Expendable Soldiers 3 – Counterpunch

By SJ Aspen

Lt John Knight returns to the New Guinea frontline. He now leads small teams of special forces soldiers, who operate behind the lines, in the fight against the Japanese. The war has turned for the Japanese with Allied forces slowly pushing them back. But they are hanging on and are not a spent force.

Nothing has changed. It is still a fight to the death.

But now the allies, including John’s team, know how to fight the Japanese in the jungles of the Pacific. The Allies are no longer the pushover that they were at the beginning of the war.

John and his team are always on their own, and a long way from help, when they take on the Japanese. John continues to rely on cunning battle tactics and ferocious gunfights to ensure his team is punching above their weight. But will this be enough to overcome superior Japanese forces?

This is the third and final book in the highly popular Expendable Soldiers series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781528913287

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, 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.

Copyright Information ©

SJ Aspen 2023

The right of SJ Aspen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 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 9781528905251 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528913287 (ePub e-book)

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First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

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1.First Command

I sat in the reception area waiting to be reacquainted with my new boss, Captain Harrison. I was joining my new army unit that was one of the units in his outfit. I sat feeling relaxed as I watched his office staff scurrying around with an air of professional efficiency.

I am at Commando Headquarters in Port Moresby, New Guinea, and it is late 1942. In December 1941, the Japanese military attacked the Americans at Pearl Harbor. Immediately after this attack they swept down through the Pacific towards Australia. Consequently, the Asian-Pacific region is at war with the Empire of Japan.

The Japanese were a seemingly unstoppable force. The Japanese victories rocked the Australian community’s confidence in the existing world order. Australia’s place in the world order was under the protection of the British Empire. Australia slept soundly each night knowing that the British military machine guaranteed Australia’s security.

The Australian government was shocked by the Japanese threat to the Pacific and Australia. It was then panicked by Britain’s inability to meet the Japanese threat. But Britain had its own problems in resisting the advances of Germany and its allies in Europe.

The Australian government was aware of the cruel realities of the Japanese advance across the Pacific. The government thought it best to restrict the detailed information of the Japanese advances from the Australian community, to avoid widespread panic. But even so the community was on edge and fearful, as nation after nation fell to Japan, and its unstoppable soldiers marched ever closer to Australia.

I lived in New Guinea, which is an Australian territory to the north of Australia. I lived in the town of Rabaul. Rabaul is the administration centre for the eastern region of New Guinea.

By chance, I joined the New Guinea Defence Force, with my friend Jimmy, as a way of increasing our social contacts with the Rabaul locals. We hoped being in the Defence Force would expand our social activities, particularly on weekends.

The New Guinea Defence Force is an Australian Army militia force, which is made up of part-time Army soldiers. The Defence Force was established many years before to defend New Guinea in a time of war. But most of its activities involved assisting the local community recover from natural disasters, such as repairing roofs that are damaged from cyclones.

My real job was as a station hand on a cattle property not far outside the Rabaul township.

Jimmy and I had joined the Defence Force only months before the Japanese attacked Rabaul. At the time we joined, the only war was in Europe and Europe was the other side of the world from New Guinea. Even after the Pearl Harbor attack on the Americans, no one knew the Japanese would then attack everyone else. No one had any idea that the Japanese would invade New Guinea.

So, life as a soldier for me was very new when the Japanese attacked Rabaul and I found myself at war.

It seemed the Japanese attacked Rabaul to secure its major feature and strategic asset that was its large and stunning deep water harbour.

The Defence Force, that included my unit, was surprised by the Japanese invasion of Rabaul. But as a rabble, we faced the invasion force. Unsurprisingly, we were quickly and decisively defeated in the first few hours of the engagement. We were completely unprepared for war. We were disorganised, underequipped and outnumbered by the Japanese force who rolled over our defensive lines like waves rolling onto a beach.

Along with hundreds of other Australian soldiers, I surrendered to the Japanese before the end of the first day of fighting. That meant as a prisoner of the Japanese, I witnessed first-hand the cruelty and distain that the Japanese displayed towards prisoners. The Japanese did not discern between a soldier or civilian. They committed atrocities and random acts of violence against everyone regardless of who they were or their situation.

But I was a prisoner of war only for a very short time.

