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The 'Coastwatchers', also known as the 'Coast Watch Organisation', 'Combined Field Intelligence Service' or 'Section "C" Allied Intelligence Bureau', were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific island locations during World War II, to observe enemy movements and rescue stranded Allied personnel. They played a significant role in the Pacific Ocean theatre and South West Pacific theatre particularly as an early warning network during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Contents

Overview

Significance

Popular culture

References

External links

Overview

There were about 400 Coastwatchers in all — they were mostly Australian military officers, Pacific Islanders and escaped Allied prisoners of war. The Coastwatchers were led by Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt, who was based in Townsville, Australia. Their actions were particularly important in monitoring Japanese activity in the roughly thousand islands that make up the Solomon Islands.
Many personnel who took part in Coastwatcher operations behind enemy lines were commissioned as officers of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RANVR), to protect them in case of capture, although this was not always recognized by the Japanese military, which executed several. The Coastwatchers' numbers were also augmented by escaped Allied personnel and even civilians. In one strange case, three German missionaries assisted the coastwatchers after escaping Japanese captivity. (Germany was an ally of Japan).
Feldt chose "Ferdinand" as the code name for his organisation, from a popular children's book about a bull, ''The Story of Ferdinand''. He explained this by saying:
:''Ferdinand ... did not fight but sat under a tree and just smelled the flowers. It was meant as a reminder to Coastwatchers that it was not their duty to fight and so draw attention to themselves, but to sit circumspectly and unobtrusively, gathering information. Of course, like their titular prototype, they could fight if they were stung.''[1]
In June 1942, "Ferdinand" became part of the Allied Intelligence Bureau, which was under the South West Pacific Area (command) (SWPA). However Feldt reported to both GHQ, SWPA, in Brisbane and the Fleet Radio Unit in Melbourne (FRUMEL), which was under the Pacific Ocean Areas (command).[2]

Significance

In 1942, two coastwatchers on Bougainville, Read and Mason, radioed early warning of Japanese warship and air movement (citing the numbers, type and speed of enemy units) to the United States Navy. Coastwatcher reports allowed U.S. forces to launch aircraft in time to engage the attackers. Admiral William Halsey, Jr. was later to say that the two men had saved Guadalcanal.
One of the most highly decorated coastwatchers was Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza who retired from the local constabulary in 1941, volunteered for coastwatcher duty but was subsequently captured, tortured, then bayoneted and left to die. He survived and escaped to make contact with Marines warning them of an impending Japanese attack. He recovered from his wounds and continued to scout for the Marines. He was awarded the Silver Star and Legion of Merit by the United States and later received a knighthood as well as becoming a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
In August 1943, LTJG John F. Kennedy of the United States Navy — a future President of the United States — and twelve fellow crew members were shipwrecked after the sinking of their boat, the ''PT-109''. An Australian coastwatcher, Sub-Lt Arthur Reginald Evans, observed the explosion of the ''PT-109'' when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Despite U.S. Navy crews giving up the crew as a complete loss, Evans dispatched two Solomon Islander scouts including Biuki Gasa in dugout canoes who found Kennedy and his surviving crew, who delivered a message inscribed on a coconut. Kennedy had scratched a message to Evans on the coconut describing the plight and position of his crew. The future U.S. President was rescued shortly after and 20 years later welcomed Evans to the White House. Gasa did not make the trip for reasons that are unclear.

Popular culture

Evans was depicted in the film ''PT 109'' and named in the Jimmy Dean hit song, also called "PT-109".
In the 1964 film ''Father Goose'', actor Cary Grant plays a reluctant coastwatcher.
In the musical ''South Pacific'', a US Marine is sent to do a similar job.
In W. E. B. Griffin's ''The Corps'' series, Griffin gives credit to Australian coastwatchers for their services at Guadalcanal.

References

★ Alone on Guadalcanal: A Coastwatcher's Story, , Martin, Clemens, Bluejacket Books, 2004 (reissue), ISBN 1-59114-124-9

★ The Coastwatchers, , Eric Augustus, Feldt, Penguin Books, 1946 (original text), 1991 (this edition), ISBN 0140149260

★ Coastwatching in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series), , A. B., Feuer, Stackpole Books, 1992, ISBN 0-8117-3329-7

★ Fire Over the Islands, , D. C., Horton, , 1970, ISBN 0589070894

★ Lonely Vigil; Coastwatchers of the Solomons, , Walter, Lord, Naval Institute Press, 1977 (Reissue 2006), ISBN 1-59114-466-3

★ Australians at War: A Pictorial History, , A., Macdougal, The Five Mile Press, 2002, ISBN 1-86503-865-2

★ A Diary of a Coastwatcher in the Solomons, , F. A., Rhoades, Admiral Nimitz Foundation, 1982,

External links

★ Australian Coastwatchers in the Pacific War

★ Coast Watch Organization

★ Coastwatchers

★ Coastwatchers

★ ''First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal''