Makin island and Butaratari are one and the same. Kiribati (The Gilberts) had their independence from Britain in 1979 and changed most of the island names back to the names known in the Gilbertese language. The death of these Japanese by the marines resulted in the death of the 22 Coastwatchers remembered on my avatar. Then the Japanese began rounding up the men, some of whom had been living with local women. The 17 radio operators and soldiers, missionary Tony Sadd and New Zealand trader AM McArthur were taken to Tarawa to join three prisoners from Tarawa: Australian teacher turned radio operator Reg Morgan; and two other white men, Basil Cleary and Issac Handley. After three days tied to coconut trees, they were moved to Tarawa Central Hospital, which had an enclosure for "native lunatics". It is there that the Tarawa massacre took place, on October 15, 1942. The widely accepted account is that it was retaliation against an American attack, but no American ships or planes were in range that month. What may have happened, rather, is that one of the prisoners had tried to escape. A further event (massacre of Japanese POW's in New Zealand) associated with these incidents can be found here: 1942 Tarawa Massacre
