US Army Documentary film, using stock footage throughout, on the retaking of the Gilbert Islands (a colony of the British Empire from 1916 until 1976) from Japanese forces in November 1943. The film illustrates the use of naval gunfire and aircraft to 'soften up' the defences, before elements of the US Army's 27th Infantry Division and the US Marine Corps' 2nd Division make opposed landings on the islands of Betio, Tarawa and Makin. American soldiers are shown assaulting Japanese positions with tanks, flamethrowers and small arms, US and Japanese casualties are evacuated to hospital ships, and, when Japanese resistance has ended, the Stars and Stripes is raised on each island. Natives emerge from hiding as soon as it is safe to do so, and the soldiers leave for a brief rest before the next battle.