Expendable Soldiers 2: Retribution

By SJ Aspen

It’s 1942 and the Second World War’s Pacific Theatre has started. John Knight and his soldier colleagues have escaped being prisoners-of-war of the Japanese. They established a Coastwatcher network who report on the Japanese from the islands of New Guinea.
Since the war started, John’s group of part-time soldiers have transformed into an effective group of killers. The group operates from a stolen Japanese gunboat and engage the Japanese on both land and sea while they continue to rescue people from the clutches of the advancing Japanese army.
The group’s unlikely successes have been recognised and they now also work with the army’s special forces directly engaging the Japanese in high-risk missions behind enemy lines. John knows that capture by the Japanese means certain death.
On the battlefield, the Japanese receive no quarter and John’s group expect none from the Japanese. It is a desperate time and no one is playing by the gentleman’s rules of war.
John and his group have survived through stealth, innovation and ruthless efficiency but is that enough to survive the imminent invasion of New Guinea’s capital? John’s group need the luck of the Irish if they are to survive the war.
This book is a sequel to the highly successful book, Expendable Soldiers: Invasion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528990660

SJ Aspen

SJ Aspen is an Australian who loves to travel and see new places while meeting interesting people. Previously, he had a career in government both in Australia and the Middle East. As a mature university student, he completed a bachelor of arts, a master’s in business administration and a master’s in information systems. Today, SJ Aspen 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.

Book preview

About the Author

SJ Aspen is an Australian who loves to travel and 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 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’s stories are fast-moving sequences that are entertaining and easy to read for general readers.

Copyright Information ©

SJ Aspen (2021)

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 9781528950893 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528990660 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

1. A VIP Service

‘Here come the boys, and they’re not smiling,’ Jimmy said, as a matter of fact.

I gazed to the end of the wharf and saw our two sergeants, walking along the wharf together, toward our boat.

‘Yes, you’re right. They look a bit solemn. Maybe someone’s told them that the pubs are out of beer,’ I said, without humour. ‘If they’re unhappy, the chances are that we’ll soon also be unhappy, once they give us the debrief from headquarters.’

Jimmy and I were lazing at the back of our boat, watching all the activity in the harbour. The harbour was the main harbour of Port Moresby and it is 1942. Port Moresby is the capital of the country of New Guinea, which is located in the South Pacific, not far north of Australia.

In January 1942, the Japanese military launched a sneak invasion of Rabaul, which was the main administration centre for New Guinea’s eastern province that includes the islands of New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville.

Our boat is a stolen Japanese Navy gunboat that is approximately one hundred feet long. In a previous life, it may have been an oceangoing trawler that the Japanese Navy converted to a gunboat.

Jimmy and I, and the others on the boat, are Australian soldiers. We were part of the New Guinea Defence Force, which was part of the Australian Army. We were part of the recent dismal attempt to defend the town of Rabaul from a Japanese invasion.

The Australian troops at Rabaul were swept away by a wave of Japanese soldiers, with many Australians being killed and the high majority of soldiers being captured. The Japanese did not just overwhelm us with their numbers; they were better equipped, better trained and were more experienced soldiers. When they attacked, the Australian soldiers were quickly annihilated, and our defeat was absolute.

Many of the Australian soldiers, who faced the Japanese at Rabaul, were in the New Guinea Defence Force and so were part-time soldiers. This meant that we spent our days as civilians, with most part-time soldiers working in civilian agricultural jobs. We were soldiers for a few hours each week, at best. We were ridiculously under-prepared for the Japanese onslaught and many paid the ultimate price, as a consequence.

There are seven of us on the gunboat. We were all captured by the Japanese and forced to march with hundreds of other prisoners of war. During this march, we witnessed indiscriminate humiliations, torture and murder at the hands of the Japanese soldiers.

By chance, while we were on this march, Jimmy, I, and the others on the boat were chosen at random by the guards, to be part of a burial group. While we were separated from the main march, an incident occurred that allowed our group to overpower the Japanese guards and escape. We made our way to the coast and eventually stole the gunboat that we now call home. We sailed the boat to Port Moresby to re-join the Australian Army.

While the Australian military had been taken by surprise by the Japanese invasion and the ruthless efficiency of the Japanese troops, the military knew it needed better information on the Japanese military movements.

Soon after the invasion, a plan was put in place to establish a coast-watcher service. This was where jungle-experienced civilians were placed on strategic islands in the New Guinea region to report, by radio, on the movements of Japanese ships and aircraft.

Our stolen gunboat was found to be the ideal boat to support the coast-watcher service. The boat was used to establish the coast-watchers on their island locations and routinely resupplying them.

In normal times, such a boat service would have been provided by the Australian Navy. But as a result of the invasion crisis, there were no Australian naval ships or crew available to do this task.

When Rabaul fell, our Rabaul-based army units ceased to exist, as the Rabaul-based soldiers were either killed or captured. My colleagues and I were considered surplus soldiers to existing army units. We were given the option to stay on the gunboat and support the new coast-watcher programme or be reassigned to other infantry units.

The army’s logic was that we had sailed the gunboat from Rabaul to Port Moresby, so we could continue to sail the gunboat in the New Guinea area to support the coast-watcher programme. The seven of us took the option to remain on the boat and support the programme.

With most of the Defence Force army units gone, we would probably be allocated to regular army units. Even before the war with the Japanese, there traditionally had been some animosity between regular army and part-time army units. Regular army units did not rate part-time army units as professional or quality units. Based on the performance of the Defence Force against the Japanese at Rabaul, we thought this opinion might be justified.

The six of us, not including Jack, had a brief discussion about the option to transfer to other army units. We thought that we might be considered outcasts or under-qualified soldiers being placed in regular army units. That made the decision to stay together as a group on the boat an easy one to make. We acknowledged how poorly the Defence Force had performed against the Japanese on the battlefield, and knew we needed to be better soldiers.

Jack, who was one of our sergeants, was the exception to the rest of us. While the rest of us were part-time soldiers, Jack was a full-time career soldier of 10 years and was recently a commando. His commando unit had been killed by the Japanese and he was assigned to the gunboat after we reached Port Moresby. Jack had primary responsibility for the operational aspects of the coast-watcher programme while in the field.

The gunboat had become our home. We nicknamed the boat the Queen Mary because compared to living in the jungle, it was like being on a cruise boat. It had also been a very lucky boat for us, and we hoped our luck would continue.

The boat was in perfect condition. After we sailed the boat to Port Moresby, a navy assessment of the boat found that it was ideal to support the coast-watcher programme, except it was too slow and the engine was too loud for behind the lines usage.

Fortunately, American naval mechanics in Port Moresby installed a new diesel engine to the gunboat. While doing that work, they also strengthened the keel of the gunboat to better protect it from potential strikes on coral reefs that were everywhere in New Guinea. This modification allowed the bow of the boat to be driven up onto a beach. This feature, of beaching the boat, made it faster to load and unload people and equipment on remote islands, that made the boat ideal for the coast-watcher programme.

We had been a key part of the coast-watcher programme for several months now and our involvement had been declared a resounding success by both the army and navy. During our time on the boat, we had successfully engaged the Japanese a number of times on both land and sea.

Our priorities were to support the coast-watcher programme, to rescue and evacuate soldiers and citizens from harm’s way, and lastly, to directly engage the Japanese military, where necessary.

We barely had enough people to manage the boat in this wartime environment while supporting the coast-watcher programme. But our group functioned as a well-coordinated, close-knit team that had proven successful against the Japanese military.

Being a small group, everyone was multiskilled and able to do most tasks on the boat. While we could do multiple tasks on the boat, each of us naturally gravitated to a specialist role. For instance, while I could cook, others preferred that I did not. But I was a better than average shot with a rifle and a particularly good shot with a machine gun. In the field I was predominantly a rifleman or operated a machine gun.

It was an informal environment on the boat, where people spoke to each other as colleagues. Local military plans that involved our operations were openly discussed and developed with everyone’s input. Regardless of a person’s rank, everyone was comfortable to provide their input and opinions to the group.

However, when the gunboat was in harbour, everyone complied with formal army protocols, often referring to each other by their army rank, particularly when we had guests on the boat.

Jack was in charge of overall military operations. The other sergeant on the boat was Harry, who was responsible for managing the boat. There were two corporals in the boat who were Willie and Wilson, and three privates, who were Pete, Jimmy and me.

Jack was the epitome of a professional soldier. He tended to usually be serious and was generally an intense fellow. My first impression of Jack was that he was a little abrupt and maybe that was because he tended to be a straight talker. Jack tended to say clearly what he thought and usually with very little sugar coating.

We all acknowledged that Jack was largely responsible for our escape from the Japanese and our success in returning to Port Moresby.

In terms of my background, my name was John Knight and I grew up in Brisbane, Australia. I came to work on a cattle property near Rabaul, which was my first job as a 16-year-old, who was straight from school. That was a couple of years ago now and the time working in New Guinea had flown by.

I was 5’8" tall and weighed 155 pounds. Like most young Australian men, I always had an active outdoor life. I was fit and tanned, after living and working for over a year in New Guinea. I had started to like New Guinea after I became used to the heat and the generally relaxed lifestyle of the islands.

I remember informing my father some years ago of my decision to quit school and start work, though at the time I had no job. I was unimpressed by my father’s response to my announcement that I was quitting school, when he said that I would not be a loss to academia. Though on reflection, his comment about my academic abilities was annoying accurate. Consequently, there had never been any consideration of me attending university to seek a professional career.

However, my father and I agreed that if I did not have a job by the time that school restarted after the holidays, that I would continue my schooling.

So, when I received a job offer from New Guinea, I jumped at it. Even though the only thing I had known about New Guinea was that it was a hot jungle.

Jimmy and I became close friends about a year before we joined the New Guinea Defence Force. Jimmy was two years older than me. He had a good sense of humour and was fun to be around. Unlike me, Jimmy was a natural talker and quite outgoing and extroverted. I, on the other hand, tended to keep to myself and really only speak when I had something to say. Some people had the first impression that I am shy. I am not really, though, unlike Jimmy, I would be considered more introverted than most, which tends to support the shyness impression.

Jimmy and I had worked on separate but adjoining cattle properties and would spend most weekends together. For entertainment, Jimmy brought a rifle and we went on hunting trips that were always unsuccessful. Jimmy had not fired a gun before, so I taught him how to shoot. While I had some shooting experience, and was at least an average shot, I realised, through Jimmy, that I was not a good shooting instructor.

We did a lot of walking on our hunting trips but rarely saw any game to shoot. When we did see game, it would usually escape from a missed shot. It was Jimmy’s rifle, so he would take the first shot. Our hunting trips would often end in disappointment. Usually, we would give up and spend our time shooting at trees. Unfortunately, even shooting the trees was often challenging for Jimmy, which I thought reflected badly on my teaching skills.

Jimmy was the one who came up with the not so good idea of joining the Defence Force, so he could receive free rifle training. It did seem a good idea at the time. I joined the Defence Force with Jimmy, so we could meet people who might take us on real hunting trips.

There were a number of times since the Japanese invasion, where I consciously resisted, reminding Jimmy of what a bad idea it was for us to join the army. But the reality was that large parts of the world were at war and New Guinea just happened to be a frontline, so regardless of what we did, we would have been caught up in the war in some way.

Jimmy and I had only completed our army training the month before the Japanese invaded Rabaul. So army life was very new to both of us. Our joining the army was incredibly badly timed, but then no one knew the Japanese had any interest in New Guinea, so it was just bad luck really.

While I had a sporting interest in shooting, I was certain that my improved shooting abilities in the last few months were a direct result of my quickly acquired fear of the Japanese.

Over the months, since we stole the gunboat and started supporting the coast-watcher service, the expertise of my soldier colleagues and I had grown enormously. This was a result of constant training that was provided by Jack. Jack had commented a number of times that his best chance of surviving the war was for us to be better soldiers. This was his incentive to train us. He based the training on his commando experience.

The training Jack provided and his leadership had been invaluable, and we all knew it was the secret of our success against the Japanese.

The group had a variety of strengths. In the case of Jack, he taught everyone field tactics and battlefield management. He also provided basic instruction on unarmed combat and basic explosives. Jack was very much in overall command of our group.

Harry was our other sergeant on the boat. He was born in Britain, was in his early 40’s and the oldest person on the boat. He was a mechanic by trade but became a supervisor of a number of his company’s workshops in the New Guinea region. Harry also spoke fluent Japanese that he had learnt from a Japanese maid, who he employed to assist his sick wife. Harry was in primary command of the boat.

Harry had come to Australia with his wife almost 20 years ago and had been in New Guinea for about 10 years. Even so, he spoke with a strong English accent. Harry was also generally a quiet person and was always polite and considerate when he interacted with others.

Harry was highly respected within our group. He was also the most well-travelled of the group. He had travelled with his work to most towns in the New Guinea area and generally around the South Pacific region.

