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The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific Pdf FREE THE COASTWATCHERS: OPERATION FERDINAND AND THE FIGHT FOR THE SOUTH PACIFIC PDF Eric A Feldt,Steve W Chadde | 228 pages | 02 Feb 2014 | Createspace | 9781495397912 | English | United States Ferdinand (i) | Operations & Codenames of WWII They played a significant role in the Pacific Ocean theatre and South West Pacific theatreparticularly as an early warning network during the Guadalcanal campaign. Captain Chapman James Claredistrict naval officer of Western Australia, proposed a coastwatching programme in Originally confined to Australia, it expanded after the outbreak of war in to New Guinea and to the Solomon Islands. The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific coastwatchers served in total—mostly Australian military officers, New Zealand servicemen, Pacific Islandersor escaped Allied prisoners of war. Coastwatchers became particularly important in monitoring Japanese activity in the roughly one thousand The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific that make up the Solomon Islands. Commander Feldt resigned his command due to illness in March The Australian military commissioned many personnel who took part in coastwatcher operations behind enemy lines as officers of the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve RANVR to protect them in case of capture, although the Imperial Japanese Army did not always recognise this status, and executed several such officers. Escaped Allied personnel and even civilians augmented the coastwatchers' numbers. In one case, three German missionaries assisted The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific coastwatchers after escaping Japanese captivity, even though Nazi Germany had allied itself with the Empire of Japan during the war. Feldt code-named his organisation "Ferdinand", taking the name from a popular children's book about a bull, The Story of Ferdinand. He explained this by saying:. It was meant as a reminder to coastwatchers that it was not their duty to fight and so draw attention to themselves, but to sit circumspectly and unobtrusively, gathering information. Of course, like their titular prototype, they could fight if they were stung. New Zealand developed its own coastwatching scheme from the s. From the outbreak of war, the New Zealand Naval Board controlled coastwatching stations located around the New Zealand coastline and in the eastern Pacific. For the coastwatching programme in New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands from tosee Cape Expedition. In early Novembertwo coastwatchers named Jack Read and Paul Mason on Bougainville Island radioed early warnings to the United States Navy about Japanese warship and air movements citing the numbers, type, and speed of enemy units preparing to attack the US Forces in the Solomon Islands. Vouzawho retired from the local constabulary involunteered for coastwatcher duty, and was captured and interrogated brutally. He survived and escaped to make contact with US Marines warning them of an impending Japanese attack. He recovered from his wounds and continued to scout for the Marines. In Lt. John F. Kennedy of the United States Navy —a future President—and 10 fellow crew members were shipwrecked after the sinking of their boat, the PT The two scouts found the men The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific searching for five days. Gasa did not make the trip, later claiming he received the invitation to attend but was fooled into not attending by British colonial officials. Gasa left his village and arrived in Honiarabut was not allowed to leave in time for the ceremony. But when we got to the airport, we were met by a clerk, who said we couldn't go—Biuku and I spoke no English. My feelings went for bad. Imprisoned at Tarawathey were executed by the Japanese in October following an American air raid. From toNew Zealand scientists were stationed on sub-Antarctic islands during World War II to prevent their use as refuges by German surface raiders. The sinking of the British but British and New Zealand crewed ship Turakina by a German raider in the Tasman Sea is said to have given the notion priority for execution as those taken prisoner and then released described being taken to a harbour with snow and tussock. The stationing of the scientists was known for security reasons in scientific publications that ensued as the "Cape Expedition". From Wikipedia, the The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific encyclopedia. For the former aviation division of the Australian Customs Service, see Coastwatch. For the film, see The Coastwatchers film. Main article: Cape Expedition. Subs Down Under: Brisbane, — Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 28 April Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons eBook ed. Open Road. Australia's War — Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 January Retrieved 2 September Australia at War. National Park Service Retrieved 3 May Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 June Navy Confirms". National Geographic News. Retrieved 9 May Historical Publications Branch. Special Forces of Australia. Australian Defence Force. Independent and Commando Companies No. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Wikimedia Commons. The coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific. Admiral William Halsey. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coastwatchers. EagleSpeak: Sunday Ship History: Coast Watchers in the South Pacific The Australian coastwatching network was established to provide information on the movements and disposition of enemy forces in the South Pacific during World War II, drawing upon the local knowledge of inhabitants throughout the area. In The Story of Ferdinandthe titular character, unlike all the other bulls, refused to fight. The code-name was selected as a reminder to the coastwatchers that it was not their job to fight, but rather to observe. The intelligence that they gathered played a significant part in the execution of the war in the Pacific. The establishment of a formal coastwatching network had been discussed as early as In Marchthe three Services agreed that a coastwatching network in Australia was a necessity, but it was left to the Naval Board to establish and administer the network through the Naval Intelligence Division. Feldt first joined the RAN as a cadet midshipman in and retired as a lieutenant in when he moved to New Guinea and became a local administrator. He re-joined when WWII began and was an excellent choice for the task assigned to him. Feldt toured the territories in recruiting additional coastwatchers and set about obtaining more teleradios to fill the gaps in the network. Each coastwatching station The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific its coded messages to receiving stations at larger centres such as Port Moresby and Rabaul, which, in The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific, forwarded them on to the Naval Intelligence Division in Australia. While the intelligence network became more structured, the sheer distances involved meant that decentralisation was equally essential so that individual coastwatchers could act on their own initiative. Their operational area stretched from the border between New Guinea and Dutch New Guinea in the west to Vanuatu in the east. The coastwatchers themselves were all experienced islanders, mainly white Europeans who had settled in the territories. Tough and resolute; proud and independent; they were uniquely suited to the deprivations they would face in the coming years. Many spent months on end hiding in the jungle behind enemy lines while continuing to provide intelligence which often proved to be crucial to the execution of the war. All relied heavily on the support of the Indigenous people. Most native islanders remained loyal even in Japanese occupied territory; many died carrying out their duties. Australian defences in the territories in were thin and were not expected to do more than delay the Japanese advance. The larger coastwatching stations such as Port Moresby and Rabaul had contingency plans to continue operating nearby in the event of Japanese occupation. Japanese air raids in the Bismarck Archipelago began on 4 January when Rabaul was attacked by 22 heavy bombers. On 24 January a coastwatcher signal reported that Kavieng had been occupied. Contact with Rabaul, however, had been lost and two coastwatchers from Talasea, Keith McCarthy and George Marsland, began a km trek to report on the situation. At Pondo on Open Bay they met 12 soldiers who had evacuated from Rabaul and were told that some people, including those from the coastwatcher station, were now scattered on both the north and south coasts of New Britain. What ensued was a remarkable search and rescue effort involving The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific in New Britain and New Guinea in which more than people, starving and beset by malaria, were rescued and ferried to safety. As civilians, most coastwatchers were advised to cease their operations and evacuate as the Japanese advanced into their territory. However, the vast majority of them chose to continue their activities in the knowledge that capture could result in their execution as spies. In Marchfollowing the execution of The Coastwatchers: Operation Ferdinand and the Fight for the South Pacific elderly planter by the name of Percy Good, the coastwatchers were given ranks or ratings, mostly in the Volunteer Reserve, in the hope that this would provide them some protection in the event of capture. In many instances, it did not. They were both posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The rescue of stranded Allied servicemen became one of the coastwachers primary responsibilities. One of their most important contributions in the Pacific theatre was the intelligence provided during the Allied campaign at Guadalcanal, which involved some 16, US marines, 48 combat ships, 28 auxiliaries and aircraft. Native Solomon Islanders took work in the Japanese camps and later related what they had seen to the coastwatchers.
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