Luckily, I was chosen to be part of a small group of soldiers who were tasked with burying people that the Japanese had killed. The soldiers that I was with, were able to overpower the Japanese guards and escape. The things that I saw and the despair that I felt during my short time in captivity instilled in me a strong belief that the only way the Japanese could be beaten is by becoming a ruthless killer and fighting them like they were fighting us.

The group of soldiers I was with escaped the Japanese in a stolen Japanese gunboat. We sailed the boat to Port Moresby, which is the capital of New Guinea. Instead of re-joining a standard army unit, my group who escaped from Rabaul, chose to stay on our stolen boat and support a group of newly formed Coastwatchers. The Coastwatchers reported on the movement of Japanese across the New Guinea area.

It meant that my group became a behind-the-lines outfit.

Surprisingly, we achieved good successes against the Japanese both on land and sea. Some of these successes were considered remarkable but we saw it as a good sign that we had a lucky streak.

My group was initially very much a ragtag group of soldiers. Maybe it was our shared experience of being prisoners of the Japanese that was the glue that bonded the group together. Who knows, but we knew we needed to quickly become good soldiers or we would not survive the war.

Fortunately, in our group of mainly part-time soldiers, there was one professional soldier. He was from a commando unit and over the months that we were together, he trained and led us. He often said that he is training us like his life depended on it.

We all knew it was no joke.

The Australian Army was surprised by the Japanese attack, and even more surprised by how quickly the Japanese dispensed with the part-time soldiers of Rabaul.

The Army realised it was desperately short of troops including officers. I had joined the Army as a Private. But my work with the Coastwatchers gave me successful combat experience against the Japanese. During encounters with the Japanese, I demonstrated an ability to quickly develop innovative battle plans. It was recognised that these plans contributed to my group’s successes against the Japanese.

These were desperate times. We needed plans that worked, that meant our soldiers survive. No one cared who came up with the good idea, was a comment that Captain Harrison had once said to me.

The army was desperate for officers with successful combat experience against the Japanese of which there were very few. As a consequence, I accepted an offer to be trained as an Army officer and became a permanent full-time soldier.

That history has led me to Captain Harrison’s reception room here in Port Moresby.

So much had changed for me in such a short time. Then I thought of the people of New Guinea whose lives had also changed and not for the better. Many people of New Guinea were captives of the Japanese and faced a very difficult and unknown future.

There is no doubt that I have been blessed, not just to be here, but to be alive, I thought peacefully.

Excuse me, Lieutenant Knight, would you follow me to see the Captain please, said a sergeant who had come from Captain Harrison’s office.

I had previously met Captain Harrison when my group was supporting the Coastwatcher service. Captain Harrison was in charge of commando units based in Port Moresby. My group, with our boat, had previously worked with his commando teams who were fighting the Japanese from behind their lines.

But now I was about to meet the Captain as Second Lieutenant John Knight. I would report to the Captain as one of his officers, and manage one of his commando teams.

I entered the Captain’s office saying good morning, sir while quickly providing a snappy straight from the military academy salute.

As I entered, I noticed the Captain had another lieutenant and two sergeants in the room.

Very good to see you again, John, replied Captain Harrison smiling and returning my salute. Welcome back to New Guinea. I’ve been keen to have you back here to help out. Though it might take me a little while to get used to you in an officer’s uniform. It’s marvellous the opportunities that war presents, he laughed.

Yes, thanks to you I’m pleased to be here, sir, I said shrugging my shoulders. Since the start of this war I only focused on staying alive for another day, so a promotion was most unexpected.

Yes you’ve certainly been in the thick of things with our Japanese foe, said the Captain happily. First let me introduce you to Lieutenant Watts, Sergeant Kelly and Sergeant Scales, he said.

I shook hands with the men. Sergeant Kelly worked closely with Captain Harrison and was his main liaison officer. Lieutenant Watts commanded a team of commandos who would undertake the same operations that my team would be involved in.

This suited me fine, I thought. Watt’s might be helpful to me as I settled into the role of an officer and a leader. No doubt he could also help me come to grips with managing commando teams.

Sergeant Scales would be my second-in-command within my unit. The Sergeant seemed a serious fellow and was no doubt competent, I thought. Scales was a professional soldier and had been in the army for about 10 years though had only been in the commandos, and in Port Moresby for a month. The Sergeant had yet to see any action against the Japanese.

This was not uncommon, I thought.

Most of our soldiers who had been in action with the Japanese were either dead or captured. So the Australian troops facing the Japanese were nearly always untested soldiers. Often it did not go well for the Australian soldiers the first time they faced the Japanese.