Pete managed the boat with Harry. Pete had pre-war experience working on pleasure boats in the New Guinea area. So he knew more about boats than the rest of us. He was also our main navigator at sea. Pete had had a number of jobs before the war and seemed to be able to turn his hand at most things.

Wilson was another interesting person. He was the unofficial chief cook on the boat and looked like a New Guinea native, though he was officially an Australian national. His father was a Dutch migrant and his mother was a New Guinea native. He spoke a number of New Guinea native dialects, as well as Dutch, and of course English. He worked as a supervisor in a mine before the war. His experience in the mines gave him some exposure to the use of explosives, which seemed to interest him.

There was my friend Jimmy, who provided general soldiering and assistance on the boat. Willie and I provided the same role as Jimmy.

Before the war, Willie and Pete, who were both in their late 20’s, worked as clerks in a tobacco company, which had links across the New Guinea region. Their work gave them some travel experience in the New Guinea region, which was beneficial to the group.

The training that Jack provided, the personality types of the group, and importantly, the shared experiences that we had from the time of the Japanese invasion, bonded our group into a team that Jack had moulded into an increasingly effective military unit.

The psychological impacts of being soundly defeated on the battlefield by the Japanese, and then the psychological scarring that occurred to us as prisoners of war of the inhumane Japanese was a shared experience that further bonded us together.

These experiences were very raw in the collective memory of our group. It was common for someone in discussion to mention the time when we were prisoners and would comment about the poor soldiers, who were still prisoners of the Japanese. Fortunately, we were only prisoners for a very short time, but the experience profoundly shocked us.

It was with cold realisation that we knew we had three options. To fight and win against the Japanese, to fight and die trying to win, or to surrender. We had seen how the Japanese treated soldiers who surrendered or were captured. Some they killed at random, and sometimes, they killed prisoners of war for their amusement. But they treated all their captives appallingly, with no consideration to their well-being. Surrender was not an option for us.

Not only was the thought of surrendering or being recaptured by the Japanese unbearable, but we knew that we could not be recaptured. If the Japanese caught us and became aware that we were involved with the coast-watcher service, they would torture us until we revealed the location of the coast-watchers. Then they would kill us.

Collectively, we knew that our survival depended on us quickly becoming very good soldiers and being a highly effective team.

We had no doubt that the Japanese would give us no quarter, which made it easy for us to give them none. To protect ourselves and the secret of our operation, our policy was that if we had to engage the Japanese, then we would leave no Japanese alive.

With no or little conscience, we ruthlessly applied this policy without question. It was a simple, easy rule to follow; leave no Japanese alive.

As Harry and Jack came up the gang plank onto the boat, Harry announced to Jimmy and I that we would all meet in the cabin in 10 minutes for a debrief of the information that he and Jack had received from headquarters. Headquarters were the Intelligence Corps that were based in Port Moresby. My group and the gunboat were temporarily assigned to the Intelligence Corps.

Ten minutes later, we all met at the dining table in the boat’s cabin. The boat’s cabin was about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. At the front of the cabin was the helm and instruments for steering the boat, including the radio. There was a small map area, and behind the map area, was a small kitchen and dining area. The table that we were sitting at was long and narrow, but it could easily seat 12 people.

Jack started the information session:

‘Well, Harry and I have a lot of information to give you. The information will give you a good overview of the situation Australia is in, that we will be contending with over the coming months,’ said Jack.

‘Unfortunately, there was very little good news and it reinforces our opinion that this war will not be over soon,’ he said carefully.

‘You may be surprised to know,’ said Jack, smiling, ‘that until now, the Australian government has restricted information about Japanese advances across the Pacific from the Australian community and from most of the military. They did this out of concern, that knowing the full picture of the Japanese advances might cause panic within the general community and would probably have caused significant panic within the military community,’ said Jack, nodding his head in agreement.

‘Anyway, the policy has now been reversed, possibly because of information leaks that has made the policy impractical. The government has approved that the community and the military be given the full picture of our situation with the Japanese,’ Jack said, looking at each of us.

‘As you know, the war with the Japanese started with the sneak attack on the Americans at Pearl Harbor that occurred in December last year. What we didn’t know was since that time, is that the Japanese have defeated the Americans on the island of Guam and are expected to defeat them in the Philippines,’ Jack said. ‘The American commander has already left the Philippines and relocated to Australia.’

