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Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons
Called a stirring tale of forgotten heroes splendidly told by a master narrator, this saga of the valiant coastwatchers of the Pacific War exemplifies that rare combination of careful research and exciting narrative style that became a hallmark of Walter Lord's best-selling books. Though their importance has long been acknowledged, the coastwatchers had received relatively little attention until the publication of this book in 1977. The remarkable band of individualists, operating deep behind Japanese lines in the dark days of 1942-43, lived by their wits alone yet gave the Allies their best intelligence and rescued many a man from downed planes and sinking ships-including John F. Kennedy and his PT-109 crew. To piece their story together, Lord traveled 40,000 miles to interview participants, check archives, and examine private letters and diaries. He even made a three-day hike through the Guadalcanal jungle to inspect the coastwatcher hideout on Gold Ridge so he could successfully put readers in their shoes. The book's varied cast of intriguing characters has attracted readers ever since.
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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About the author
Walter Lord
62 books202 followersWalter Lord was an American author, best known for his documentary-style non-fiction account, A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
In 2009, Jenny Lawrence edited and published The Way It Was: Walter Lord on His Life and Books.
In 2009, Jenny Lawrence edited and published The Way It Was: Walter Lord on His Life and Books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
May 9, 2021
“A hundred-yard walk in from the beach at Munda discloses rusting bulldozers, a shattered Japanese antiaircraft gun, the wing of an American fighter plane. Wrenched from the fuselage, it somehow has the poignancy of the torn wing of a butterfly. The oddest relic of all is one of the most difficult to reach. Fifteen miles in from Guadalcanal’s north coast, up a mountain trail that teases the climber with an apparently endless succession of hillocks, there stands a ridge that offers a magnificent view of the coast and sea. At the edge of this ridge lie the remains of an old kerosene-run refrigerator. It is no ordinary piece of junk. It is a legacy of the dark days of 1942, when the fate of the Solomons hung in the balance…and when a small group of resourceful individuals, operating deep in enemy territory, gave immeasurable help to the Allied cause…”
- Walter Lord, Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons
The late Walter Lord was truly a marvel. Beginning life as an adman and an attorney, he became one of America’s foremost popular historians, writing about a wide array of topics, from Pearl Harbor to the Alamo, and from Robert Peary to James Meredith. He is most famous, of course, for A Night to Remember, a classic account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic that has assured the lost ocean liner an eternal afterlife. The thing that made Lord special was that he combined the two important traits necessary for great historical writing, and then added a third.
With regard to the first two traits, Lord was both a dogged researcher, and a fantastic writer. His literary style did not rest on memorable prose, but on an uncanny ability to tell stories. He was a details guy, and when you read his books, you discover how impactful quotidian details can be, especially when skillfully arranged. Lord has always been able to deliver memorable images by remarking upon the minutest of things, whether it’s a sailor writing a Christmas card in Day of Infamy, just before Japanese bombs start to fall, or the tallying of the chinaware that smashed to pieces as Titanic plunged beneath the Atlantic.
Lord’s third trait – which is not always possible for today’s historians, depending on the time period – was his doggedness in eliciting primary sources, rather than just gathering them from a library. Adding a touch of journalism to his historic endeavors, Lord sought out the eyewitness testimony of the participants for many of his books, gathering their reminisces and mining them for the detail he loved. In A Night to Remember, for instance, he communicated with sixty-three survivors, adding to the historical record, instead of just utilizing it.
In Lonely Vigil, that willingness to generate his own material is on full display. This is the tale of a somewhat forgotten aspect of the Asian-Pacific Theater of World War II, when the Japanese forces were in their ascendancy. After laying waste to Pearl Harbor, the Japanese unleashed a fantastically successful offensive, capturing Hong Kong, advancing down the Malayan Peninsula to take Singapore, invading the Philippines, and seizing key oil-producing regions. The tide took Japan to the Solomon Islands, which included the soon-to-be-famous Guadalcanal. The Solomons were important to both the Japanese and Allied war efforts, as the island chain stood athwart the supply line of Australia and New Zealand.
