Editing History of Tuvalu (section)

==The Pacific War and Operation Galvanic==
[[File:155mm-gun-M1918-funafuti.jpg|thumb|right|250px| M1918 155mm gun, manned by the [[Marine defense battalions|5th Defense Battalion]] on Funafuti.]]
[[File: 8-28-20 - 40mm on beach covering unloading beach.jpg|250px|thumb| 40mm antiaircraft gun from the [[17th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion|United States Marine Corps' 2d Airdrome Battalion]] defending the LST offload at Nukufetau on August 28, 1943.]]

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]]. Early in the war, the Japanese invaded and occupied [[Butaritari|Makin]], [[Tarawa]] and other islands in what is now [[Kiribati]], however their further expansion to other islands were delayed by their losses at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]].

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}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|"On 2 October 1942, a Marine and Naval Task Force from Samoa landed on Funafuti, Ellice Islands. It consisting of the Marine Corps 26th and 27th Provisional Companies X and Y, the 4th Detachment, 2nd Naval Construction Battalion and Naval Administrative Group No. 3 plus the Advance Marine Base Depot formed the post. A few days later Motor Torpedo Squadron 3 (2) began operating from the island...The island was reinforced with the arrival of the 5th Marine Defense Battalion less detachments "A" and "B". The Japanese were unaware that the Americans were positioned on their southern flank until sighted by a passing flying boat in March 1943. By that time United States forces were fully entrenched in the Ellice Islands."<ref name="BTI">{{cite web | last = Jersey | first = Stanley C. | work = The Battle for Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll | title = A Japanese Perspective: Operations in the Gilbert Islands by the 4th Fleet and the 6th Base Force | date = 29 February 2004 | url = http://tarawaontheweb.org/stanjersy1.htm | access-date = 8 June 2015 | archive-date = 7 September 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040907215955/http://tarawaontheweb.org/stanjersy1.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> |group=Note}} and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943. The Ellice Islands were used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborn attacks on the Gilbert Islands ([[Kiribati]]) that were [[Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands|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>

[[Coastwatchers]] were stationed on some of the islands to identify any Japanese activity, such as [[Neli Lifuka]] on [[Vaitupu]].<ref name="LNKFK2"/> The islanders assisted the American forces to build airfields on [[Funafuti]], [[Nanumea]] and [[Nukufetau]] and to unload supplies from ships.<ref name="LNKFK4">{{cite book |last1=Lifuka, Neli |url=http://307bg.net/memoirs/WWII_in_Tuvalu.pdf |title=War Years in Funafuti |year=1978 |publisher=Australian National University Press/Press of the Langdon Associates |isbn=0708103626 |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 were shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build the airfield, a 76-bed hospital and [[Naval Base Funafuti]] on [[Fongafale]] islet.<ref name="BTI"/><ref name="TAHMT">{{cite book |first1= Melei |last1=Telavi |editor-first1=Hugh |editor-last1=Larcy |title=Tuvalu: A History|year= 1983 |publisher= University of the South Pacific/Government of Tuvalu|pages=140–144 |chapter= Chapter 18, War }}</ref>

The construction of the airfields resulted in the loss of coconut trees and gardens, however, the islanders benefited from the food and luxury goods supplied by the American forces. The estimates of the loss of food producing trees was that 55,672 [[coconuts]] trees, 1,633 [[breadfruit]] trees and 797 [[pandanus]] trees were destroyed on those three islands.{{#tag:ref| Impact of Second World War. WPHC 9 1229108 F.10/18/4. WPHCA. Special Collection, University of Auckland Library, p.13.<ref name="SAR">{{cite web |last= Resture |first= Setapu Asenati |title= TE MAAMA PALA: Continuity and change in coping with Tuberculosis in Tuvalu |publisher= A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts in History – The University of Auckland, N.Z. |date= March 2010 |url= http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/arts/shared/Departments/anthropology/documents-publications/Resture%202010.pdf |access-date= 16 March 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131005121343/http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/arts/shared/Departments/anthropology/documents-publications/Resture%202010.pdf |archive-date= 5 October 2013 |url-status= dead }}</ref>|group=Note}} Building the runway at Funafuti involved the loss of land used for growing [[pulaka]] and [[taro]] with extensive excavation of coral from 10 [[borrow pit]]s. {{#tag:ref|In 2015 the New Zealand Government funded a project to fill the borrow pits, with 365,000 sqm of sand dredged from the lagoon. This project increase the usable land space on Fongafale by eight per cent.<ref>{{cite web |title= Coast contractor completes aid project in remote Tuvalu| date =27 November 2015|url= http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/coast-contractor-completes-aid-project-remote-tuva/2855272/|publisher= SunshineCoastDaily|access-date=28 November 2015}}</ref>|group=Note}} 