‘What’s really concerning,’ he said, ‘is that the countries of Malaya, Java and Singapore have all fallen to the Japanese. Japanese invasions have also occurred Burma and Borneo. In essence, the Japanese are sweeping across the Pacific down through Asia towards Australia,’ he said solemnly. ‘Most of the Asia-Pacific region is now controlled by the Japanese.’

‘Some of you might realise that what is particularly concerning is that British-governed countries have fallen to the Japanese. To be blunt,’ he said, ‘there is no British help coming into the Pacific to take on the Japanese. The British are fully occupied in Europe, fighting the Germans. That means Australia is largely on its own against the Japanese,’ he said.

‘This isn’t going to go well,’ said Wilson, almost to himself.

‘Is it too late to apply for permanent holidays?’ said Jimmy, without humour.

Jack continued, ‘Obviously our key ally in this fight against the Japanese are the Americans. We don’t know a lot about the Americans. We know there are a lot of Americans. We know they had a good Pacific Fleet prior to the Pearl Harbor strike, but we don’t know how prepared and equipped they are to fight the Japanese. We also don’t know if they have a large enough army to match the Japanese on the battlefield,’ Jack said.

‘America has a lot of manpower but we’re not sure how long it will take them to recruit and train soldiers to a level, where they could compete against the Japanese,’ said Jack, shrugging his shoulders.

‘Initially, some people were sceptical about the ability of the Americans to match the Japanese,’ he said. ‘However, there was recently a large naval battle between the Americans and the Japanese in the Coral Sea, where the Americans successfully stopped the Japanese fleet.’

‘The Americans have also successfully sent an air force bombing raid across Japan that they launched from an aircraft carrier. These have been very good results, so maybe the Americans don’t just talk the talk,’ said Jack, without enthusiasm.

‘Locally, you’ll remember Pierre, our coast-watcher, who we placed in the Solomon Islands after rumours of Japanese activity in that area. He has reported that the Japanese have landed and are building an airfield. Once that airfield is finished, it will increase the capacity of the Japanese Air Force to engage us on our travels,’ Jack said quietly. ‘The airfield will also provide air superiority for the Japanese in much of this region, including over Rabaul.’

‘Is the Australian military going to do something about that airfield in the Solomon Islands?’ asked Willie.

‘My understanding,’ said Jack, ‘is that something needs to be done and will be done. From what I’m hearing, the Australian Army does not have the capacity to do anything about the airfield. I understand the matter has been referred to the Americans to see if they can do something to disrupt the building of that airfield.’

‘Obviously, a simple solution would be to bomb the airfield once it is finished but before it becomes operational,’ Jack said. ‘I’m not sure Australia or the Americans have planes in the area that can do the job, but let’s hope. Everyone realises it is an important development that needs to be addressed.’

‘Closer to home,’ he said, continuing the bad news, ‘small numbers of Australian troops are still being rescued from the area of Gasmata, which is in Western New Guinea that is not far from Rabaul. These troops are in bad shape and are continuing to tell stories of atrocities by Japanese soldiers.’

‘For instance, the army had been hearing of a massacre of Australian soldiers near a plantation called Tol, that is near Rabaul. Recently, a number of survivors of that massacre arrived in Port Moresby. They say the Japanese massacred by shooting and bayoneting approximately 150 Australian prisoners of war,’ said Jack.

‘This isn’t a surprise to us,’ said Pete sternly. ‘We’ve seen them use their bloody bayonets on prisoners of war during the march we were on from Rabaul.’

‘But, for the love of God, we would have been bayoneted on that damn march,’ said Willie quietly.

After a brief moment, Jack continued the briefing: ‘The Australian Intelligence people are not sure why the main New Guinea Island has not yet been attacked by the Japanese. There is a strong belief that the Japanese will attack Port Moresby sometime soon, though no one is sure where or when they will land.’

‘As you’ve seen around the port, large numbers of Australian troops are being landed in Port Moresby and are being readied to repel a Japanese offensive in this area.’

‘It might interest you to know that a General MacArthur, who was the American commander in the Philippines, now has the title of Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific area,’ Jack said, reading from Harry’s notes. ‘He is located in Australia and is now in charge of all Australian and American military in this sector,’ said Jack, nodding to Harry.

No one spoke as Harry started to look at his notes.

As a group, we were digesting the significance of the information that we just heard. There was silence, as I am sure everyone came to the same dreaded conclusion that there was no way that Australia could hold back the tide of the Japanese military.