At a time when most Europeans were fleeing the Solomons, a motley few remained behind, taking to the hills to report on Japanese military movements. These were the Coastwatchers. Organized by Commander Eric Feldt of the Royal Australian Navy, the Coastwatchers were volunteer observers “drawn from local government workers, planters, traders, and missionaries.” Strung out along the islands that screened Australia’s northeast coast, they were given clumsy and hard-to-move “teleradios,” along with instructions in a simple cipher system. After that, they were left to their own devices, in what must have been one of the strangest ways to participate in the largest, costliest war in human history.
Lord’s narrative begins with the European evacuation of the Solomons, on the eve of the Japanese arrival, all the way through to the eventual Allied victory. Though Lord provides a bit of strategic context, he is admirably focused on the stories of the Coastwatchers, without much cutting away to larger concerns. Thus, I found it helpful to have a bit of an understanding of the Solomons Campaign going into this. Still, a lot of foreknowledge is not really necessary, for this is very much a human drama, rather than an operational analysis. You don’t need to have an in-depth understanding of Guadalcanal to appreciate people in the jungle spying, running, and hiding.
Lord follows a cross-section of Coastwatchers, detailing their varied individual experiences. Everyone had their own war. One stout watcher was known for his refusal to give up his refrigerator. Others found themselves being inserted onto islands via submarine, trying to dodge coral reefs as well as Japanese floatplanes. Father Emery de Klerk, a diminutive Catholic priest from the Netherlands, took an exceptionally active role, expanding the allowable limits of self-defense as he did.
Most of this material comes from Lord’s own efforts in seeking out the former Coastwatchers and hearing what they had to say. Included in the back of the book is a long list of contributors. Some of the pictures in Lonely Vigil come from Lord’s own collection. In short, even though this volume won’t make my list of Walter Lord favorites, it was not for a lack of effort.
One of the things that I appreciated about Lonely Vigil is that Lord provides the perspective of the indigenous islanders of the Solomons. For some, the coming of the Japanese simply meant one colonizer being replaced by another. Others, however, actively contributed to the defense of the islands against this most recent invader. To Lord’s credit, he has taken the time to learn their stories as well. For example, scout Jacob Vouza was captured by the Japanese, tied to a tree, bayoneted, and slashed across the throat. Left for dead, he was able to work himself free, and then make his way to a Marine outpost, where he managed to give a report before being rushed to the hospital. Another islander, Geoffrey Kuppen, ran his own station, and helped to rescue twenty-eight Allied airmen. However, as Lord notes, because of his status as a non-European, he was not given the honorary military rank that other Coastwatchers received.
As I mentioned above, Lord has a bloodhound’s nose for detail. Much of this, I think, comes from Lord having questioned the participants themselves. Undoubtedly, the men and women who lived through these times had different memories jump out at them, and Lord bakes those memories into this book. By way of illustration, there is an anecdote from the legendary Snowy Rhoades, who stumbled on a Japanese officer who was urinating in the jungle. Rhoades shot and killed the man. Later, he went to investigate:
The Coastwatchers played a valuable role in alerting Allied forces to Japanese sea and air movements. They also saved over a hundred downed fliers, not to mention one future president of the United States. Still, Lord does not try to oversell their accomplishments. They were not the only thing standing in the way of a Japanese victory or Allied defeat. They were one small part of an enormous cumulative effort.
The Coastwatchers fought their war primarily with their eyes, binoculars, and a cumbersome radio, aided by harsh terrain and thick jungle canopies. Their primary duty was to alert others when the Japanese were on the move, leaving the fighting up to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied forces. To those military forces went most of the glory. With Lonely Vigil, Lord created a modest monument to those otherwise underappreciated volunteers who lived a taut, high-wire existence filled with enough adventure to last several lifetimes.
- Walter Lord, Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons
The late Walter Lord was truly a marvel. Beginning life as an adman and an attorney, he became one of America’s foremost popular historians, writing about a wide array of topics, from Pearl Harbor to the Alamo, and from Robert Peary to James Meredith. He is most famous, of course, for A Night to Remember, a classic account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic that has assured the lost ocean liner an eternal afterlife. The thing that made Lord special was that he combined the two important traits necessary for great historical writing, and then added a third.
