The following are part of a rare collection of World War II images of Nanumea, Tuvalu. What makes these forty-four photographs so interesting and valuable is that the names of the Tuvaluan people have been inserted on the back of each photograph. The full collection of photographs was rescued by a concerned United States citizen who kindly made them available to be shared and enjoyed by everybody. Further parts of the collection will be made available on this Web site shortly.

A landing craft glides up to a reef, and Marines clamber down and wade ashore to occupy another Pacific island, Nanumea in the Ellice group (Tuvalu). This is one of the craft used in occupation of the island on September 4. The men, guns, tractors, and trucks had to be brought ashore at low tide across shallow water from the edge of a reef beyond which the landing craft anchored.

CREDIT; Official U. S. Marine Corps Photograph.

Another phase in the Marines' occupation of the island of Nanumea, in the Ellice (Tuvalu) group, September 4, 1943. The trucks shown here were landed from a landing ship at the edge of a reef offshore, and made their way at low tide through the intervening shallow water across the coral-studded bottom and have now reached the security of the beach. CREDIT; Official U. S. Marine Corps Photograph