Chapter 3
Ghost Rifle of Makin Island
By Jonathan Bernstein, Arms and Armor Curator
Featured artifact: Rifle, Relic, M1 Garand (2016.2.347)
The first six months of World War II had not gone well for the United States. Logistically unprepared for the prospect of fighting a trans-Pacific war, the U.S. military traded land for time to build up the necessary forces and the shipping required to get them to the fight half a world away. By the summer of 1942, the tide had begun to turn with a strategic, albeit costly, victory at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May and a significant victory at the Battle of Midway in June.
The 1st Marine Division’s invasion of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida islands in the South Pacific on 7 August 1942 was the first offensive amphibious operation against Japanese forces, as well as the beginning of the liberation of islands across the Pacific. But a single point of attack, however large, still offered the enemy a focal point in which to concentrate supplies and reinforcements. Ten days after the initial landings, the Marines shifted Japan’s focus roughly 2,000 kilometers northeast, keeping the enemy guessing as to where their next operation would strike.

While it is impossible to identify a single Marine with the Makin Rifle, what is known for sure is that it was used by one of the 19 Marines who fell on Makin Island. By the round still in the chamber and the single round in the magazine well, it is clear that this Marine went down fighting.
Photo by Jose Esquilin, Marine Corps University Press.
The Planning
Marine Raider battalions had been conceived at the start of World War II as quick-hitting amphibious forces intended to sow confusion in enemy rear areas, making an island raid the perfect proof of concept for the battalions. Since the 1st Raider Battalion would be engaged in combat operations in the Guadalcanal area with the 1st Marine Division, the 2d Raider Battalion was tasked with the mission to raid Makin Atoll in the Japanese-held Gilbert Islands. By 22 July 1942, the operation was given the go-ahead, and the methods of transport and insertion were selected.[1] The U.S. Navy submarines USS Nautilus (SS 168) and USS Argonaut (SM 1) were to transport two understrength Raider companies from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Makin to carry out a raid on the Japanese facilities there and then return upon completion of the raid. Both submarines were selected in part because of their heavy deck armament, which would be able to support the Raiders ashore. Unlike the Navy’s newer Gato-class submarines, which were armed with 3-inch deck guns, the Nautilus and Argonaut were both armed with a pair of longer-range, harder-hitting 6-inch guns that could be brought to bear on Japanese shipping or significant obstacles ashore. Along with that, the Argonaut had also been fitted out as a troop transport with the capability of carrying 120 Marines.

A crew member paints a Japanese flag and hashmark on one of the 6-inch/53-caliber deck guns on the USS Nautilus (SS 168), representing the two enemy vessels that the submarine sank with gunfire during the Makin Island Raid. Photographed at Pearl Harbor, HI, 25 August 1942.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives, catalog no. 80-G-11730.
Planning the mission according to the tidal conditions in the area was the driving factor in selecting a date for the raid. Following discussions between Commander John M. Haines, the submarine task force commander; Lieutenant Commander William H. Brockman Jr., commanding officer of the Nautilus; and Major James Roosevelt II, executive officer of the 2d Raider Battalion, it was agreed that the ideal tides to get the Raiders’ rubber boats over the reef and safely ashore would be on 15 or 16 August. There would be a clear window through 22 August, but lunar illumination would make it extremely dangerous in the last two days of that period. Roosevelt requested 17 August, to which Haines and Brockman agreed.[2]

A 2d Raider Battalion tactical map of Makin Atoll.
Marine Corps History Division.
The raid’s objective was to land two of the 2d Raider Battalion’s companies (minus one rifle section each) ashore to capture prisoners, gather intelligence, and destroy enemy equipment. The Japanese garrison on Makin was estimated at around 150 to 200 men. The Raiders were going in with 222 Marines.
The 2d Raider Battalion had been training for a mission like this since its creation several months earlier. The battalion’s commander was Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson, an unorthodox Marine officer who specialized in irregular warfare. He had spent time with Chinese Communist guerrillas while stationed in China in the 1930s and learned how they fought, adopting some of those tactics for his battalion. Speed, stealth, and overwhelming firepower were the battalion’s most significant characteristics. Each company had two platoons, which in turn had two sections of two squads each. Each squad was led by a noncommissioned officer armed with an M1 Garand semiautomatic rifle and subdivided into three fire teams of three Marines each armed with an M1 rifle, an M1928A1 Thompson or M50 Reising submachine gun, and an M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. The M1 rifles used by the Raiders were among the very first received by the Marine Corps, and their use at Makin would serve as the Marines’ combat introduction to the type. Armed with these weapons, a Raider battalion line company had the equivalent firepower of a much larger unit.

LtCol Evans F. Carlson, commander of the 2d Raider Battalion, on board the USS Nautilus (SS 168) just after returning from Makin Island, 18 August 1942. He is still wearing his field gear, with a .45-caliber pistol in a cross-draw holster.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives, catalog no. 80-G-11727.
Each company was to leave one section behind, embarking aboard the two submarines with six squads rather than eight.[3] The conditions aboard the submarines were hot and cramped as they departed Pearl Harbor on 8 August. The two vessels ran on the surface until a point 1,100 kilometers from Makin, which allowed the Marines and sailors some relief from the sweltering conditions below.

Two U.S. Marine Raiders below decks on the USS Nautilus (SS 168), ready to go ashore on Makin Island, 17 August 1942.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives, catalog no. 80-G-11722.
The Raid
The Raiders planned to assault two separate landing beaches on Makin, designated Y and Z, with one company landing at each beach. However, when the submarines surfaced roughly 450 meters off Makin’s southern shore at 0300 on 17 August, the currents and sea conditions made it difficult to maintain position to launch the Raiders’ inflatable rubber boats in any organized fashion. Moreover, several of the boats’ outboard motors refused to start, causing further delays, so Lieutenant Colonel Carlson gave the order to proceed to land on one beach instead of two.[4] Under cover of darkness, the Raiders made it ashore on Beach Z by 0500. The majority of the force landed together, but one boat never got word of Carlson’s order and landed farther southwest at their intended point on Beach Y. The 12 Raiders in that group would be cut off from the main body for most of the day.
Hastily reorganizing into two assault companies, the Raiders consolidated their positions and planned to move out around daybreak. Radio contact via a Navy TBX
transmitter-receiver was established between the Raiders and the submarines by 0513, at which point the two vessels moved off to patrol roughly 6 kilometers offshore.[5] As dawn broke, Company A moved out to infiltrate eastward, with Company B roughly 180 meters behind and to the right. Surprise would have been complete had one Marine not negligently discharged his weapon.
Carlson ordered Company A to continue forward, with Company B establishing a defensive line “from the sea to the lagoon in the vicinity of the government house.”[6] Company A quickly reached the government wharf on the north side of the island, encountering some resistance along the way. At the same time, local natives made contact with Carlson’s command group and showed them where Japanese troop concentrations were. This information was passed on to the Nautilus and Argonaut, and the Nautilus commenced firing with its 6-inch guns at 0630. The Nautilus fired 12 salvos on an area about 1.5 kilometers long on the island’s southern shore.[7]
While the Nautilus was firing on the enemy’s shore positions, Company A at the government wharf radioed the positions of two Japanese ships at anchor in the harbor and requested fire on them. At 0716, the Nautilus had calculated a safe firing solution over the heads of the Marines to the targets and again opened fire, expending 46 rounds at the two vessels on the other side of the island. One of the ships, a transport, served as a barracks for 60 Japanese marines, many of whom were killed when the Nautilus’s rounds found their mark. Both vessels were destroyed.
Company A’s lead platoon, led by Second Lieutenant Wilfred S. LeFrancois, continued to advance through thick vegetation until it ran into Japanese reinforcements at roughly 0730. The Raiders ambushed and killed 30 Japanese Marines but suffered some wounded, including LeFrancois, who was hit multiple times in the shoulder and chest. Due to his leadership and fearlessness, he was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions just west of the government wharf.