With regard to the first two traits, Lord was both a dogged researcher, and a fantastic writer. His literary style did not rest on memorable prose, but on an uncanny ability to tell stories. He was a details guy, and when you read his books, you discover how impactful quotidian details can be, especially when skillfully arranged. Lord has always been able to deliver memorable images by remarking upon the minutest of things, whether it’s a sailor writing a Christmas card in Day of Infamy, just before Japanese bombs start to fall, or the tallying of the chinaware that smashed to pieces as Titanic plunged beneath the Atlantic.
Lord’s third trait – which is not always possible for today’s historians, depending on the time period – was his doggedness in eliciting primary sources, rather than just gathering them from a library. Adding a touch of journalism to his historic endeavors, Lord sought out the eyewitness testimony of the participants for many of his books, gathering their reminisces and mining them for the detail he loved. In A Night to Remember, for instance, he communicated with sixty-three survivors, adding to the historical record, instead of just utilizing it.
In Lonely Vigil, that willingness to generate his own material is on full display. This is the tale of a somewhat forgotten aspect of the Asian-Pacific Theater of World War II, when the Japanese forces were in their ascendancy. After laying waste to Pearl Harbor, the Japanese unleashed a fantastically successful offensive, capturing Hong Kong, advancing down the Malayan Peninsula to take Singapore, invading the Philippines, and seizing key oil-producing regions. The tide took Japan to the Solomon Islands, which included the soon-to-be-famous Guadalcanal. The Solomons were important to both the Japanese and Allied war efforts, as the island chain stood athwart the supply line of Australia and New Zealand.
At a time when most Europeans were fleeing the Solomons, a motley few remained behind, taking to the hills to report on Japanese military movements. These were the Coastwatchers. Organized by Commander Eric Feldt of the Royal Australian Navy, the Coastwatchers were volunteer observers “drawn from local government workers, planters, traders, and missionaries.” Strung out along the islands that screened Australia’s northeast coast, they were given clumsy and hard-to-move “teleradios,” along with instructions in a simple cipher system. After that, they were left to their own devices, in what must have been one of the strangest ways to participate in the largest, costliest war in human history.
Lord’s narrative begins with the European evacuation of the Solomons, on the eve of the Japanese arrival, all the way through to the eventual Allied victory. Though Lord provides a bit of strategic context, he is admirably focused on the stories of the Coastwatchers, without much cutting away to larger concerns. Thus, I found it helpful to have a bit of an understanding of the Solomons Campaign going into this. Still, a lot of foreknowledge is not really necessary, for this is very much a human drama, rather than an operational analysis. You don’t need to have an in-depth understanding of Guadalcanal to appreciate people in the jungle spying, running, and hiding.
Lord follows a cross-section of Coastwatchers, detailing their varied individual experiences. Everyone had their own war. One stout watcher was known for his refusal to give up his refrigerator. Others found themselves being inserted onto islands via submarine, trying to dodge coral reefs as well as Japanese floatplanes. Father Emery de Klerk, a diminutive Catholic priest from the Netherlands, took an exceptionally active role, expanding the allowable limits of self-defense as he did.
Most of this material comes from Lord’s own efforts in seeking out the former Coastwatchers and hearing what they had to say. Included in the back of the book is a long list of contributors. Some of the pictures in Lonely Vigil come from Lord’s own collection. In short, even though this volume won’t make my list of Walter Lord favorites, it was not for a lack of effort.
One of the things that I appreciated about Lonely Vigil is that Lord provides the perspective of the indigenous islanders of the Solomons. For some, the coming of the Japanese simply meant one colonizer being replaced by another. Others, however, actively contributed to the defense of the islands against this most recent invader. To Lord’s credit, he has taken the time to learn their stories as well. For example, scout Jacob Vouza was captured by the Japanese, tied to a tree, bayoneted, and slashed across the throat. Left for dead, he was able to work himself free, and then make his way to a Marine outpost, where he managed to give a report before being rushed to the hospital. Another islander, Geoffrey Kuppen, ran his own station, and helped to rescue twenty-eight Allied airmen. However, as Lord notes, because of his status as a non-European, he was not given the honorary military rank that other Coastwatchers received.
