Task Force 8408 | aitutakiww2

On this page:

- Preparations on Aitutaki

- Task Force 8408 arrives on Aitutaki

- Garrison composition & strength

- Commanding officers at Aitutaki

Arutanga port circa 1942. A. B. Donald Ltd schooner "Tiare Taporo" at anchor.

Preparations on Aitutaki

In August 1942, civilian personnel from the US engineering firm of Sverdrup & Parcel, under Captain H.H. Hockensmith arrived at Aitutaki on MV “Southern Seas” and “Kiloware” from Hawaii to build the airstrip, joining a team of New Zealand Public Works Engineers and local labour.

What they found on arrival at Aitutaki was a narrow concrete pier extending from the shore at Arutanga toward the channel through the reef, but the channel was virtually impassable for any vessel other than local craft.

This meant the engineering teams were first faced with providing a port facility that would allow the unloading of vital engineering equipment that was shortly to arrive from Hawaii on the USAT “Ludington” and a tugboat (possibly “Continental”) towing a 1000-ton barge.

Attempts were made to pull the 1000-ton barge into the mouth of the channel, but it grounded and had to be moored outside the reef. Supplies and light equipment, including jeeps, were brought ashore on local boats. Heavier items had to wait. A drag-line dug its way into shore, deepening the channel to about six feet. The spoil was used to build a ramp, which made it possible to walk six caterpillar tractors, several carryalls and a crane onto the jetty. USAT “Ludington” had also brought four mine yawls and three 25-ton barges, which after the channel was deepened, could then become involved with unloading. USAT “Ludington” remained at Aitutaki for 27 days.

On 28 August 1942, USAT “Roosevelt” arrived bearing Lieutenant Wallace G. Forbes and 14 enlisted men of a water distillation unit. USAT “Roosevelt” brought fuel oil, gasoline and 17 tons of cargo. Discharging of cargo from both ships was a long and tedious process.

Task Force 8408 arrives on Aitutaki

The Air Transport Command (ATC) unit on Aitutaki stemmed from the 10th Airways Detachment, which was activated at Hamilton Field, California, 3 August 1942, under command of First Lieutenant Leslie F. Gorman. The 10th Airways Detachment was part of Task Force 8408, which left Oakland, California onboard MS “Kota Agoeng” for Aitutaki, arriving on 14 November 1942, bringing with them 1175-ton of cargo.

Because the base was part of the US Army’s Air Transport Command, its operation was under US Army command and given the base identifier APO (Army Post Office) #721, codename “LINEOUT” and radio call designation “WVJD”.

Garrison composition and strength

Task Force 8408 originally consisted of 46 officers and 804 enlisted men, under the command of Cavalry Colonel, Rossiter H. Garity.

Task Force 8408 originally comprised the following detachments:

Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment

Battery A, 415th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAArty) AWpns Battalion (Bn)

!st Plat., Battery A, 417th AAArty Search Light Bn.

702nd Sig. A.W. Co.

890th Engineers Aviation Co. Detachment

Service Company

Clearing Platoon, Field Hospital

Censorship Unit

Water Distillation Unit

Army Post Office Unit 721

19th Transport Group Detachment

7th Army Airways Communications Squadron Detachment

17th Weather Squadron Detachment (Arrived May 1943)

Troop numbers increased to just under 1000 within the first year of occupation, but declined rapidly thereafter as the need for such a large defense force on Aitutaki was determined unnecessary. This saw at least half of the troops moved off north and west to areas of the Pacific theatre of war where rapid advance of allied forces required reinforcement.

Troop reduction provided the Army with the chance to remove black soldiers who made up half of Task Force 8408. Logistical problems associated with providing segregated facilities on the base had been a concern to the command. US Army segregation policy and prejudice affected black soldiers wherever they served. However, segregation was something foreign to Aitutaki’s local community. Here, both black and white soldiers were treated equally and socially welcomed amongst the locals. No doubt a situation just as foreign to black soldiers who were not so free to mix back in the USA. [For more on segregation and black soldiers on Aitutaki CLICK HERE]

U.S. Army units remaining on Aitutaki in November 1943 included:

- 1528th Army Air Force Base Unit of the Air Transport Command (ATC),

- 721st Army Postal Unit (type A),

- 145th Army Airways Communications Service (AACS),(Detachment 2),

- 17th Weather Squadron (arrived 21 July 1943). This squadron's designation changed in 1945 to the 31st Weather Squadron and the island's weather station known as "Station 7-14".

As troop numbers declined on Aitutaki, command structures altered for strategic purposes. The ATC, which had been servicing the base out of Hawai'i since 1942, pulled out of the area in September 1944. A month later, in October, the AACS did likewise. On 1 August 1944 base operations on Aitutaki became incorporated within the U.S. Navy's Samoan Defence Group Command,which was extended to include Bora Bora, Penrhyn and Aitutaki. These bases would be supplied from Tutuila.

From September - November 1944, major personnel redeployments continued. In September, there were 55 enlisted men and 9 officers left on Aitutaki. By 1 October numbers were reduced to 36 enlisted men and 7 officers, and by 1 November a further reduction to 10 enlisted men and 2 officers. Aitutaki's troop strength remained constant at this level for the remainder of the war. Along with the reduction in garrison numbers, the remaining soldiers at the Aitutaki base were reclassified by the U.S. Army in October 1944 as a "token garrison".