A detachment of the 2nd Naval Construction Battalion (the [[Seabees]]) built a sea plane ramp on the lagoon side of Fongafale islet for seaplane operations by both short and long range seaplanes and a compacted coral runway was constructed on Fongafale, which was 5,000 feet long and 250 feet wide and was then extended to 6,600 feet long and 600 feet wide.<ref name="NAB">{{cite web | last =McKillop | first =Jack | work =Funafuti, Naval Advance Base | title =Ellice Islands | url =http://www.pacific-war.com/bases/ellice.html | access-date =8 June 2015 | archive-date =18 November 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20191118033036/http://www.pacific-war.com/bases/ellice.html | url-status =dead }}</ref> On 15 December 1942 four VOS float planes ([[Vought OS2U Kingfisher]]) from VS-1-D14 arrived at Funafuti to carry out anti-submarine patrols.<ref name="APW">{{cite book |last1=Hammel |first1= Eric|title= Air War Pacific: Chronology: America's Air War Against Japan in East Asia and the Pacific, 1941 – 1945|year= 2010|publisher= Pacifica Military History|isbn=978-1890988104|page= 115}}</ref> [[PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]]s of US Navy Patrol Squadrons were stationed at Funafuti for short periods of time, including VP-34, which arrived at Funafuti on 18 August 1943 and VP-33, which arrived on 26 September 1943.<ref name="VP-34">{{cite web| work= The Black Cat PBYs |title=Squadron History: VP-33 & VP-34 |year =2004 |url= http://www.daveswarbirds.com/blackcat/histindx.htm| access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref>

In April 1943, a detachment of the 3rd Battalion constructed an aviation-gasoline tank farm on Fongafale. The 16th Battalion arrived in August 1943 to build [[Nanumea Airfield]] and [[Nukufetau Airfield]].<ref name="NAB"/> The atolls were described as providing "unsinkable aircraft carriers"<ref name="MCA">{{cite web| work= Marine Aviation Western Pacific |title= Marine Corps in WWII Vol IV – Western Pacific Operations |url= http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/History%20of%20the%20U.S.%20Marine%20Corps%20in%20WWII%20Vol%20IV%20-%20Western%20Pacific%20Operations%20%20PCN%2019000262700_3.pdf| access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref> during the preparation for the [[Battle of Tarawa]] and the [[Battle of Makin]] that commenced on 20 November 1943, which was the implementation of "Operation Galvanic".<ref name="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}}</ref>

[[Landing Ship, Tank|USS ''LST-203'']] was grounded on the reef at Nanumea on 2 October 1943 in order to land equipment. The rusting hull of the ship remains on the reef.<ref name="BB75">{{cite web|first= Bill |last= Bartsch |title = War Relics in Tuvalu and Kiribati |url=http://www.nanumea.net/PDF%20files%20used%20in%20NEA%20website/Bartsch%20Article%201%20downsized%20using%20xara.pdf |publisher=South Pacific Bulletin (1975) |access-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> The Seabees also blasted an opening in the reef at Nanumea, which became known as the 'American Passage'.<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}}</ref>

The [[Marine defense battalions|5th and 7th Defense Battalions]] were stationed in the Ellice Islands to provide the defense of various naval bases. The [[Marine defense battalions|51st Defense Battalion]] relieved the 7th in February 1944 on Funafuti and Nanumea until they were transferred to [[Eniwetok Atoll]] in the [[Marshall Islands]] in July 1944.<ref name="fdc">{{cite book |last1= deClouet |first1= Fred|title= First Black Marines: Vanguard of a Legacy|year=2000 |publisher= 1st Book Library |page=10}}</ref>

[[File: ZamperiniAndSuperMan.jpg |thumb|right|200px|1st Lt. [[Louis Zamperini]], peers through a hole in his B-24D Liberator 'Super Man' made by a 20mm shell over Nauru, 20 April 1943.]]
The first offensive operation was launched from the airfield at Funafuti on 20 April 1943 when twenty-two [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] ''Liberator'' bombers from 371 and 372 Bombardment Squadrons struck [[Nauru]]. The next day the Japanese made a predawn raid on the strip at Funafuti which destroyed one B-24 and caused damage to five other planes. On 22 April 12 B-24 aircraft struck [[Tarawa]].<ref name="AAF">{{cite book |first1 = James C. |last1=Olson |editor-first1=Wesley Frank |editor-last1=Craven  |editor-first2=James Lea |editor-last2=Cate | title= Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan – August 1942 to July 1944 |chapter= Chapter 9, The Gilberts and Marshalls |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/AAF-IV-9.html| access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref> The airfield at Funafuti became the headquarters of the [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[VII Bomber Command]] in November 1943, directing operations against Japanese forces on Tarawa and other bases in the [[Gilbert Islands]]. USAAF [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] ''Liberator'' bombers of the [[11th Wing]], [[30th Bombardment Group]], [[27th Bombardment Squadron]] and [[28th Bombardment Squadron]] operated from [[Funafuti International Airport|Funafuti Airfield]], [[Nanumea Airfield]] and [[Nukufetau Airfield]].<ref name="AAF"/> The [[45th Fighter Squadron]] operated [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40Ns]] from Nanumea and Marine Attack Squadron 331 ([[VMA-331]]) operated [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]] dive bombers from Nanumea and Nukufetau.<ref name="USAFmm">{{cite book |last1=Maurer, Maxwell AFB|title= ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II'' |year= 1983 |publisher= Alabama: Office of Air Force History |isbn=0-89201-092-4 }}</ref>