As I mentioned above, Lord has a bloodhound’s nose for detail. Much of this, I think, comes from Lord having questioned the participants themselves. Undoubtedly, the men and women who lived through these times had different memories jump out at them, and Lord bakes those memories into this book. By way of illustration, there is an anecdote from the legendary Snowy Rhoades, who stumbled on a Japanese officer who was urinating in the jungle. Rhoades shot and killed the man. Later, he went to investigate:
By the time Rhoades checked the body of the officer he shot, some American souvenir hunter had already beaten him to the Samurai sword. But he learned the officer’s name from his diary. It was Naoto Niyake, the moody young naval doctor. Despite the sword, Niyake met something less than a Samurai’s end. He was not filled with martial zeal; he was filled with gloom and self doubt. He did not die gloriously; he died taking a leak…
The Coastwatchers played a valuable role in alerting Allied forces to Japanese sea and air movements. They also saved over a hundred downed fliers, not to mention one future president of the United States. Still, Lord does not try to oversell their accomplishments. They were not the only thing standing in the way of a Japanese victory or Allied defeat. They were one small part of an enormous cumulative effort.
The Coastwatchers fought their war primarily with their eyes, binoculars, and a cumbersome radio, aided by harsh terrain and thick jungle canopies. Their primary duty was to alert others when the Japanese were on the move, leaving the fighting up to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied forces. To those military forces went most of the glory. With Lonely Vigil, Lord created a modest monument to those otherwise underappreciated volunteers who lived a taut, high-wire existence filled with enough adventure to last several lifetimes.
March 3, 2021
A great read about a band of brave men that kept a lookout in the Solomon Islands during some of the darkest days of the Allies. The story of the Coastwatchers is very unique as most of these men were not soldiers, but they were very adept at what they did for the Allied cause, always watching behind enemy lines to give warning to the Allied forces fighting in the boondocks. These men were administrators, planters and miners before the war with a love of the Solomons and great knowledge of the areas they operated in and mostly kept one step ahead of the enemy, and they were a very colorful lot of individuals.
Yet this book is much more than that, written alongside this is the plight of the missionaries and nuns caught up in the war that were saved by these men, the downed pilots and aircrew and the raising of guerilla forces among the Solomon Islanders to fight the Japanese invaders.
This is a very well researched and detailed account of the service of these men, and very well written. Highly recommended.
Yet this book is much more than that, written alongside this is the plight of the missionaries and nuns caught up in the war that were saved by these men, the downed pilots and aircrew and the raising of guerilla forces among the Solomon Islanders to fight the Japanese invaders.
This is a very well researched and detailed account of the service of these men, and very well written. Highly recommended.
January 7, 2021
Having read some fiction about the South Pacific, I decided to switch up to some history. Lord is one of the titans of popular history, having written a widely read history of the Titanic sinking in the 50s, as well as an account of the Pearl Harbor attack. Like is says on the title, this is about the Coastwatchers in the Solomon Islands.
In 1942, with Japan on the advance everywhere, the last vestiges of British colonial authority in the Solomons were a handful of men attached to Australian Naval Intelligence. They were equipped with "portable" radios weighing 300 kg, plus batteries, generators, and fuel, and had little other support beyond that which they could wring from personal connections with the natives. Their mission was to elude Japanese patrols and report on naval and air activity. When the Americans landed on Guadalcanal, this mission became critical. The geography of the Slot between Rabaul and Guadalcanal constrained the Japanese to one strike a day at about noon, but the Coastwatchers could report how big the strike was and the exact timing, enabling the defenders of the Cactus Airforce to reach interception altitude and disperse their own bombers. In the long attritional campaign, this defensive intelligence advantage proved key. The Americans lost something like 120 aircraft, the Japanese 250 (fuzzy numbers from memory). As the tide turned, and the Americans began advancing, the Coastwatchers and their native allies turned into a vital resuce service, saving over one hundred pilots, and even more sailors. Americans knew that if they were forced to bail out or abandon ship, there were decent odds they would be found by friends, rather than the Japanese or fabled cannibal headhunters.