Wounded Marine Corps officer 2dLt Wilfred S. LeFrancois on board the USS Nautilus (SS 168) after he had been evacuated from Makin Island, 18 August 1942.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives, catalog no. 80-G-11726.
The Raiders’ advance stalled when the Marines reached the south end of the island’s hospital, where they were held up by a series of enemy machine guns supported by snipers. Company B was brought up in line with Company A to better support the main effort by fire. Enemy snipers focused their efforts on those Raiders carrying the new M1 rifle, a weapon that gave the Marines a significant advantage in precise rifle fire.
One of the snipers had pinned down elements of Company A. Sergeant Clyde A. Thomason, seeing a muzzle flash originating from inside a hut in front of him, skillfully moved forward out of the sniper’s line of sight. When he got to the outside of the hut, he burst in, killing the sniper with a shotgun blast before the enemy could react. Shortly thereafter, while continuing to lead his section, Thomason was killed by enemy machine gun fire. Posthumously, he became the first enlisted Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor for valorous actions in the Pacific.[8]

Sgt Clyde A. Thomason was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Makin Island Raid. He was the first enlisted Marine to be awarded the Medal for actions in World War II.
Marine Corps History Division.
A new threat materialized around 1200 with the arrival of two Japanese flying boats. One of these, a large four-engine Kawanishi H6K “Mavis,” was thought to be bringing in a platoon-size element to reinforce the Japanese garrison. Both Raider companies’ antitank gunners, equipped with .55-caliber Boys antitank rifles, had the range and power to destroy the enemy flying boats. The Mavis was attacked and destroyed first, with it sinking quickly. The other type, a twin-engine Yokosuka H5Y “Cherry,” was hit as it tried to take off, causing it to nose into the water and sink.
While the Japanese were unable to reinforce the island with ground troops, their land-based aircraft based some 110 kilometers away were able to bomb and strafe the island with impunity. In some cases, these aircraft bombed areas that the Raiders had pulled back from, hitting friendly Japanese forces instead. Throughout the afternoon, the island was under steady air attack, but miraculously no Raiders were hit during the bombardment.

Two Marine Raiders pose with an M1911 pistol and a captured Japanese rifle on board the USS Nautilus (SS 168) after returning from Makin Island, ca. 18 August 1942. The Marines pictured are Cpl Edward R. Wygal (left), who used a hand grenade to wipe out an enemy machine gun, and 1stSgt Chester L. Golasewski.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives, catalog no. 80-G-11724.
By 1630, Lieutenant Colonel Carlson gave the order to pull back to the beachhead for extraction. The battalion’s mission to destroy installations and infrastructure had not been accomplished at this point and no prisoners had been captured, but the ferocity of the Japanese resistance led Carlson to believe that the Raiders were facing a significant Japanese force that could potentially surround and cut them off from their extraction point.
After reaching the beach, the rubber boats were quickly put into the water, and again few motors started. The pounding surf became the primary adversary at this point. Only about one-third of the Raiders were able to breach the surf and paddle back out to the submarines. By the time they reached the two vessels, they were exhausted and mostly without clothes and equipment. Those that could not make it over the surf hunkered down to try again at first light.
Realizing that a daylight extraction with enemy aircraft in the area was suicide, the Raiders quickly recognized that they were stranded on Makin for a second day and began aggressive patrols around the beachhead area. It became clear that there was in fact no large force opposing them and that only a few Japanese marines remained alive. Only two snipers were encountered, and both were quickly eliminated. The Raiders destroyed a fuel dump with as many as 1,000 barrels of fuel, the main radio station on the island, and several other installations. The submarines returned at around 1930, and after making radio contact with the Raiders ashore they agreed to shift to calmer waters toward the entrance to the lagoon on the western shore. The majority of the remaining Raiders were aboard the two submarines by 2330.
While the majority of the raiding force made it back to the submarines, nine Raiders remained on Makin and were captured, and all of the dead were left behind. The raid had been a success in achieving two of its three main objectives. The Raiders virtually wiped out the Japanese garrison there, but their departure allowed the enemy to rebuild. While no Japanese prisoners were captured, the raid caused the enemy to focus their building efforts on an island with little strategic importance and yielded some small pieces of actionable intelligence.

A Charles Waterhouse painting of members of the 2d Raider Battalion attempting to breach the surf and return to the waiting submarines USS Nautilus (SS 168) and USS Argonaut (SS 166).
National Museum of the Marine Corps.
The Aftermath
Soon after the raid ended, the Japanese brought in reinforcements and quickly captured the nine Raiders left behind. These Marines were eventually transferred to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and executed. The 21 Raiders killed on Makin were buried in a mass grave by the local populace.