Funafuti suffered air attacks during 1943. Casualties were limited, although tragedy was averted on 23 April 1943, when 10 to 20 people took refuge in the concrete walled, [[pandanus]]-thatched church.<ref name="JL24">{{cite web| last = Latif| first = Justin|title= Te Aso o te Paula: Tuvalu community remember WWII bombing attack | publisher= Pacific Media Network|date =26 April 2024| url=https://pmn.co.nz/read/news/rebulished-te-aso-o-te-paula-tuvaluan-community-remember-wwii-bombing-attack| access-date=26 April 2024}}</ref> Corporal Fonnie Black Ladd, [[United States Marine Corps Reserve|USMCR]], persuaded them to get into [[Dugout (military)|dugouts]], then a bomb struck the church shortly after;<ref name="FBL2">{{cite book |last= Ladd |first= Fonnie Black |author-link= |date= 2001 |title= The Wholesale Rescue |url= |location= Valley Farm Publications (January 1, 1986) |pages= |isbn= }}</ref><ref>Melei Telavi, ''Tuvalu A History'' (1983) Ch. 18 ''War'', U.S.P/Tuvalu, p. 140</ref> in that raid, 2 American soldiers and an elderly Tuvaluan man named Esau were killed.<ref name="JL24"/> Japanese airplanes continued to raided Funafuti, attacking on 12 & 13 November 1943 and again on 17 November 1943.

USN [[PT Boat|Patrol Torpedo Boats]] (PTs) were based at 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> Squadron 1B arrived on 2 November 1942 with {{USS|Hilo|AGP-2|6}} as the support ship, which remained until 25 November 1942.<ref name="Hilo">{{cite web| work= Action Reports Series 3: Report 3-2 – The Cruise of the Hilo |title= WWII PT Boats, Tenders & Bases |url= http://www.ptboats.org/20-07-05-reports-004.html| access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref> On 22 December 1942 [[Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three|Squadron 3 Division 2]] (including PTs 21, 22, 25 & 26) arrived with the combined squadron commanded by Lt. Jonathan Rice. In July 1943 Squadron 11-2 (including PTs 177, 182, 185, and 186) under the command of Lt. John H. Stillman relieved Squadron 3–2. The PT Boats operated from Funafuti against Japanese shipping in the [[Kiribati|Gilbert Islands]];<ref name="HLB"/> although they were primarily involved in patrol and rescue duty.<ref name="RJB">{{cite book|last1= Bulkley|first1= Robert J. |title= At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy |year=2003 |publisher= Naval Institute Press }}</ref> A ''Kingfisher'' float plane rescued [[Eddie Rickenbacker#Adrift at sea|Captain Eddie Rickenbacker]] and aircrew from life-rafts near [[Nukufetau]], with PT 26 from Funafuti completing the rescue.<ref name="Hilo"/><ref name="Rick">{{cite web| work= Nukufetau – Rickenbacker crash |title= Pacific Memoirs – World War II|url= http://b-24-thegreenhornet.weebly.com/nukufetau---rickenbacker-crash.html| access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="ARS3">{{cite book |title= Action Reports Series 3: Southwest Pacific – Conquest of New Guinea|url= http://www.ptboats.org/20-07-05-reports-004.html }}</ref> Motor Torpedo Boat operations ceased at Funafuti in May 1944 and Squadron 11-2 was transferred to [[Emirau Island]], [[New Guinea]].<ref name="galvanic"/>

The {{USS|Alabama|BB-60|3}} reached Funafuti on 21 January 1944. The ''Alabama'' left the Ellice Islands on 25 January to participate in "[[Operation Flintlock (World War II)|Operation Flintlock]]" in the [[Marshall Islands]]. By the middle of 1944, as the fighting moved further north towards Japan, the Americans forces were redeployed. By the time the war ended in 1945 nearly all of them had departed, together with their equipment. After the war the military airfield on Funafuti was developed into [[Funafuti International Airport]].