Lord wrote his book in the 70s, which has the advantage that many of the Coastwatchers were still alive. There's a vivid quality to the anecdotes which purely textual histories fail to capture. However, this comes at the expense of thematic unity or a real thesis.
In 1942, with Japan on the advance everywhere, the last vestiges of British colonial authority in the Solomons were a handful of men attached to Australian Naval Intelligence. They were equipped with "portable" radios weighing 300 kg, plus batteries, generators, and fuel, and had little other support beyond that which they could wring from personal connections with the natives. Their mission was to elude Japanese patrols and report on naval and air activity. When the Americans landed on Guadalcanal, this mission became critical. The geography of the Slot between Rabaul and Guadalcanal constrained the Japanese to one strike a day at about noon, but the Coastwatchers could report how big the strike was and the exact timing, enabling the defenders of the Cactus Airforce to reach interception altitude and disperse their own bombers. In the long attritional campaign, this defensive intelligence advantage proved key. The Americans lost something like 120 aircraft, the Japanese 250 (fuzzy numbers from memory). As the tide turned, and the Americans began advancing, the Coastwatchers and their native allies turned into a vital resuce service, saving over one hundred pilots, and even more sailors. Americans knew that if they were forced to bail out or abandon ship, there were decent odds they would be found by friends, rather than the Japanese or fabled cannibal headhunters.
Lord wrote his book in the 70s, which has the advantage that many of the Coastwatchers were still alive. There's a vivid quality to the anecdotes which purely textual histories fail to capture. However, this comes at the expense of thematic unity or a real thesis.
March 25, 2017
You want to talk about grit, determination, patriot duties and a lack of being recognized? Then this is your book.
The Solomons became the first major theatre where the Japanese started to feel defeat at the hands of a motley group of individuals who had nothing more in common than a defined foe.
Can you imagine being on an island with the resources at hand were your mind, will and what the jungle could offer and the occasional resupply by plane or submarine? There would be no brass bands or awards ceremonies. Anonymity was the name of the game.
These men and women would suffer great peril if captured. Those who were captured were either executed on the spot or sent off to POW camps. For many, that was a fate worse than death.
If it weren’t for these brave souls, we might have lost Guadalcanal thus extending the war.
Excellent read.
December 2, 2021
An intriguing book about the men who manned dangerous outposts during #WWII. By Walter Lord, author of the epic Day of Infamy.
June 6, 2023
Wow, so interesting, and this book read like an exciting adventure/survival novel. The Coastwatchers were not widely known about in the early years after the war because of security purposes, but they played such a huge role in turning the tide of the Pacific war by providing intel/warning to the Allies of Japanese movements, rescued downed airmen and seamen (including young JFK), and supporting the Allied offense up the Solomans by charting the islands and gaining support from the natives.
“If Midway ended forever any chance of a Japanese victory, it was the Allied seizure of Guadalcanal and the recapture of the Solomons that started Tokyo down the road to final defeat.” pg 244
“The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific.” - Admiral Halsey
“If Midway ended forever any chance of a Japanese victory, it was the Allied seizure of Guadalcanal and the recapture of the Solomons that started Tokyo down the road to final defeat.” pg 244
“The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific.” - Admiral Halsey
February 13, 2013
Thirty years after the end of World War II, Walter Lord travelled to the South Pacific to gather stories from the survivors among the 400 coastwatchers employed by the Australian Intelligence Board. At the time, little had been written about them -- particularly since their exploits (like codebreaking) were kept highly secret during the war.
The chain of largely Australian, New Zealand and Solomon Island coastwatchers covered much of the South Pacific but was particularly critical in the Solomon Isands -- so that is where Lord centers his story. Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" ties together all of the people in the sinking of the Titanic and he does the same thing here, though the span of events is in years not hours. Most of those serving as coastwatchers had experience living and working in the islands. They would build networks of scouts and assistants from the Micronesian population, who often couldn't tell the difference between a Japanese or American because of their remote islad life.