Marines and sailors on board USS Nautilus (SS 168) as the submarine entered Pearl Harbor after the Makin Island Raid, 25 August 1942. One of the men, in second row, left center, is holding a Japanese rifle captured on Makin.
Official U.S. Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives Catalog, no. 80-G-11729.
Due to Japanese uncertainty toward American intentions in the Gilbert Islands, they began reinforcing the garrison on Makin very soon after the raid. By November 1943, there were more than 400 Japanese troops, an equal number of Korean laborers, and a small tank detachment on the island to protect the seaplane base there. It took the U.S. Army’s 165th Infantry Regiment three days to liberate the island during the Battle of Makin.
In the late 1940s, the U.S. Department of Defense began a theater-wide sweep of the Pacific in an attempt to recover remains of those Americans killed in action during World War II. Two Army officers were sent to Makin, where they were led to a grave on the southwest side of the island, but they were ultimately unsuccessful in finding any American remains. The officers concluded that construction on the island had destroyed the graves of U.S. military personnel, and further search was canceled.
It was not until the late 1990s, after interviews were conducted with surviving natives who had been alive during the raid, that the location of the mass grave was identified. By December 1999, a recovery team had located 20 complete sets of remains, 10 of which were identified through their dog tags. Others were later identified either by dental records or DNA. One skeleton appeared to have been a local islander, which left two Marine Raiders still unaccounted for. With reference to Raiders drowning in their attempt to return to the submarines, it is possible that those two can be accounted for as lost at sea.
The Marine dead on Makin were buried with their weapons and equipment, making the excavation somewhat dangerous. Fifty-five hand grenades were found, along with .30- and .45-caliber ammunition. Helmets, canteens, and fittings from canvas equipment were also found. Among them was a coral- and sand-encrusted M1 Garand rifle.
This rifle returned to the United States along with the remains of those 19 Marines, eventually making its way to the collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps (NMMC). There, an extensive conservation process began in 2016 to remove the coral accretions and stabilize the rifle from further deterioration. Conservation revealed that there were two live .30-caliber rounds still in the rifle, one in the chamber and the other in the magazine well. The Marine who carried this rifle went down fighting.
Conservation also revealed the rifle’s cleaning kit and combo tool still in the buttstock. While the combo tool was severely corroded, the sealed cleaning kit was in near-
perfect condition, as were its contents. The rifle itself suffered significant corrosion and deterioration of its wooden stock. The rear of the receiver, where one would find the rifle’s serial number, is completely rusted through. The operating rod, trigger guard, and butt plate are almost completely gone. The rest of the rifle, however, is remarkably intact.

A close-up of the pristine bore cleaning brush found inside the rifle’s buttstock cleaning kit.
Photo by Jose Esquilin, Marine Corps University Press.
In February 2022, nearly 80 years after its loss, this M1 rifle from the Makin Island raid arrived safely at the NMMC weapons storage facility and began the exhibit process for display in the museum’s World War II gallery. In late 2023, conservation mounts were built that will ensure the rifle’s continued preservation while on exhibit, and it was installed in the World War II gallery for all to see. While the identity of the Marine who carried it remains unknown, this rifle will forever stand as a touchstone to the Raiders’ heroism and sacrifice.
Endnotes
[1] 2d Raider Battalion Operations Order 1-42, 3 August 1942 (Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA).
[2] Transcript, Submarine Squadron Four, August 1942 (Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA).
[3] 2d Raider Battalion Operations Order 1-42.
[4] Capt Walter Karig, USNR, and Cdr Eric Purdon, USNR, “The Makin Island Raid,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 72, no. 10 (October 1946).
[5] After Action Report, 2d Raider Battalion, August 1942 (Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA).
[6] “Solomon Islands Campaign—Makin Island Diversion,” After Action Report, U.S. Pacific Fleet, 20 October 1942 (Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA), 2.
[7] USS Nautilus Report of Marine-Submarine Raider Expedition, 24 August 1942 (Makin Island Raid File, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA), 3.
[8] Clyde Thomason Medal of Honor Recommendation (Biographical Files, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA).