Kapiu Masi Gagai

Kapiu Masi Gagai (c. 1894 – 21 August 1946) was a Torres Strait Islander man who worked as a pearler, boatman, mission worker and soldier during World War II.

He was the second son of Newa Gagai and Kubi and he belonged to the Kodal (crocoldile) clan and the Badu Tribe and he grew up speaking Kalaw Lagaw Ya.

[1][5] Gagai's wife and children joined him there and later, at the mission he married Mujerambi (Marjorie) who was the daughter of Alfred Joseph Voules Brown.

[1][6] On 27 October 1941 Gagai enlisted in the army and joined the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit despite being 'over-age' and considered to be medically unfit.

[1][11][12][13] In late 1943 Gagai was seconded to the 11th Brigade (Australia) where he took part in an expedition to New Guinea, alongside six other Toress Strait Islander soldiers, where he was cut with a machete on the neck.

But he could laugh—a laugh halfway between the angels and Rabelais.He recovered from his injuries at Merauke and then returned to Australia where he continued to serve, until he was discharged on 28 March 1946.