Expendable Soldiers: Book 1: Invasion

By Steve Venning

John Knight and his colleagues, who are part-time Australian Army soldiers, have escaped the Japanese once. Now they must continue to chance their arm as they setup a coast watcher network. The Coastwatchers will report on the Japanese from the islands of New Guinea. It's more than the Coastwatchers and the army who are under threat from the Japanese. There are many civilians in the New Guinea region who will soon be within the clutches of the advancing Japanese army. No one could have imagined the speed and efficiency of the Japanese army or their capacity to inflict cruelty on the innocent. They are not playing by the gentleman's rules of war. John knows there is no sense regretting his decision to join the part-time army. No one knew that the Japanese would attack New Guinea in 1942. It was just bad luck that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Australian Army is not prepared for the Japanese and considers John and his colleagues expendable, as they undertake their important mission. The group is using a stolen Japanese gunboat to deceive the Japanese but now they must fight their enemy on land and sea. The Coastwatchers on the islands around New Guinea are depending on John's group for their lives. John's group of part-time soldiers know they must quickly become better soldiers and have the luck of the Irish, if they are to survive the war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: May 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781528971256

Steve Venning

SJ Aspen is an Australian who loves to travel, see new places while meeting interesting people. Previously, SJ Aspen had a career in government, both in Australia and the Middle East. As a mature aged university student, he completed a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Information Systems. Today, he writes for the joy of presenting others with interesting and sometimes thought-provoking material. He likes to weave memories from his travels and life experiences into his storylines, often including a strong dose of reality that is balanced by a dash of humour. SJ Aspen intends his stories to be fast-moving sequences that are vividly presented and are easily understood by general readers.

Book preview

Expendable Soldiers

Book 1: Invasion

SJ Aspen

Austin Macauley Publishers

Expendable Soldiers

About the Author

Copyright Information ©

Chapter 1

In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Chapter 2

A Job Offer

Chapter 3

Japanese Soldiers

Chapter 4

The New Guinea Defence Force

Chapter 5

Steal a Boat

Chapter 6

Escape to the Sea

Chapter 7

Welcome to Port Moresby

Chapter 8

Preparing to Meet the Enemy

Chapter 9

The Coastwatchers

Chapter 10

Onward to Buka Island

Chapter 11

Coastwatcher Doug Is Open for Business

Chapter 12

Next Mission

Chapter 13

Cash Injection

Chapter 14

A Full Boat

Chapter 15

Homecoming Port Moresby

About the Author

SJ Aspen is an Australian who loves to travel, see new places while meeting interesting people. Previously, SJ Aspen had a career in government, both in Australia and the Middle East. As a mature aged university student, he completed a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Information Systems. Today, he writes for the joy of presenting others with interesting and sometimes thought-provoking material. He likes to weave memories from his travels and life experiences into his storylines, often including a strong dose of reality that is balanced by a dash of humour.

SJ Aspen intends his stories to be fast-moving sequences that are vividly presented and are easily understood by general readers.

Copyright Information ©

SJ Aspen (2020)

The right of SJ Aspen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528942713 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528971256 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

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E14 5LQ

Chapter 1

In the Wrong Place

at the Wrong Time

I looked nervously across a shallow creek to the jungle on the other side. I held my rifle loosely in my hands as I looked to the left and right along a scattered line of soldiers who were also looking across the creek into the jungle. Seeing the other soldiers around gave me the feeling of strength in numbers and reduced my anxiety to some extent.

It was hot and humid as it always is in New Guinea in January. The sweat was rolling down my face and I could feel it soaking through my shirt. It’s always hot but I knew my sweat was from nervous fear.

Half an hour ago, I had moved to my spot behind a slight rise in the ground next to a bush. So, the sweat was not caused by exertion. My throat felt so dry I had trouble swallowing and my senses were on high alert. I looked down and with a sense of relief I noticed my hands were not shaking.

The staggered line of soldiers on the left and right of me spread for more than 100 yards in each direction. As I looked at the soldiers on my immediate left and right, they looked much calmer than I felt and looked more prepared for the terrible events that would soon unfold. This is what we had been told to expect.

Only a month ago, we heard the Japanese had launched a sneak attack in December of 1941 on the American Navy at Pearl Harbor. I know the surprise and dismay that occurred in my local town of Rabaul, which is New Guinea’s second largest town, when the news of this attack and the damage it caused to the American Navy, was reported.

Until that time, the news reports had focused on the European war between Britain and Hitler’s Germany. The European war was only of passing interest to the people of Rabaul because there was no German territory or German forces locally. Europe was a long way away. The European war was of no real consequence to the people of Australia or of New Guinea and was considered a general topic of discussion by the locals as an alternative to talking about the weather.

The island of New Britain is the second largest island in New Guinea with Rabaul as its main town. New Guinea is administered by the Australian government and Rabaul is the administrative capital of the New Britain region. Most of the Europeans in New Guinea are Australian so the New Guinea community is closely linked to Australia and historically to Britain.

Australia is an independent country but had previously been a British colony. Accordingly, Australia still has very strong ties to Britain and looks upon Britain as its parent country and military protector. The destruction of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor surprised everyone by bringing what would appear to be a major war into the Pacific and close to everyone, so the British had better prepare, people were saying.

What was staggering to the Rabaul community was the dual attack by the Japanese military at Pearl Harbor and then in the Philippines. The Americans had a major military base in the Philippines. The Rabaul community could not comprehend the reasoning behind these attacks but the Japanese seemed to be concentrating their efforts against the Americans and not on the other communities who lived in the Pacific.

The Japanese military success was also a surprise as Japan, an Asian nation, was not rated as being a serious military power. It was with this comfort that many residents of Rabaul believed the Japanese actions were US specific and any attempt to invade the non-American parts of the Pacific would be stopped by the British.

People thought it was inconceivable that the Japanese had a reason to come anywhere near New Guinea. But as in the Great War of 1914, the men of Rabaul joined a part-time military force that would repel any possible small-scale or random military incursions into the region that might occur.

As I looked across the creek in the jungle, I wondered how did I come to be here. I’m sure that I’m much too young to be in this predicament, I thought, which would likely end with me being dead.

Sure, it was negative thinking but it contained a strong dose of reality, I thought. There is no way that I or the men on the left and right of me are prepared for the task of repelling the Japanese military, who some are saying are apparently skilled soldiers, I brooded.

As I crouched waiting for the Japanese, I remembered that I came to New Guinea in January 1940. I was 16 years old at the time and had just finished grade 9 at school in Brisbane, Australia, when I accepted a job offer to work in New Guinea.

I had grown up in an inner Brisbane suburb. My home life was quite good. I had left school but did not have a full-time job when I got the chance to work in New Guinea on a cattle property just outside of Rabaul. The cattle property was owned by the brother of an old man, who I became friends with and helped me get the job.

I remembered when I was 13 years old, I was best friends with Billy, who joined my school after his family moved from a farm in the country to Brisbane. Billy’s father had sold their farm and moved to Brisbane to manage one of the government’s public swimming pools. The public swimming pool had a house attached to the property which is where Billy and his family lived.

Billy was friendly and could be quite funny. We were both good at sports and ended up playing rugby together in the same school team. Billy was as good as I at rugby and at other sports, which meant we were often competing against each other so we often talked at sporting venues and that is where our friendship started.

I would meet with Billy on the weekends, which often happened at his house. Because he had the public pool attached, we often went swimming while I was there.

Billy and I had both taken up swimming as a sport and we joined a local swimming club that had swimming races on Tuesday night at Billy’s father’s swimming pool. It was at one of the Tuesday night swimming club events that Billy introduced me to his uncle who was from the country and was visiting Billy’s family.

Dave was the name of Billy’s uncle. He lived by himself on a farm near Ipswich which was about 25 miles west of Brisbane. He was 52 years old and had never married. Billy said that he had been in the Great War of 1914 in Europe and had bad lungs because of the war. I noticed he also did not walk too well as he had some problem with his right leg and used a cane for support when he walked.

When I first met Dave, he seemed quite abrupt when he spoke. I was not sure at the time whether this was normal for him or it was because he was talking to a young kid although he did seem pleasant enough.

I was sitting next to Billy’s mother with Billy on her other side listening to Dave speaking about his farm. He said that things were okay on the farm but a little dry. He chuckled and had said, When isn’t it a little dry when you’re on a farm. He said his biggest problem was an infestation of rabbits on the farm that were eating the feed for his cattle.

He said he would get out there and shoot a few of them but was not quick enough on his feet anymore. Billy’s father and mother joked that it was the same for them not being quick on their feet.

Billy’s mother turned to Billy and said, You should spend a weekend on Dave’s farm helping him. Maybe you could even shoot some rabbits for him, if he would let you.

That would be fine if you want to come to Ipswich for a weekend, Dave said. I can teach you how to shoot rabbits and then how to cook rabbits for dinner.

You’ll love it on the farm, Billy’s father said.

Billy was silent for a moment before saying, That sounds really good. Can I bring John with me? he said pointing to me.

Sure thing, said Dave. There is plenty of work to be done around the farm and two people will be better than one.

Are you up for a trip to the farm? Dave said looking at me.

I’d like to, I said, but I need to check with my parents first.

That’s okay, said Dave. You and Billy work out a weekend that’s good for you and let me know and we can arrange it.

Later that evening, I told my parents about Dave and his offer for me and Billy to spend the weekend working around his farm at Ipswich. They both agreed it would be good for me to spend some time on a farm helping out Billy’s uncle.

My father said to make the arrangements with Billy and to let him know what weekend we would go to Ipswich and how will we get there. My mother suggested we catch a train from Brisbane to Ipswich. The prospect of catching a train sounded a bit exciting because I had never been on a train before and I was not sure if Billy had either.

My father said he would stop by the swimming pool and have a talk with Billy’s father about this possible trip. When I next saw Billy, I gave him the thumps up signal to confirm my parents were okay with us going on a trip to Ipswich. He was also quite excited about this adventure. He was particularly excited about the prospect of shooting some rabbits. Neither of us had ever shot a gun and the prospect of shooting rabbits, or anything really, sounded great.

It was after school on Friday three weeks later that Billy and I boarded the train to take us to Ipswich. When we arrived at the train station, Billy’s uncle Dave was there to meet us. Billy having grown up on a farm in the country knew a lot more about farms than I did. This was a weekend of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever been away from my parents; the first time I had travelled on a train and the first time I had actually stayed on a farm. It was very exciting and interesting for me.

Billy and I sat in the back of Dave’s ute, as he drove us to his farm. Dave took us to his house, which was an old wooden style house in need of a paint job. He had a second bedroom with two small beds which would be Billy and mine for the weekend.

Before sundown, we stood on the back of Dave’s tractor while he took us for a ride around his farm. As we rode, he pointed out the things that we would be doing tomorrow. He showed us a number of fence posts that needed to be replaced and some of the fence wire that had to be mended. He had cattle and informed us that we needed to provide the cattle with hay and water first thing in the morning before we started on the fences.

I remembered as we were travelling around his farm, we frequently saw rabbits moving around.

Billy asked, Will we have the chance to shoot some of those rabbits.

Dave replied with a smile, Absolutely you’ll have the chance. If we do the fences in the morning then I’ll give you some training on the rifle and some target practice in the afternoon and before sundown, I’ll be expecting both of you to have a few rabbits ready for me to fix up for dinner.

That first night we had a type of soup for dinner, it was laden with meat and was quite filling. I remember that night time on the farm was very quiet and pretty boring as a 13-year-old. It would be particularly boring being there on your own, as I thought of Dave sitting on the front porch of the house. It was easy for me and Billy to go to bed early that first night.

Dave woke me and Billy just before dawn, which was okay with us. We were usually awake at dawn for swimming training so there was no problem getting up. We followed Dave to the barn and the three of us loaded bales of hay onto the back of his tractor.

Billy and I sat on the hay as he drove to the various paddocks where his cattle were spread. When Dave gave the signal, Billy and I would push a bale of hay off the tractor and cut the ties that held the hay together so the hay would collapse and spread out for the cattle to eat.

Providing hay to the cattle in various paddocks took about an hour. We then filled up the water troughs for the cattle before returning to the house for breakfast.

After we had cleaned up breakfast, we headed out on the tractor with a pick and shovels. We spent the morning digging out rotten fence posts. It was pretty hard work but we got the job done. Dave said we would first dig out the rotten fence posts and tomorrow we would put in new ones that he had ready in the barn.

We went back to his house for lunch after which he came out of his bedroom with a small rifle and a box of bullets.

Let’s go and I’ll teach you how to shoot this thing, he said. I’ll give you a good lesson in shooting and then I’ll expect you to reduce the number of rabbits on this farm, he said with a grin. Billy and I were both very eager to start the lesson.

What sort of rifle is that? I asked Dave.

This is a single shot .22 rifle. It looks small but it is still very dangerous. If I don’t tell you later, I’m telling you now, never point a rifle or gun at anyone, he said. This is the ideal gun to use as a beginner shooter but it will still kill a person not just rabbits, he said smiling.

Shooting the rifle was great fun. Billy and I listened intently to the instruction Dave gave us on how to load, aim and shoot the rifle. Dave then produced a small box of ammunition that we could use. We spent more than an hour shooting at various tin cans Dave had set up at varying distances in one of the paddocks.

After more than an hour of shooting practice, Dave said. Well, you’re both shooting quite well so now we need to find some rabbits for dinner.

