The first full-scale effort to recover from the Japanese some of their strongholds in the Central Pacific was the expedition to the Gilbert Islands in November, 1943. Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard furnished components of the expeditionary forces. The Army elements were commanded by Maj. Gen. Ralph C Smith. They comprised the 27th Infantry Division Task Force, derived principally from that division but with many provisional units attached. "The Capture of Makin" narrates the Army's part of the campaign, which was the prelude to later advance among the Marshall Islands.