Coastwatchers achieved some fame in James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific," who casts the "Remittance Man" as an Englishman in his book but who becomes Lt. Joe Cable in the movie. In fact, Benjamin Nash, a former Colorado rancher, was American. He would be paired with Arthur Reginald Evans and witness the sinking of PT-109 as a Japanese destroyer sliced it in half. Later they'd be alarmed to learn that military authorities were looking for "Kennedy" -- and they assumed that it was coastwatcher Donald Kennedy, already a legend. Instead it was John F. Kennedy, the PT boat commander who was already well-known as son of the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. and as author of a book, "Why England Slept". Eventually their team of scouts would rescue the future American president and most of his crew.
Beyond being the early warning system or the movement of Japanese ships and aircraft, the coastwatchers also rescued downed Allied pilots; captured Japanese pilots; scouted Japanese installations; evacuated foreign nationals (including missionaries) and occasionally led commando teams. Lord accounts for 118 pilots rescued by coastwatchers in the Solomons, not counting several hundred rescued from the sinking of the cruiser Helena, PT-109 and other ships. Lord does not mention it in his book, but some coastwatchers received bounties of $1 million for the number of Allied and Japanese pilots handed over to the military.
However, fighting was not the mission of the coastwatchers. Commander Eric Feldt, the Australian who established the service, chose the bull "Ferdinand" as the code-name for the service from a popular children's book about a bull, The Story of Ferdinand. Feldt explained it by saying:
"Ferdinand ... did not fight but sat under a tree and just smelled the flowers. 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."
The chain of largely Australian, New Zealand and Solomon Island coastwatchers covered much of the South Pacific but was particularly critical in the Solomon Isands -- so that is where Lord centers his story. Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" ties together all of the people in the sinking of the Titanic and he does the same thing here, though the span of events is in years not hours. Most of those serving as coastwatchers had experience living and working in the islands. They would build networks of scouts and assistants from the Micronesian population, who often couldn't tell the difference between a Japanese or American because of their remote islad life.
Coastwatchers achieved some fame in James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific," who casts the "Remittance Man" as an Englishman in his book but who becomes Lt. Joe Cable in the movie. In fact, Benjamin Nash, a former Colorado rancher, was American. He would be paired with Arthur Reginald Evans and witness the sinking of PT-109 as a Japanese destroyer sliced it in half. Later they'd be alarmed to learn that military authorities were looking for "Kennedy" -- and they assumed that it was coastwatcher Donald Kennedy, already a legend. Instead it was John F. Kennedy, the PT boat commander who was already well-known as son of the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. and as author of a book, "Why England Slept". Eventually their team of scouts would rescue the future American president and most of his crew.
Beyond being the early warning system or the movement of Japanese ships and aircraft, the coastwatchers also rescued downed Allied pilots; captured Japanese pilots; scouted Japanese installations; evacuated foreign nationals (including missionaries) and occasionally led commando teams. Lord accounts for 118 pilots rescued by coastwatchers in the Solomons, not counting several hundred rescued from the sinking of the cruiser Helena, PT-109 and other ships. Lord does not mention it in his book, but some coastwatchers received bounties of $1 million for the number of Allied and Japanese pilots handed over to the military.
However, fighting was not the mission of the coastwatchers. Commander Eric Feldt, the Australian who established the service, chose the bull "Ferdinand" as the code-name for the service from a popular children's book about a bull, The Story of Ferdinand. Feldt explained it by saying:
"Ferdinand ... did not fight but sat under a tree and just smelled the flowers. 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."
June 29, 2020
The kind of book that makes me wish Goodreads had half stars. Lonely Vigil is a classic 3.5 - nothing incredible, but a solid, serviceable window into a subject I had no knowledge of.
In further proof that World War II provides an inexhaustible supply of fascinating stories, here we learn about the Coastwatchers in the Solomon Islands campaign. A colorful cast of British, Australians, natives, and Americans, they covertly observed Japanese activities in the Solomons and provided early warning to Allied forces. A fascinating subject packaged in a passable book.
In further proof that World War II provides an inexhaustible supply of fascinating stories, here we learn about the Coastwatchers in the Solomon Islands campaign. A colorful cast of British, Australians, natives, and Americans, they covertly observed Japanese activities in the Solomons and provided early warning to Allied forces. A fascinating subject packaged in a passable book.
