Question: Which battle was fought first, the Battle of Luzon or the Battle of Tarawa?
Context: The Battle of Tirad Pass (Filipino: "Labanan Sa Pasong Tirad"), sometimes referred to as the "Philippine Thermopylae", was a battle in the Philippine-American War fought on December 2, 1899, in northern Luzon in the Philippines, in which a 60-man Filipino rear guard commanded by Brigadier General Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to over 500 Americans, mostly of the 33rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Major Peyton C. March, while delaying the American advance to ensure that President Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops escaped. The Battle of Tarawa was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought on 20–23 November 1943.  It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts.  Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll. The Battle of Luzon, fought 9 January – 15 August 1945, was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies against forces of the Empire of Japan.  The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory.  The Allies had taken control of all strategically and economically important locations of Luzon by March 1945, although pockets of Japanese resistance held out in the mountains until the unconditional surrender of Japan.  While not the highest in U.S. casualties, it is the highest net casualty battle U.S. forces fought in World War II, with 192,000 to 205,000 Japanese combatants dead (mostly from starvation and disease), 10,000 American combatants killed, and between 120,000 to 140,000 Filipino civilians and combatants killed. The Battle of the Persian Border was the second encounter between the forces of Media and Persia.  Though not a decisive victory for Persia, it signaled the diminishing power of Media in Southwest Asia.  It was the first battle Cambyses I had fought in, and the first which he had fought with his son, Cyrus the Great.  The first major battle, which lasted two days, was an attempt to bring freedom to Persia.  It also prompted the Persians to retire south, and fight a third battle.  It was narrated by Nicolaus of Damascus, and among others who also mentioned the Battle of Hyrba, but Herodotus does not mention this battle.  Most historians on the battle consider Herodotus to be mentioning only the first and last battles in the war, which is partly based on the description of his two battles.  At the border this became the first major battle between the two powers.  Cyrus managed to escape the enemy without retreating, thus ending the battle and prolonging the struggle without a complete victory for Astyages, the king of the Medes.  The next battle became the last stand for the Persians; as their very existence relied on the outcome of the war, which had to be won. The Battle of Ticinus was a battle of the Second Punic War fought between the Carthaginian forces of Hannibal and the Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio in November 218 BC.  The battle took place in the flat country of Pavia county on the right bank of the Ticino River, not far north from its confluence (from the north) with the Po River.  The battle is named from the river, not the nearby contemporaneous settlement of Ticinum (today's Pavia).  Although the precise location is not known, it is generally accepted that a settlement known today as Vigevano is mentioned in Livy's text and that Scipio's camp was to the south at Gambolo, whose coordinates are given on the map.  The conflict would have been west of there.  It was the first battle of the war against the Romans that was fought on Italian soil and the first battle of the war to employ legion-sized forces.  Its loss by the Romans, and the temporary disablement of Scipio's command, set the stage for the Roman disaster at the Battle of Trebbia in December. Battle of Albert (21–23 August 1918) was the third battle by that name fought during World War I, following the First Battle of Albert and the Second Battle of Albert, with each of the series of three being fought roughly two years apart.  This smaller third battle was significant in that it was the opening push that would lead to the Second Battle of the Somme and involved the Australian Corps.  This attack opened the advance, with the main attack being launched by the Third Army along with support from the Fourth Army.  The Second Battle of Bapaume, from 25 August to 3 September, was a continuation of this battle. Baathi Qaisrani Village is center of Union Council Tuman Qaisrani and historical place of Qaisrani Tribe.  Tuman Qaisrani is a town and union council of Tehsil Tribal Area and District Dera Ghazi Khan at Punjab province of Pakistan.  Bhada Khan Qaisrani, who had son of Qaisar Khan Qaisrani, founder of Qaisrani tribe and his son, Yaro Khan Qaisrani, left Kanwan torrent and occupied the Baathi Torrent and established Baathi Village.  The most important thing of Baathi Qaisrani and Qaisrani's of Baathi village they fought first battle against the British army.  (1893–97) A.H. Diack settlement officer wrote his book (Gazter-of-dera-ghazi-khan). The Royal Italian Army (Italian: "Regio Esercito Italiano") was the army of the Kingdom of Italy from the unification of Italy in 1861 to the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946.  In World War II the Royal Army fought first as part of the Axis (1939–43) and then as a co-belligerent of the Allies (1943–45).  After the monarchy ended, the army changed its name to become the Italian Army ("Esercito Italiano"). The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II.  It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.  Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north.  The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared.  The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500. USS "Tarawa" (CV/CVA/CVS-40, AVT-12) was one of 24 "Essex"-class aircraft carrier s built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.  The ship was the first US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for the bloody 1943 Battle of Tarawa.  "Tarawa" was commissioned in December 1945, too late to serve in World War II.  After serving a short time in the Far East, she was decommissioned in 1949.  She was soon recommissioned after the Korean War began, serving in the Atlantic as a replacement for carriers sent to Korea.  In the early 1950s, she was redesignated an attack carrier (CVA) and then an antisubmarine warfare carrier (CVS).  Except for one tour in the Far East, she spent her entire second career operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean.  Consequently, "Tarawa" was the only ship of her class to never see combat action.
Answer: The Battle of Tarawa