C. Co., 1st Corps Medium Tank Battalion
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This photograph was taken by Seaman First Class Wallace L. Colcord on Betio sometime after the island was secured. He was part of the Naval Construction Battalion that improved and lengthed Hawkins field to 8000 feet. Cuddles is not named in any of the Tarawa histories and no other photos have been found. Since no tank names were mentioned in official reports researching the history of this tank is difficult. Only China Gal and Colorado survived the fighting so the tank was either knocked out or disabled during the 76 hours of fighting. Cuddles is definately from C Company First Corps Medium Tank Battalion because of the the rearing elephant insignia on the hull and all the tanks from C Company had names beginning with the letter "C". What actually happened to the tank on Betio or who was in the crew as of yet is unknown.
Seabeas relax on top of Cuddles.
The rearing elephant was the C Company insignia. Also
faintly visible is serial number, 3035021.
| Tank Commander: | |
| Driver: | |
| Asst. Driver: | |
| Gunner: | |
| Loader/Radio: | William "Bill" Dunkel |
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copyright 2002 T.O.T.W.
Created 19 October 2002 - Updated 27 December 2012
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