How many rabbits will we need to shoot to have dinner? asked Billy.

We only need two for dinner but there are other people who live in town who might also like to have rabbit for dinner either tonight or tomorrow night, so let’s aim for 10 rabbits. He also said, I’d like less rabbits on my land, so another 10 rabbits tomorrow before you leave for Brisbane would also be good.

This was great news for us. Dave could not walk fast with his leg problem and also if he walked very far, he would have trouble breathing. So, we travelled on Dave’s tractor to the furthest paddock from the house. Dave said he would stay on the tractor and for us to walk slowly around the paddock to see if there were any rabbits. Billy had the rifle first and I walked behind him.

Billy missed the first three rabbits that he shot at. He surprised them with the bullet going close to them which scared them and they quickly ran off. They are impossible to hit when they were running so we knew we needed to sneak up on them before they saw us. We changed over the shooting role, which meant that I missed the next two rabbits before shooting a third rabbit dead. We cheered that we had shot one.

After two hours of walking around the paddock we had shot seven rabbits and felt quite proud of ourselves. We went back to Dave who was leaning against the back wheel of the tractor snoozing. Dave congratulated us on the hunting and we went back to the house where Dave skinned the rabbits and prepared two rabbits for our dinner.

The next day was Sunday and it was a repeat of Saturday. We first spread hay in the paddocks for the cattle and then spent the rest of the morning putting new wooden posts into the ground for the fencing. In the afternoon, Dave dropped us at one of the paddocks and we spent the afternoon shooting rabbits. At the end of the day, we had shot a further 12 rabbits. Dave was very happy with our efforts.

It was pleasant being on the farm and we both enjoyed the weekend very much. Dave dropped us back to the train station with an offer to return to the farm again sometime in the future. We caught the train back to Brisbane and walked to our homes. As we walked, we talked about the great weekend and decided to ask our parents if we could go back to Dave’s farm on the next school holidays.

We visited Dave again that year and generally did the same thing. By the end of that trip, Billy and I considered ourselves to be expert shots. We spent another two days with Dave and each day shot over 20 rabbits. Dave did a number of trips into Ipswich, where he supplied the rabbits to a number of his friends who appreciated the gift and congratulated us on our shooting.

The man next to me, who I think was called Malcolm, broke my thoughts by whispering, I see movement on the other side. I snapped back to the reality of New Guinea.

He was right, the jungle seemed to be alive and was slowly moving. There was no sound and I could not see anyone but I could see the bushes of the jungle moving.

The other side of the creek has a thick jungle. Where the jungle ends, there is a distance of about 100 yards of less dense bush before a gradual bank that falls about 10 feet to a creek. The creek is about 40 yards wide but is only ankle-deep in most parts.

On our side of the creek, it is again a gradual rising bank that is about 10 feet high before again entering fairly open bush area and then reasonably thick jungle. It is about 100 yards from the top of the bank to where we are hiding.

An army Corporal, who I had not seen before, ran along the line of soldiers about half an hour before. He told us that the rumour that the Japanese had landed on New Britain Island was confirmed and they were close and to stay calm. He was completely breathless and seemed close to panic.

He said if we saw the Japanese crossing the creek, we were not to shoot but to get ready and wait for the order to fire. The order will be given when the Japanese are in the middle of the creek, he said.

As I continued to watch, a group of about 20 Japanese soldiers slowly emerged from the jungle on the other side of the creek. It was like a slow-moving nightmare. Carrying their rifles, they had branches and small shrubs attached to their uniforms as camouflage, which explained why the jungle looked like it was moving.

They cautiously walked forward but before they were even fully out of the jungle a shot rang out, followed by three or four more shots. This was followed by a calamitous volley of shots from nearly everyone.

I knew we were not supposed to shoot until the order was given. No matter, just shoot, I thought.

At the sound of the first shot, all the Japanese soldiers quickly dropped to the ground. Because of the long distance between us and the Japanese soldiers, who were now lying on the ground, they were almost impossible to see let alone be able to shoot. I was not sure of the range to the Japanese but thought we must be shooting at close to maximum range of our rifles.

I aimed at a Japanese soldier who was lying on the ground and fired at him. I looked again and he seemed oblivious to my attempt to kill him. I was sure I had missed. I do not know where my bullet went but it did not seem to have bothered him.

The Japanese soldiers fired a sporadic volley of bullets back at us then calmly crawled back into the thicker jungle and they were gone. I could see that only one Japanese soldier had been shot. We had fired too soon and the distance was too great to be effective.

