World War II - Makin Island Raid

Makin Campaign
The Makin Island Raid was planned as a diversionary tactic to take pressure off of the Marines fighting on Guadalcanal. The raid was led by Lieutenant Colonel Evans Carlson and 220 men of the 2d Raider Battalion. The raid occurred from 16 August through 18 August, 1942.

The Raiders left Pearl Harbor on 8 August aboard two submarines, the Nautilus and the Argonant. They reached the Makin atoll, which is in the northern reaches of the Gilbert Islands, on the eve of 16 August. The attach was planned for the following morning.

In the early morning of the 17th, Carlson had his men in state the rubber boats which would be used for the landing. After inflation the boats were brought alongside the submarines where the Raiders would board them. Because of the heavy seas many of the outboard motors failed to start; boats began to drift from the submarines. As a result of this, Carlson ordered all boats to follow him; thus scrapping a two pronged battle plan. Of the 19 boats which were in the water, 15 followed Carlson to the beach, three loaded to the north, and one landed over a mile to the south of Carlson.

In the ensuing confusion of sorting the men out for the surprise attack one of the Raiders accidentally fired off a shot from his rifle. Not knowing whether the Japanese had heard the shot Carlson decided to attack immediately. He sent a company of men under the command of First Lieutenant Plumey across the island. They reached the lagoon on the other side and captured the government wharf and house. By this time the Japanese, who had been forewarned of an attack, were moving into their defensive position. Their defenses were centered around four machine gun nests and snipers in tree tops. The actual size of the Japanese forces is questionable because of conflicting number from different sources. At 6:30 a.m. the Japanese and Raiders became locked in combat.

During the fighting two Japanese ships sailed into the lagoon of Makin. Carlson directed the submarines to fire their two 6-inch guns at the Japanese ships. The two ships were sunk and remaining survivors shot while trying to reach the shore.

By noon the Raiders had broken through the defenses and were pushing the Japanese back. The going was slow because the Raiders had to deal with well-concealed snipers. At this time two Japanese reconnaissance planes flew over the island scouting out the situation and dropped two banks. Approximately one-hour later twelve Japanese planes returned to strode the island for over an hour.

Two troop planes attempted to land reinforcements in the lagoon. The Raiders shot both planes out of the water and killed the survivors trying to reach the shore.

During this time the boat which landed south of Carlson containing eleven men spent the entire day harassing the rear lines of the Japanese forces. In this action they lost three men. After fighting all day these men returned to the submarines as originally planned.

When darkness fell Carlson pulled his men back to the beach to return to the submarines. He had the wounded men to the rubber boats for the trip back. For over an hour Carlson's men fought the surf in an attempt to get back. The boats were repeatedly overturned and only a few (the actual number is unclear), made it through. In these attempts to get through most of the equipment was lost plus many of the wounded men were injured further. Carlson decided to stop trying and radioed the submarines that he would have to stay overnight. As he was setting up his defensive perimeter one of Carlson's men ran into a Japanese patrol and killed three of the eight. Carlson was unsure of the strength of the enemy and this action convinced him that there was still a threatening force.

Reports of what occurred next are unclear but it can be safely assumed that Carlson attempted to surrender. Exactly what he did is unclear, but a surrender note was given to a Japanese soldier by two of Carlson's men. Neither the man nor the note could be found. The next morning Carlson sent some of his men out on patrol. After a while it became evident that there were few Japanese alive on the island. The Raiders made a sweep of the island flushing out the remaining few and then radioed the submarines to go to the lagoon to pick them up. They had to wait until evening because throughout the day Japanese airplanes flew over the island. In the confusion of returning the Raiders to the submarines nine men were tragically left behind. These men were later captured when the Japanese retook the island and beheaded on October 16, 1942. The Japanese admiral responsible for this was hanged as a war criminal after the war.

Between 100-150 Japanese were killed; while 30 Raiders gave their lives on Makin Island. The survivors came home as heroes