Free The Long Patrol: World War II Novel by Chris Glatte Page B

“Are you military or are you saluting out of courtesy,” he hesitated, “Mr. Welch is it?”
    He dropped his salute, “Ah well, let me explain. When all this nastiness started,” he gestured at the world, “my higher-ups decided it would be a good idea to give us military rank in case the Japanese captured us. Guadalcanal is a British territory and as such has British rules. I am a part of the provincial governing body that oversees this territory.”
    Captain Blade nodded, “I thought all the civilians left, thought only natives were left.”
    Thomas Welch nodded, “Yes, most did. The plantation owners left months before hostilities started, leaving many locals out of work in the process. Made for difficult governing, all the out of work natives. But back to the point. We were instructed to stay on the island and do whatever we could to foil the Jap’s efforts.”
    “You mean you’re partisans? You’ve been fighting the Japs?”
    He shook his head, “Not the way you imagine. They’re much too well equipped; they’d annihilate us in a matter of days. Our armaments are few and our ammunition scarce. That’s not to say we’re not armed, we are, but we don’t have enough men or guns to take on the Japanese army in a head on fight.” He smiled, “We’ll leave that to you blokes. We’ve been fighting them by reporting their whereabouts and movements. We have radios we use to communicate with Australian forces. Much of the information you have about Guadalcanal no doubt was derived from our reports.” He looked at them hopefully.
    Captain Blade nodded, “Yes, we were briefed about you guys before the invasion, told to keep an eye out for you. I’d forgotten all about it. The Marines have been here since August. Why didn’t you come forward earlier?”
    “This is the first time we felt we could make it through the lines undetected. Besides, being behind the enemy gives us some advantages as far as watching the Japs.”
    Blade nodded and looked at the ground trying to remember something, “What do they call you? Watchers?”
    “Coast-Watchers, yes. We’re referred to as Coast-Watchers.” He smiled, “Seems a silly name, like we’re bird watching or something. Fact is, we’re in danger nearly every second of the day. We’re either dodging Japs or your incoming artillery and aircraft.”
    Captain Blade nodded, “Well, yes, sorry ‘bout that, but there’s a war going on. The sergeant said you had some important information for us?”
    “Yes, quite. Can we confer with your commanding generals so I don’t have to repeat myself?”
    Blade smiled, “We’re kind of in the middle of a major move, not sure now’s a good time.”
    Welch grit his teeth, “I can assure you your generals will want to hear what I have to say before you make your move. It can shorten the battle by months.”
    Blade looked at Caprielli then back at the smiling Englishman. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do for you, but if you’re jerking me around there’ll be hell to pay.”
    “I’m sure they’ll find it worth their time.”
    ***
    An hour later Thomas Welch sat on a fallen palm log and faced General Thornton and Colonel Sinclair. Because of the urgency and the short notice, they too sat on fallen logs and stumps like a Boy Scout troop around a campfire. General Thornton spoke first, his rough, low voice the reason for his nickname, ‘Thorny.’ “We hear you have some vital information for us?”
    Welch expected some polite chitchat, but these impetuous American’s liked to get straight to the point. “Yes, well as you know, I’m a part of the coast-watchers here on Guadalcanal. Until recently we’ve been feeding reports to Australia who I hope has been relaying them to you.” He paused hoping for some confirmation. When no one spoke he continued. “Our radios are old and the wet jungle climate wreaks havoc on them. My own stopped working two weeks ago, the last working unit stopped working only two days ago.