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Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, 
Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. In 1967, the
The island was the scene of the
. ''Pacific Wrecks''. Relics of the Japanese invasion, and the subsequent American assault on the islet in 1943, remain there. After the battle the airstrip was renamed Hawkins Field. The airstrip no longer exists, but its effect can be seen in the stunted growth of palms along its length. Many bunkers remain, as well as the remains of military equipment. It was also the scene of a massacre by beheading of New Zealand military and civilian coastwatchers by Japanese forces prior to the US landings. The massacre was in retaliation to an American air raid. Before the massacre, seamen and civil servants who were housed on the island escaped in a small, open launch, towing a lifeboat. They sailed to Nonouti, in the Southern Gilberts, where they were met by the ''Degei'', commanded by Captain G. J. (Jack) Webster in which they returned from Nonouti to Fiji. News of the massacre was covered up by British authorities at the time to the extent that New Zealand and Fijian governments were prevented from informing the families of the men killed of their deaths. However, persistent rumours eventually reached the families, and it is believed that the shooting of Japanese prisoners held in a New Zealand
. ''Tarawa on the Web: The Assault of the Second Marine Division on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, 20–23 November 1943''. Unexploded artillery shells, mortar rounds, anti-aircraft shells and live machine gun bullets left over from the Second World War are littered throughout the island and surrounding reef, as well as the remains of several hundred U.S. and Japanese soldiers. The remains of 30 U.S. soldiers and Marines were discovered in March 2019.{{cite web , last1=McAvoy , first1=Audrey , title=Graves of World War II Marines, sailors likely found on remote Pacific island of Tarawa , url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2019/06/26/graves-of-world-war-ii-marines-sailors-likely-found-on-remote-pacific-island-of-tarawa/ , website=www.marinecorpstimes.com , accessdate=29 June 2019
South Tarawa
South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki ...
, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll.
Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. In 1967, the Marine Training Centre
The Marine Training Centre Tarawa (MTC) is a training school for seafarers founded in 1967 in Betio, Tarawa, division of the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources of the Government of Kiribati.
The Marine Training Centre, mainly funded by G ...
was created by Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, is a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd is among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also serves a ...
. John Hilary Smith
John Hilary Smith, (born 1928) is a British retired colonial administrator. Smith was the last governor of the united Gilbert and Ellice Islands before it was divided into Tuvalu and what later became Kiribati.
Smith was educated at Cardina ...
, governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...
created the Betio Town Council in 1972. Since the 1970s, the islet has become a major centre of economic activity in Kiribati, and a causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...
to Bairiki
Bairiki is a settlement in South Tarawa of Kiribati. The State House, the National Stadium, the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand as well as the embassy of China, and most of the Government Ministries are based in Bairiki. Bairiki is a ...
was constructed in the early 1980s, leading to an increase in human contact with the island. Due to changing currents resulting from the construction of the causeway, Bikeman Island
Bikeman Island is a submerged islet about a half-hour's canoe ride northeast of Betio, Kiribati. Due to changing currents and the construction of a causeway between Betio and Bairiki, Bikeman has been submerged since the early 1990s. If one were ...
, northeast of Betio, has been submerged since the early 1990s.
Pacific War
The island was the scene of the Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...
during World War II.Betio (Tarawa). ''Pacific Wrecks''. Relics of the Japanese invasion, and the subsequent American assault on the islet in 1943, remain there. After the battle the airstrip was renamed Hawkins Field. The airstrip no longer exists, but its effect can be seen in the stunted growth of palms along its length. Many bunkers remain, as well as the remains of military equipment. It was also the scene of a massacre by beheading of New Zealand military and civilian coastwatchers by Japanese forces prior to the US landings. The massacre was in retaliation to an American air raid. Before the massacre, seamen and civil servants who were housed on the island escaped in a small, open launch, towing a lifeboat. They sailed to Nonouti, in the Southern Gilberts, where they were met by the ''Degei'', commanded by Captain G. J. (Jack) Webster in which they returned from Nonouti to Fiji. News of the massacre was covered up by British authorities at the time to the extent that New Zealand and Fijian governments were prevented from informing the families of the men killed of their deaths. However, persistent rumours eventually reached the families, and it is believed that the shooting of Japanese prisoners held in a New Zealand
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camp was done in retaliation for this massacre. The New Zealand camp guard who fired on the Japanese prisoners during the prison riot was the brother of one of the coastwatchers executed on Betio.
The partly submerged hulk of the ''Saidu Maru'', a Japanese merchant ship often mistaken for the ''Nimanoa'', would later be used as a machine gun post by the Japanese against the US forces that re-took Tarawa. The RCS ''Nimanoa'' was a wooden-hulled ketch, whereas ''Saidu Maru'' was a steel-hulled vessel, part of which is still visible on the reef off Red Beach.Scuttled Ship "Niminoa". ''Tarawa on the Web: The Assault of the Second Marine Division on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, 20–23 November 1943''. Unexploded artillery shells, mortar rounds, anti-aircraft shells and live machine gun bullets left over from the Second World War are littered throughout the island and surrounding reef, as well as the remains of several hundred U.S. and Japanese soldiers. The remains of 30 U.S. soldiers and Marines were discovered in March 2019.{{cite web , last1=McAvoy , first1=Audrey , title=Graves of World War II Marines, sailors likely found on remote Pacific island of Tarawa , url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2019/06/26/graves-of-world-war-ii-marines-sailors-likely-found-on-remote-pacific-island-of-tarawa/ , website=www.marinecorpstimes.com , accessdate=29 June 2019
References