Lieutenant Watts was a new officer to the Army and to the New Guinea region. He had trained at the military academy for two years before being commissioned and assigned to an army unit in Australia. He had only recently transferred to the commando unit and had been in Port Moresby for two weeks.

Like everyone who comes to Port Moresby for the first time, he made the usual comment about the heat and humidity.

This is nothing, I thought as I smiled at his comment, you wait until you get into the jungle.

I was pleased to see Captain Harrison, although I had only met him a few times previously. Still, he was a familiar face and had always seemed pleasant. I was happy that he seemed genuinely pleased to have me in his team. This did make me feel comfortable.

The Captain briefed me on the happenings in New Guinea since I had been away on Officer training. He said that soon after I had left for Canberra, the Japanese landed a force at Milne Bay. Milne Bay is at the southern end of New Guinea’s main island. After weeks of intensive fighting their landing force was stopped and they withdrew from the area.

That was a close thing for the Australian Army because from Milne Bay it was only a short distance by air to Port Moresby. Everyone knew that if Port Moresby fell to the Japanese, it would be the end of Australia’s resistance in New Guinea. It meant that we would then be fighting the Japanese on the Australian mainland.

The media said the Japanese had also landed on the opposite side of New Guinea’s main island near a place called Buna. They were attempting to attack Port Moresby by crossing the main island using a track called the Kokoda Track.

The track could only be walked and was notoriously difficult to use. So it had been discounted by Australian military planners as a possible approach by the Japanese to Port Moresby.

Again, the Japanese surprised Australia’s military planners.

Only by chance Australian troops bumped into the Japanese as they crossed the island and then endured months of intensive fighting. The Japanese pushed the Australian troops back along the track, all the way to a mountain range that overlooks Port Moresby.

But it was there that the Japanese advance on Port Moresby was stopped—when they were within sight of the Port Moresby township.

Australian troops were continuing to battle against the Japanese along the Kokoda Track and were slowly forcing them back along the Track away from Port Moresby. The Captain said the Japanese are having significant difficulties supplying their frontline troops. The distance and difficult mountainous terrain were against the Japanese. He said reports from the front showed that the Japanese troops were starving.

They were also being starved of fresh troops.

Even with these difficulties, the Captain said that Australian troops are continuing to push the Japanese back along the Track, but it is not a rout. The Japanese are defending very strongly. Progress is slow and no encounter with the Japanese is easy nor is there a guarantee that we will win each encounter.

Unfortunately, they are excellent soldiers, sir. They never surrender. They seem happy to die with their rifles in their hands, I said quietly. To which the Captain nodded in agreement.

The Captain said that his commando teams would now focus on two main tasks that would be the focus of Lieutenant Watt and I.

The Captain said that we will infiltrate behind the Japanese lines. We will disrupt the resupply of food and equipment to the Japanese frontline troops and provide targeting information for the air force. It meant that we will report on Japanese positions and movements to allow precision bombing of the frontline Japanese troops.

So, the Captain said looking at Watt’s and I. This means your units will not act as frontline units and will not engage the Japanese as normal troops. Your units will engage the Japanese if the opportunity arises, and if success is highly probable, provided your primary task is not compromised.

The Captain finished his briefing by saying that he expected Lieutenant Watts and I to be in action in about a week. During that time, I was to make preparations for the men to commence operations. The Captain said that we will return to his office in a few days and discuss in detail the operation he had planned.

The meeting ended and Lieutenant Watts, Sergeant Scales and I left Captain Harrison’s office. I agreed to meet Sergeant Scales at our camp later in the morning, after I collected my gear from the hotel that I stayed at overnight. But I would first meet Lieutenant Watts for a cup of tea and a chat, to get to know each other. I guess we knew that soon we would be working together and before long relying on each other, maybe for our lives.

We’re all glad that you’ve joined us John. I think particularly Captain Harrison, said Lieutenant Watts as we walked to a nearby cafe.

You have a pretty good reputation so I’m looking forward to working with you. Call me Rick, he said as he again shook my hand.

Thanks, I appreciate that. Though I’m worried about whether I can live up to the reputation. I’m glad that people think I’m good though I might suggest that you lower your expectations of me while we all get used to the way the Captain operates. I said smiling.

No problem from me, this commando stuff is all new to me. But I had the impression from the way the Captain spoke about you, that you are old mates, he said looking a bit bewildered.

No, actually we’re not. I met him when I was working in the Coastwatcher program. On a couple of occasions, we took his commandos behind the lines in our boat and ended up helping them out. But the Captain and I have only spoken a couple of times, I said.

But I think the Captain will be okay to work for because I’ve met a number of his commandos, who seem to think he’s okay, I responded cheerfully. The impression I have of the Captain is that he definitely wants to see results, and that usually means dead Japanese. So the take away from that is, we’ll get on well with him while we succeed in our missions.

It all seems simple, when you say it that way, laughed Rick.

Excuse me for asking, and I don’t mean any offence, said Rick quietly. But you look fairly young to be an officer with a reputation for fighting the Japanese.

That’s because I am young, I laughed. I will soon be 19. But don’t worry, I’ll get that comment a lot more times before this war is over. You could say I was in the right or the wrong place at the right time. Captain Harrison, and another captain who I worked for, said they wanted soldiers with combat experience to lead their soldiers and were not interested in how old they are.

My reputation for fighting the Japanese is because I’m dead scared of them. I know the best way not to be caught by them is to kill them. In my last job, in the Coastwatcher program, we had more than our fair share of contact with the Japanese. Things turned out well for us though there’s no doubt that we were lucky. We were lucky enough to often turn up where the Japanese didn’t expect us and were gone before they could get hold of us. Sometimes it was very close and we had to run like our lives depended on it.

My coastwatcher group had a motto that we used for the Japanese which was tonever become involved in a fair fight. I’m only hoping I haven’t used up all my luck in this war, I said smiling.

I’m an officer because the Army doesn’t have enough combat experienced officers. You might know that the Officer training program was cut from four years to under six months in order to quickly produce more officers. So here I am, I continued with a smile and an open armed gesture.

That’s interesting. I knew the army was happy to break their rules for the war, he laughed. I spent two years in officer training. But we were all surprised when they told us that we were all graduating because of the officer shortage. But I didn’t know the officer training had been cut by so much. Though it makes sense because I’ve been hearing our casualty rates against the Japanese are very high.

The Japanese are very good soldiers and often better than ours, I said nodding. I think one of Australia’s problems is that we are, or at least have been, underestimating how good the Japanese soldiers are.

We spent an hour talking at the cafe. Rick had been assigned to an artillery unit in Brisbane, Australia, straight after graduating from the Officer training course. Only recently he had been assigned to the commandos. He gave me the impression from what he said, and later admitted, that he was having trouble coming to grips with the New Guinea environment and the closeness of the battlefield.

He said that although he had only been in Port Moresby for a couple of weeks, he had been drinking more beer than usual. He was not sure if the cause was the New Guinea heat or his closeness to the enemy. I assured him that we were all nervous about meeting the enemy, but said it was normal for anyone who comes to New Guinea to drink more beer than they previously did.

Now that was the case before the war, so it’s the environment, I said with a laugh. Although I hadn’t had a beer in nearly 6 months his comment did make me feel thirsty.

We agreed to go for drinks and dinner at one of the pubs some time before we head out to confront the Japanese.

I formally joined my unit later that day. I had met Sergeant Scales and also met two Corporals, Gardner and King , who would work with me.

Sergeant Scales gave me a good briefing on the men in the unit. There were 30 men, who were divided into two sub-teams. All the men were new to the commandos. As a group they had been together for two months and in Port Moresby for almost a month. The men were in good health. They were physically fit, fully equipped and ready for operations.

Excellent, I responded to the Sergeant. How often do they run?

Ah well, the unit had been doing one hour marches twice a week when we were in Melbourne, before we came here. Since we’ve been in Port Moresby we have been doing parade ground drills three times a week to get the men acclimatised to the New Guinea heat, the Sergeant said confidently.

I see, I responded carefully to ensure there was no negativity in my tone.

Where do they think they are that they think parade ground drilling will be enough to prepare them for the Japanese, I thought.

So the men are fully armed, have they been to the rifle range yet? I asked.

Not yet, sir, we were going to request some time on the rifle range fairly soon, he responded. Now that you are here, we can make a request and get more organised in that regard.

Yes thank you Sergeant, I replied formally. Please make an urgent request for access to the Port Moresby rifle range. We need to use that rifle range at least twice before we leave Port Moresby to meet the enemy. If you haven’t got a response from the range by dinner tomorrow let me know. To be clear, we need to be on the rifle range within the next two days.