December 15, 2021
What sort of a person voluntarily stays behind in the face of an advancing hostile force, cut off by inhospitable terrain, surrounded by natives of uncertain loyalty? Government officials, planters, miners, and clerks. It was to a handful of these men that the Marines on Guadalcanal owed their survival. It was to them that JFK owed his life. Despite heroic acts of selflessness and courage, very little has been written about their part in defense of the Solomon Islands. So I was super excited to find their history written by Walter Lord.
This book puts faces a character to those shadowy figures. Lord doesn’t just tell us what they did; he also tells us their acts of selflessness, prejudices, loyalty, and courage. He includes details about the daily struggles of living on the run. Since I knew next to nothing about any of these men before I read this book, I had the added suspense of not knowing which men made it, which position held, and which would be forced to retreat or surrender. It really did make for an exciting story.
I would strongly recommend it to everyone interested in the history of WW2 in the South Pacific. It will show that great conflict from a different perspective, but one will open up just how tenuous the Allied position was in the early days of the war.
There were a few ‘mild’ curse words.
This book puts faces a character to those shadowy figures. Lord doesn’t just tell us what they did; he also tells us their acts of selflessness, prejudices, loyalty, and courage. He includes details about the daily struggles of living on the run. Since I knew next to nothing about any of these men before I read this book, I had the added suspense of not knowing which men made it, which position held, and which would be forced to retreat or surrender. It really did make for an exciting story.
I would strongly recommend it to everyone interested in the history of WW2 in the South Pacific. It will show that great conflict from a different perspective, but one will open up just how tenuous the Allied position was in the early days of the war.
There were a few ‘mild’ curse words.
July 4, 2024
My father was in the Solomons in 1943, so I was inspired to pick up this book. The tone is very much in the "yay rah, go us" vein. Very matter of fact when telling, for example, of deciding whether or not to avoid the small Japanese troop or kill them all. As the title suggests, it is focused on the coastwatchers and not on the Marines. Still, it gave me some insight on what it must have been like.
I wasn't riveted but do admire what the coastwatchers risked. Hindsight is all 20/20, and since this was published in 1977 there is a weird, out-of-place chapter on JFK and his PT boat. Not being particularly enthralled with the Kennedys, I didn't feel like the chapter belonged in this book.
Glad I read it because of my dad.
I wasn't riveted but do admire what the coastwatchers risked. Hindsight is all 20/20, and since this was published in 1977 there is a weird, out-of-place chapter on JFK and his PT boat. Not being particularly enthralled with the Kennedys, I didn't feel like the chapter belonged in this book.
Glad I read it because of my dad.
May 9, 2021
This book has all of the stunning people. My favorite as Father de Klerk. I love a bit of history I didn't know.
October 15, 2023
Whenever I read about Guadalcanal and Solomon campaign, inevitably Coast Watchers were mentioned.
People tend to run away from invading enemy. But not the Coast Watchers. They stayed behind and acted as the eyes and ears for allied forces.
This is a story about them. And what a story!
People tend to run away from invading enemy. But not the Coast Watchers. They stayed behind and acted as the eyes and ears for allied forces.
This is a story about them. And what a story!
December 3, 2017
Great read on the efforts of Allied servicemen and missionaries who stayed behind Japanese lines to report on troop movements, track air and sea traffic, and rescue downed Allied airmen.
June 8, 2025
neat little book
July 29, 2013
During World War II, the unexpected heroes of the Pacific front were the Coastwatchers in the Solomon Islands, located off the northeast coast of Australia. These non-military volunteers--"government officials, plantation managers, gold miners, a department store buyer, a pub keeper, an accountant, a rancher"--were tasked with monitoring Japanese activity and reporting useful data to the Allies. They lived discreetly behind enemy lines, dealing with natives of ever-changing loyalties, constantly moving their cumbersome radio equipment around the islands to stay one step ahead of the Japanese, rescuing and caring for downed Allied pilots, and providing a steady stream of valuable geographic data about the islands to the commanders.
