Abaiang Atoll (codenamed “Diana”) lies a few miles north of Tarawa in the northern Gilbert Islands. It was first occupied by Japanese troops in December 1941, but not heavily garrisoned or fortified to any great extent. A handful of Imperial coastwatchers operated a radio set on the island, but the military presence was otherwise minimal.
On 29 November 1943, the Second Tank Battalion’s Company D (Scout) was ordered to sweep Abaiang, Marakei, and Miana atolls for Japanese stragglers. The scouts were well-suited for this mission, having performed similar tasks on surrounding islands over the course of Operation GALVANIC. That afternoon, they boarded the minesweeper USS Pursuit and sailed for their target. Early on the morning of 30 November, two platoons landed on Abaiang and converged on the village of Koinawa. The Japanese fled the island, abandoning their radio transmitter and other equipment.
Although the beachhead was unopposed, the landing still dealt the Scouts their first – and only – casualty of the entire operation. Heavy surf caused a number of landing boats to capsize, and Corporal Arthur Francis Joseph Gagne of Salem, Massachusetts, was dumped into the sea. The unfortunate Marine hit his head on a coral outcropping and was knocked unconscious; he drowned before help arrived. (Although his death was described in detail by the company’s operation report, Gagne’s casualty card claims that an enemy shell explosion capsized the boat, and that he died on 20 November instead of 30 November.)
Gagne’s body was brought ashore and taken to the Catholic church in Koinawa for burial in the church cemetery. His grave was tended by nuns of Our Lady of the Rosary until 5 July 1946, when he was disinterred and reburied in Lone Palm Cemetery Plot 4, Row 4, Grave 11. Today, Corporal Gagne’s body lies in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Gagne