In closing the briefing, I asked the Sergeant to have the men on the parade ground in an hour to formally meet them. The Sergeant also said there was no activity currently scheduled that could not be changed. With this information I informed the Sergeant that at sunup the next day all unit members must be in full equipment including rifles and ready for a run.

Yes, sir, the Sergeant responded happily. A run before breakfast will no doubt do the men a lot of good.

Thank you Sergeant, I replied. Unfortunately, we will be late for breakfast because we won’t have finished running. We only have a week to ensure the men are ready for the jungle and the Japanese. That means they need to be able to cope with the jungle heat, they must be able to run hard when they have to and be fit enough to keep fighting when things don’t go well.

The Sergeant, gave a formal yes sir and I noticed the two corporals glance at each other.

I’m not going to get killed because my unit was not ready for the Japanese, I thought. I only have a week to prepare the unit.

I met my soldiers who looked a fine group of men. They looked relaxed and fit. I noticed they had a common trait that I recognised from other commandos who I had previously met. They could all share a joke and saw the funny side of things, while still maintaining professional competency. I knew a positive attitude by these men would an important ingredient to help them overcome the many obstacles that they would soon face.

The next day we ran and walked as a unit, for a couple of hours around Port Moresby. I was pleased that the soldiers handled this run quite well, for a first run in the tropics. I could see they were not accustomed to the heat and everyone was breathing hard and perspiring heavily, including me. But everyone kept up, which was the main thing.

I told Sergeant Scales that we would do a morning run every two days.

On the third day we attended the Port Moresby rifle range.

I was happy that everyone was at least an average shot with their rifles. Though half a dozen soldiers were what I considered to be good shots. Sergeant Scales and I were issued with Thompson submachine guns which was largely a privilege of rank. The Thompson was very exciting to shoot and a fine weapon in most respects.

One of my corporal’s, whose name is Gardner, scored everyone’s shooting. I met with the Corporal and Sergeant Scales to talk about the soldiers with the worst shooting scores. These soldiers were brought back to the firing line and each fired several magazines of bullets from my Thompson machine-gun. There was some murmuring from my soldiers when I swapped my submachine gun for the rifle of a soldier named McEwen, who had the best score with the Thompson.

I knew that one of my strengths on the battlefield was with a rifle. In my previous role I was considered a better than average shot and was then given specialist rifle training here in Port Moresby. That training greatly improved my rifle shooting.

I knew I would contribute more to my unit’s firepower and ultimately our survival with a rifle then I could with a Thompson. The Thompson submachine-gun could only be used in close quarter fights. I was confident that McEwen could shoot the Thompson at close quarters as well as I could, but I could shoot his rifle at long range targets better than he could.

Over the week my confidence and trust in my men grew. They were fit enough to compete with the Japanese. We ran for two hours twice in the week and when we finished the third run I saw the men were sweating but looked comfortable so I ordered that we immediately repeat the run. After four hours of mostly running we all looked raggedy but everyone did it and I was happy with the result.

If we had to run from the Japanese, it probably meant that we would have been engaged with the Japanese for some time before the decision to run is made. So the men would already be tired before they started the run.

Though if they were ordered to run, then they would probably be running for their lives so that would be the motivation to run fast.

My decision to immediately repeat the run, even though my men were already tired, was not for fitness but as a psychological benefit for them. The long run was to demonstrate to the men their level of fitness, to demonstrate that they could cope with the New Guinea heat and to prove that they were physically ready to meet the Japanese.

I told the men that we knew that the Japanese were having resupply problems and that many Japanese soldiers had been in battle for months. I told them that I was confident that they were physically fitter than the Japanese and would be more than a match for the Japanese.

I was conscious of the apprehension many Australian troops felt about the invincibility of the Japanese soldier. Ultimately I knew that this apprehension, or fear, that some soldiers felt about the Japanese would not be dispelled until the myth of Japanese invincibility is buried on the battlefield. I also knew that it was important that the men had a belief and confidence that they could beat the Japanese, before they met them in battle.

Over the short time that I was with my men, I instilled in them the need to follow their training and follow their orders. I reinforced to them that meeting the Japanese on the battlefield for the first time is a harrowing experience for everyone. I told them that there will be nowhere to hide but they will be successful if they stick together and fight as a unit.