Once the Japanese soldiers had retreated back into the dense jungle on their side of the creek, there was a massive amount of gunfire coming from their side of the creek. They had machine-guns and soon mortars started to drop around us. Australian soldiers were being very quickly killed and panic was setting it. It seemed like we were firing hundreds of bullets across the creek at the Japanese.

The Australian soldiers were firing shot after shot into the jungle on the other side of the creek even though we could not see any targets.

I kept myself down undercover and was certainly apprehensive, though not necessarily scared. I was more concerned with making sure my rifle was ready to go. I noticed that I had fired all my bullets and quickly reloaded my gun’s magazine. There was a tremendous noise of constant rifle fire from the Australian troops that was disorientating.

With no Japanese targets in sight, the rate of shooting from the Australian troops slowed to almost none. I could now hear only an occasional shot coming back at us from the Japanese. It also seemed the accuracy of the Japanese shooters and their mortars were better than the Australian troops because of the high number of injured Australian soldiers who were screaming for assistance.

I could hear other gunfire in the distance that seemed to be coming from further downstream of the creek. The rate of gunfire downstream was fast, which included machine-guns but with frequent explosions.

We continued to hold our positions looking across the creek at the jungle. We were now preparing for the Japanese to attempt to rush across the creek at us.

It was then that the same corporal, who told us to be ready for the Japanese, again came running along the line of soldiers. I noticed he did not seem to even acknowledge those soldiers who were lying wounded on the ground in their positions.

The Corporal said that the Japanese had broken through our lines further down the creek and we needed to retreat quickly or risk being surrounded and cut off. He said that every soldier must fire one round at the Japanese and then run back in the direction of Rabaul, he said in a loud panicky voice. He said there was a second line of troops behind us who are waiting for the Japanese and we need to join them.

After he ran off towards the soldiers to the right of me, I looked to my left and saw most of the soldiers who were there had already gone – leaving the dead and wounded soldiers. It was then that I looked to the right and saw Malcolm looking at me through dead eyes. I had not realised that he had been shot through the head and was dead. Fear started to grip me as I realised that with the full retreat of the soldiers in my unit, I would soon be on my own.

I pointed my rifle in the general direction of the jungle and fired. I then turned and ran. Everyone was running. My fear was all-consuming and knew my survival was most likely determined by how fast I could run. Realising this, I slung my rifle over my back so that I could concentrate on running fast. I knew I would not be able to get to my rifle quickly, if I needed to, but decided my day of attempting to shoot people was over.

My childhood was often filled with sporting pursuits and I had an outdoors lifestyle. I had played years of rugby. I played as a winger because I was a fast runner, though I was also good at tackling people. But there was no doubt, I was valued by my team because I could run fast.

I was now running very fast like a rugby player. I was tearing through the jungle following the general line of retreating soldiers in front of me, most of whom I was overtaking. The soldier in front of me stopped quickly causing me to crash solidly into his back. We both fell to the ground and I think the man was hurt by our collision but he quickly got to his knee and fired his rifle into the jungle to the left.

Japanese soldiers were now on our left, moving towards us in a line. I could see there were many Japanese soldiers advancing in crouched positions with their rifles at the ready. A number of Australian soldiers around me stopped to shoot at them. But I got up and sprinted away from them.

I heard Japanese bullets whizzing past me and I could hear the screams of soldiers behind me who were being struck and probably killed. I never stopped or even slowed down in a mad dash to safety.

I was still running fast and now easily passing other soldiers, who seemed to be tiring. I ran hard for what may have been 30 minutes but it felt like two hours. I soon caught up with a group of about 30 other Australian soldiers and we saw a ragged line of Australian troops crouched down in front of us with their rifles at the ready.

We ran past the first line of Australian soldiers until we were stopped by a sergeant and fell to the ground absolutely out of breath and soaking with sweat. The sergeant yelled that we were to get into the line of soldiers in a crouching position and be ready to meet a Japanese attack. I was impressed to find that with all the running and panic that I still had my rifle with me.

Some of the soldiers who had been running in the group that I caught up to were breathing very heavily and saying that we should withdraw because there are too many Japanese coming. This seemed to be making the other soldiers nervous as they asked what had happened and how it was that the Japanese were able to move through our line so quickly.

In a harsh tone, the sergeant told everyone to shut up and get ready. There might also have been a trace of fear in his voice.

My breathing was returning to normal but I was not calming down. I was crouched in the line of soldiers waiting for the Japanese to attack again. From our front, we were hearing sporadic gunfire and occasional screaming. But the Japanese were not attacking us.

I was trying to take stock of things. I checked my rifle, which seemed fine but upon checking my ammunition, I noted