Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons (Bluejacket Books) Kindle Edition

The Coastwatchers of the Pacific war have always fascinated me. To live on a remote, tropical island is somewhat of an amazing feat all by itself, but to do it hundreds of miles behind Japanese lines is quite another. And to do that while being a crucial part of the largest military force ever created-simply amazing. walter Lord does an excellent job of telling their story.=== The Good Stuff ===* This is not a book about the Pacific War, and there is little concentration on WWII strategy, major naval or land battles, or Allied or Japanese armed forces. Rather it is the story of the Coastwatchers, their struggles, successes and adventures. Lord captures the determination and bravery of these fighters, and many of the stories are enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck.* The Coastwatchers were quite a collection of personality types. There number included Colorado ranchers, miners, department store buyers and even the occasional missionary-certainly not the Special Forces commando you would expect. Lord captures the personalities and quirks of these men quite well. Imagine a man, living in on a remote jungle island, who expected, and often managed to achieve, having iced bowls to surround his butter dish. Certain standards must be maintained.* There is a nice balance of seriousness and the lighter side of things. The Geneva Convention was seldom observed in the reconnaissance war, and you know things are bad when members of the clergy see the justification of executing prisoners. On the other hand, Lord captures some of the day-to-day humor of the jungle. Imagine two shot-down US pilots, gesturing and trying to communicate to a group of natives that they are Americans...only to be formally greeted in the King's finest English.* Finally, and most importantly, Lord captures how the Coastwatchers were integrated into Allied strategy, and were an important part of the victory. On the side, they rescued quite a few fliers and occasionally large numbers of crew from ships. They even rescued the soon-to-be-famous commander of a PT boat, but never received credit until years later due to wartime secrecy rules.* I shouldn't have to add this, but there were pleasantly few typos and transcription errors for a Kindle book.=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===* The book needs some better maps. There were a few, but they were a bit tough to navigate, at least on my classic Kindle. Internet maps are of some help, but many of the place names are a bit of a challenge to find.* The narrative can get confusing and somewhat convoluted. Some of the longer descriptions could have been clearer and more concisely written, and I occasionally had to backtrack and reread a section to gain the context. However, Lord generally writes well, and the book is easy to read.=== Summary ===I enjoyed the book very much. It comes up a little short as a formal history of the Battle of the Solomon Islands, but more than makes up for that by capturing the spirit and tactics of the Coastwatchers. I'd certainly recommend it for any WWII fan, but even general history buffs will find it an enjoyable read.

I have read a few of Walter Lord's histories of WWII and find this one is just as good and I will continue to read his work. An in-depth perspective of the citizen, citizen-soldiers, priests and others who had a significant role in the battle of the Pacific. Those rugged individuals accustomed to the harsh life of the jungles in the Pacific gave advanced warning of air and sea attacks to help win the battle of Guadalcanal which was the turning point in the war in the Pacific. It gives views of the lifestyle, backgrounds, relationship with the natives, the organized military, religious organizations, and others. They didn't follow any party line, nor much military etiquette, but their contributions were far greater to the war effort than the sum of their parts. They were also a great source of moral by rescuing downed flyers and sailors of sunken ships. It gave the forces the sense that if they survived a crash or sinking they had a good chance to get home. I read it on kindle. If I had a hard copy, it would be a keeper.

Planters, Bushmen, Buccaneers made up the early warning system of Japanese Planes and Ships coming down the Slot to try and unseat the Marines in the Solomon Islands.The flyers on Guadalcanal were hanging on by their toenails with scarce supplies, ammunition and food. The Navy had been knocked around pretty soundly by the Japanese superior ships and equiptment. Many ships were sunk and the American Admiral was trying to protect what he had left by pulled out of the area. The Marines were temporarily abandoned. The Admiral was trying to regroup and protect ships still floating after being defeated at Iron Bottom Sound in the Battle of Savo Island.This is a story of real heroics and tenacity in a battle for their lives to stop the Japanese expansion and cutting off the supply route to Australia and New Zealand in 1942.The Coast Watchers were the early warning system allowing the Marines and Marines Flyers to be prepared, in the air and at an altitude they could be effective against their Zeros and bombers by as much as an hour. (We had no radar or effective Radios at this time).Americans had limited resources and equipment while the Japanese had superior ships, planes and supplies at the beginning of WW II. The Coast Watchers allowed the Marines and Navy to maximize their resources of all ships, men, equipment by this early warning system. They were well organized and effective.I arrived there shortly after this battle and identified with a great deal of this story. I thoroughly enjoyed this well written and clearly presented history of this group of real heros.Leon Emerson,Judge Ret.