribati]]. The [[United States Marine Corps]] landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942,<ref name="pacificwrecks1">{{cite web |title=Tuvalu (Ellice Islands) |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/tuvalu.html |access-date=1 June 2012 |archive-date=6 March 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020306212834/http://www.pacificwrecks.com/provinces/tuvalu.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943. Funafuti was used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborne attacks on the Gilbert Islands ([[Kiribati]]) that were occupied by Japanese forces.<ref name="PMcQ">{{cite book |last1=McQuarrie |first1=Peter |title=Strategic atolls: Tuvalu and the Second World War |year=1994 |publisher=Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury/ Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific |isbn=0958330050}}</ref>

The islanders assisted the American forces to build airfields on Funafuti, Nanumea and Nukufetau and to unload supplies from ships.<ref name="LNKFK2">{{cite book |last1=Lifuka |first1=Neli |editor-last1=Koch |editor-first1=Klaus-Friedrich |title=Logs in the current of the sea: Neli Lifuka's story of Kioa and the Vaitupu colonists |year=1978 |publisher=Australian National University Press/Press of the Langdon Associates |isbn=0708103626 |chapter=War Years in Funafuti |chapter-url=http://307bg.net/memoirs/WWII_in_Tuvalu.pdf |access-date=27 April 2015 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807033725/https://www.307bg.net/memoirs/WWII_in_Tuvalu.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> On Funafuti, the islanders shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build the airfield and [[Naval Base Funafuti]] on [[Fongafale]].<ref name="TAHMT">{{cite book |first1=Melei |last1=Telavi |editor-first1=Hugh |editor-last1=Laracy |title=Tuvalu: A History |year=1983 |publisher=University of the South Pacific/Government of Tuvalu |pages=140–144 |chapter=Chapter 18, War}}</ref> A Naval Construction Battalion ([[Seabees]]) built a seaplane ramp on the lagoon side of Fongafale islet, for seaplane operations by both short- and long-range seaplanes, and a compacted coral runway was also constructed on Fongafale,<ref name="pacificwrecks2">{{cite web |title=Tuvalu (Ellice Islands) Airfields & Seaplane Anchorages |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/index.html |access-date=1 June 2012 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730060314/https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> with runways also constructed to create [[Nanumea Airfield]]<ref name="pacificwrecks3">{{cite web |title=Nanumea Airfield |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/nanumea/index.html |access-date=1 June 2012 |archive-date=16 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316060851/http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/nanumea/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Nukufetau Airfield]].<ref name="pacificwrecks4">{{cite web |title=Motulalo Airfield (Nukufetau Airfield) |url=http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/motulalo/index.html |access-date=1 June 2012 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730060003/https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/tuvalu/motulalo/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> USN [[PT Boat|Patrol Torpedo Boats]] (PTs) and [[seaplane]]s were based at [[Naval Base Funafuti]] from 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944.<ref name="HLB">{{cite book |last1=Barbin |first1=Harold L. |title=Beachheads Secured Volume II, The History of Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats, Their Bases, and Tenders of World War II, June 1939 – 31 August 1945 |year=2010 |pages=549–550}}</ref>

The atolls of Tuvalu acted as staging posts during the preparation for the [[Battle of Tarawa]] and the [[Battle of Makin]] that commenced on 20 November 1943, which were part of the implementation of "Operation Galvanic".<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle of Tarawa |url=http://www.worldwar2facts.org/battle-of-tarawa.html |work=World War 2 Facts |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=10 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610035946/http://www.worldwar2facts.org/battle-of-tarawa.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="galvanic">{{cite web |title=To the Central Pacific and Tarawa, August 1943—Background to GALVANIC (Ch 16, p. 622) |year=1969 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/actc-16.html |access-date=3 September 2010 |archive-date=9 June 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609031616/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/actc-16.html |url-status=live}}</ref> After the war, the military airfield on Funafuti was developed into [[Funafuti International Airport]].