I told the men that if they stood up to surrender in battle, the Japanese will bayonet them without hesitation. If they attempt to run, the Japanese will shoot them in the back. The only way to survive is to stay in place, with their mates, and keep fighting. I was instilling in them the belief that they will survive if they follow orders.

Rick Watts caught up with me towards the end of the week. We decided to go for dinner and drinks at a Port Moresby pub. Rick said he knew of a pub that was out of the way, and not too busy because not many people knew about it. We decided to visit that pub to avoid any raised eyebrows that might occur with two army officers drinking in a pub.

Rick may also have been catering for me going to a pub, even though I was under legal drinking age, I thought happily.

That night we got a lift to the outskirts of Port Moresby where I walked with Rick along a couple of streets until he found the pub. All the pubs that I had been to in Port Moresby were old and looked very well used. But this pub was the winner. It looked in disrepair, abandoned and at risk of falling down. The pub was only about the size of a small two or three roomed house and had a veranda outside. So it was tiny compared to the other pubs in Port Moresby.

How did you find this place? I asked, looking at an old sign lying on the ground that confirmed that it was a hotel.

I was talking to an old fellow at the Port, who said he would come here years ago when it was run by an old ex-gold miner, Rick responded.

We walked into the pub and the inside looked as bad as the outside. You needed to watch where you walked because some of the floorboards had holes in them that potentially could cause you to sprain an ankle.

I looked around and there were only six other patrons in the pub, so it is considered empty by Port Moresby hotel standards. There was a small rickety looking bar with a young barman sitting on a stool cleaning glasses. He looked right at home and could have been the barman in any pub.

Given I’m the one over legal drinking age, I’ll get the first round of beers, smiled Rick.

I sat at an empty table and noticed Rick talking to the barman, no doubt placing an order, I thought.

He returned and placed two pint glasses filled with a black liquid on our table.

Um, what is this? I asked while looking at the strange liquid.

"Apparently this is the best beer in Port Moresby and it’s called stout," Rick responded looking at his glass with trepidation.

As you know, I’m under legally drinking age, so I’m really not much of a beer drinker and have only drunk ales, never a stout, I said quietly.

This doesn’t look too good, does it, I surmised while I wondered whether I was actually going to drink it.

No it doesn’t, said Rick also staring at his beer. I’ve never had a stout either, or any other black beer, but I sure hope it tastes better than it looks.

I think the problem is that I couldn’t understand the barman, Rick said nodding towards the bar. He’s got a strong Irish accent. He asked me if I wanted two pints of the best beer in Port Moresby as he gestured towards the ale tap. Of course I said yes. He was saying something else that I couldn’t understand then he pours these beers.

We each took a small sip of our black beer. We sat in silence looking at our beers and mulling over the sour taste in our mouths.

I think it might take some time to acquire a taste for this beer, said Rick with an annoyed look on his face.

Yep, let’s chalk this up to experience, that we never need to drink another black beer again, I said with a laugh.

Good evening gents, came a voice from behind us. How are you going, how is everything?

Fine thanks, Rick and I responded as a reflex.

I don’t think I’ve seen you fellas’ around here before. Is this your first time in the pub? the stranger asked.

Yes it is for both of us, responded Rick cheerfully.

In that case welcome to the Great Northern Hotel. I’m Ian Edwards and I’m the part owner of this fine establishment. My business partner is Norm Pavey who commands the bar over there, the stranger said gesturing to the barman.

We introduced ourselves to Ian.

That sure is a grand name for the hotel. I didn’t see that name on the sign as we came in, I said making conversation.

That’s the name of the hotel, but it’s a new name and we don’t have any signs for it yet. You might have noticed that we need to do a bit of a tidy up on this pub. While we own it, we won’t spend any money on it until we are sure the japs aren’t gonna’ visit Port Moresby, Ian said happily. They came pretty close a few weeks ago when we could hear the gunfire coming from the mountain range behind us. So we are reliant on you army blokes doing a job on the Japs before we can do a job on this pub.

Yes we understand, we’ll get onto that task fairly soon, I laughed glancing at my glass of stout.

Ian seemed to have caught my glance, looking at how slowly you seem to be drinking your beers it might take a while before you’re ready to sort out the Japs, he said cheerfully. Did you order these stouts?

No not really, said Rick. I think maybe Norm and I didn’t get the communication right.

"Oh I’ll bet he did. He is the number one fan of stout beer and he is also about the only one who drinks it.