‘Finally,’ Pete said, ‘so the Americans are running the show.’

‘Well, yes,’ responded Jack, ‘at the highest level, they are in charge of Allied military efforts. At our local level, we are still reporting to the same Australian military structure, so this does not impact us at all. Nothing has changed.’

‘Of interest to us is the decision by this MacArthur, that the Japanese be stopped here in New Guinea,’ said Jack.

‘The Australian military experts,’ he said, ‘under General Amey, had proposed to evacuate or surrender half of Australia to the Japanese. The proposal was to start fighting them from a line on the map that goes across the country from just north of Brisbane.’

There was silence from the group as that information sank in.

‘Does anyone think fighting the Japanese on a front that spreads across the Australian continent from near Brisbane is crazy?’ I said.

‘We will never stop the Japanese if they get a foothold on the Australian mainland. Jack, how many miles is it from Brisbane to the other side of the country?’ I asked.

‘I have no idea, but it’d be too many miles to contain an enemy force,’ said Jack.

‘Blimey, it would be north of 2,500 miles, I’d say,’ said Harry, thoughtfully.

‘Yes, that would be about right,’ said Willie, scratching his head.

‘There is no way that the Australian Army could spread along a 2,500-mile line in numbers sufficient enough to stop a Japanese military force of any size,’ I said.

‘The Japanese would be able to drive an army through the middle of Australia,’ said Willie.

‘In the war of 1914,’ said Harry, like a schoolteacher, ‘the Allied lines, against the Germans, spread for about 800 miles across Europe. Facing the Germans were the British, the French, the Belgians and an assortment of troops from other nations, such as from Australia.’

‘There were hundreds of thousands of troops in Europe holding the Germans back,’ continued Harry. ‘There is no way that Australia has enough troops to hold back the Japanese across a 2,500-mile front.’

‘The experts in Canberra, who dreamt up the plan to stop the Japanese at Brisbane, after giving them half the country, don’t seem to be operating within the realms of reality,’ I said thoughtfully.

‘Once, in a meeting with Captain Higgins,’ said Jimmy, ‘he made the throwaway comment that some of the experts in our capital live in the Canberra Bubble. Does that mean they are not really working in reality?’

‘Yes, it does,’ said Jack, putting his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. ‘The term usually refers to government politicians who are in Canberra. Though it seems that others in the military might also be working inside the Canberra Bubble, and not fully understanding the realities of this war.’

‘It’s important,’ he said, ‘for you to keep in mind that whatever the Canberra experts come up with, it’s the people at the sharp end who make things work. That’d be us,’ he concluded.

‘So, fortunately, General MacArthur thought it wasn’t the best plan either,’ said Jack quickly. ‘So, I think we can all agree that it might be best that the Americans are in charge of our war for the moment.’

‘Thank god for MacArthur,’ I said to a murmur of agreement.

‘So, this is and will continue to be Australia’s frontline against the Japanese,’ said Jack.

‘Nothing has changed,’ said Wilson.

‘This is such a good decision by MacArthur,’ said Willie thoughtfully. ‘I would much prefer that we were fighting the Japanese here in New Guinea than on the streets of Brisbane or Sydney.’

‘We just need a lot more soldiers and equipment to be able to compete on the battlefield. We’ve proved that we can be competitive against the Japanese in the right conditions. We just need the right conditions and a river of luck,’ he grinned.

Harry took over the briefing. He said our role in supporting the coast-watcher programme will continue. ‘In the short term,’ he said, ‘there is no information on when or if additional coast-watchers will be placed on islands in the New Guinea region.’

We had just returned from a monthly task of resupplying all the coast-watchers in the New Guinea area, of which there were 10 coast-watchers. Harry thought that we would continue to be involved in the resupply task into the medium-term.

Harry added, ‘A key addition to our existing role is the probability that we would be directly involved in supporting other behind the lines operations in the New Guinea and Bougainville areas. Our role is expected to be the transportation of army teams, who will undertake behind the lines operations, though further detail on our role in this activity will be provided to us in due course,’ he said.

Harry also mentioned that the Intelligence Corps, who we work for, were talking about establishing a second boat to support the coast-watcher service. ‘No information was provided on this proposal. Possibly, it might be considered a pipedream for the future,’ he concluded.

Jack again took over the briefing by highlighting the increasing build-up of troops in the Port Moresby area that was in preparation for a Japanese invasion of the main