BATTLES OF TARAWA AND
KURSK
battle of Tarawa
BATTLE OF TARAWA
• In Nov 1943 marines invaded
Tarawa, Tarawa is an atoll located
about 2500 miles southwest of
Hawaii. Also it was part of the
Gilbert Islands
The invasion
About 18,000 Marines were sent to
Tarawa and 4,500 Japanese troops were
defending the island. The marines
objective was to take and airfield on
the island. When the Marines were
invading they had to let off there troops
short because of low tides they would
have to go through razor sharp coral
and getting shot at by the Japanese.
• The battle was an 76 hour battle
on the second day they sent
reinforcements they made the
same journey as the day before
but brought more artillery and
tanks.
• After the battle 4800 defenders
died 17 were captured America
suffered 3,000 dead and about
2,000 wounded.
Battle of Kursk
• The battle of Kursk started on the
1st of July 1943 to August 23. it was
one of the most largest tank
battles in history.
• The battle of Kursk involved as
many as 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft
and as many as 2million soldiers
• The Germans goal during the
battle was to pinch off a part of
the Russian army in the eastern
front
• During the battle the Germans
attacked a town called salient
from the northern and southern
directions the 13th soviet army
held of the German offense.
• At the end of the battle the 9th
German army had lost more than
2thrids of its tanks and men the
Russians lost more than a couple
hundred thousand men.