Coastwatcher Memorial

This monument was placed in 1944 to commemorate twenty-two British subjects who were captured by the Japanese and executed on Betio, 15 October 1942. These men were either stationed in, or residents of, the Gilbert Islands prior to the war, and stayed in the islands when the Japanese arrived. The majority were New Zealanders – either enlisted members of the NZEF, or Government employees operating radio sets as part of the “coastwatching scheme” keeping tabs on potential threats in the islands.

In September 1942, a final transmission from Maiana – “Japanese coming, regards to all” – reached Auckland. No more was heard from the Gilbert Island coastwatchers. Japanese forces rounded up the twenty-two men from their remote outposts and confined them all together on Betio. The prisoners were housed in a former lunatic asylum for interrogation; Gilbert Islanders later testified to seeing the Europeans tied to trees.

On 15 October 1942, in retaliation for an Allied bombing attack on Betio, the prisoners were “beheaded, or in some instances, otherwise murdered.” The bodies were dumped into a pit, partially burned, and eventually covered over. The exact site of the burial is not known today, although according to one account an American projectile destroyed it during the pre-invasion bombardment of Betio. The executioners were later tried for war crimes.

The cross memorial was placed in 1944 as part of the Navy’s “beautification” project. In 2014, a permanent memorial was dedicated in memory of the twenty-two massacre victims.