Today HiTech Creations wants to turn its attention to the Battle of Tarawa, fought between November 20-23 1943. Chances are excellent that unless you are the most hardcore of World War 2 enthusiasts you have never heard of the Battle of Tarawa, but trust us when we say the 35,000 American troops that fought there will never forget it.
This is one of those battles fought in an area that had no other importance than its location, similar to so many battles fought in the American Civil War, small hamlets or crossroads that had military significance, but to the casual observer should never have been important enough to fight over. By 1943 the United States had its sights set on a massive operation across the mid-Pacific, to the Philippines and then to Japan. In order to accomplish such an operation air bases needed to be established on islands across the Pacific. The Marianas Islands were crucial for this plan to succeed, for control of the Marianas meant an offensive against the Marshall Islands would succeed. Unfortunately, one small island, the island of Betio, on the western side of Tarawa Atoll, stood in the way of this grand plan. The entire plan, then, hinged on the taking of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll.
The Japanese were fully aware of the importance of Tarawa and it was heavily defended by 2,619 troops when the United States 2nd Marine Division launched its attack. After three days of intense fighting the island was under American control but the fighting had cost 1,696 American lives and 4,690 Japanese lives. The figurative road to the Marshall Islands was now open and the next stage of the offensive could be planned.
We hope you are enjoying these brief glimpses of the battles of World War II. We at HiTech Creations consider an understanding and appreciation of World War II helpful for anyone serious about playing Aces High, our number one combat flight simulator. Specifically when playing one of our many Special Events an understanding of the actual events is helpful in devising plans for your flight sim action. We are also convinced that one of the important reasons why Aces High is the number one Flight Simulator World War 2 version is because our staff and volunteers are avid history buffs; that appreciation shows in our attention to detail in devising each new version of our flight simulator.
If all of this is Greek to you then we invite you to try our free two-week trial; we are convinced that once you do you will be hooked and ready to fly the Aces High skies right alongside all of us.