Lord writes that the two hour warning of impending Japanese attacks that the Coastwatchers provided to Allied commanders enabled them to be prepared every time the "Tokyo Express" came through the islands--allowing the Allies to win battle after battle and eventually push the Japanese out of the Solomons (and eventually win the war). As Lord quotes one Admiral Halsey, "The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved The Pacific."
This book is a fascinating look at the Pacific front from the limited vantage point of a small band of unlikely but invaluable heroes.
Lord writes that the two hour warning of impending Japanese attacks that the Coastwatchers provided to Allied commanders enabled them to be prepared every time the "Tokyo Express" came through the islands--allowing the Allies to win battle after battle and eventually push the Japanese out of the Solomons (and eventually win the war). As Lord quotes one Admiral Halsey, "The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved The Pacific."
This book is a fascinating look at the Pacific front from the limited vantage point of a small band of unlikely but invaluable heroes.
June 30, 2008
Very interesting, VERY DETAILED tale of the crazy guys that watched the coast of the Pacific islands during WWII. It's a great story with some amazing pictures but, I think Lord gives a bit too much information. It's like a minute-by-minute account of what these guys did. My favorite part about the book was the JFK/PT 109 incident. Having worked at the JFK Library and having had to answer questions about this and the infamous coconut shell, it was interesting to finally get the "true" account of what really happened. But, at least according to Lord's account, JFK still comes off as a hero. :)
December 12, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It's an aspect of the Pacific Theater during World War II that I was completely unaware of. These brave men and women were far behind enemy lines and allowed the Allies to prepare for incoming strikes hours ahead of time, rescued down pilots and even PT 109 Captain John F. Kennedy. Much has been written about Guadalcanal and its importance over the years, but this book really goes further about the war in the Solomon Islands most unappreciated group of volunteer soldiers.
September 10, 2007
From the author of "A Night To Remember" and "Day of Infamy" comes the story of the coastwatchers in the Solomon Islands in WW2. It's a pretty decent narrative history, although by it's nature somewhat disjointed in the various story lines, since many of the main participants were often isolated from each other throughout the time period. An interesting and not well known part of World War 2, told well.
February 9, 2012
Incredible story of the coastwatchers of the Solomon Islands during WWII. An "army" of natives and local ranchers and farmers. Their contribution as unarmed soldiers is extremely interesting. Well written and exciting including the rescue of the young Lt. John Kennedy and 118 American pilots who were shot down. I had no knowledge of Coastwatchers so the entire book revealed history that added to my reportoire of WWII.
December 19, 2012
Unbelievable triumph of the human spirit, when civilians are forced to pick up the spear, and share in the horrors of war. The Pacific Theater would have been lost if not for the bravery of these tremendous men and women.
January 17, 2013
I'm really glad Amazon recommended this book. I was familiar with the Coastwatchers but had never read much about them, other than some small parts of larger volumes on World War 2 in the Pacific.An excellent accounting of some real heroes!
March 4, 2010
This is why I don't loan out my books. Thought it was such a wonderful book I loaned it to my son who has since misplaced it. Now I need to find another copy.
May 30, 2014
A Coastwatcher wouldn't have been bad duty if not for the Imperial Japanese Army.
September 2, 2013
Easily in the top five of World War II books I've read. I've always liked Lord as an author and here he's a masterful historian as well. Suspenseful, gripping, and filled with information new to me.
February 2, 2022
Usually an overlooked history of World War II is the story of the Coast Watchers in the South Pacific islands which provided the United States military with vital information on Japanese movements and rescued hundreds of flyers and sailors who were stranded behind enemy lines. They lived in isolated areas of the island jungles, working with the native population to hide from the constant search of the Japanese forces. Lord highlights many of the personal accounts of the Coast Watchers, and of the American soldiers they helped rescue. The Watchers were recruited by the Australian military from people who worked and lived in the islands before the onslaught of the Japanese. They were trained in radio communications and plane and ship identification and smuggled back into the islands, where they worked with the native population to avoid capture by the Japanese and report intelligence to the Allies.
May 13, 2024
Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons by Walter Lord is a fascinating, colorful subject of Second World War's Pacific theater. Sadly, Lord's attempt to capture their story doesn't live up to the coastwatchers' role and service to the Allied cause. Lord's story is ahard to follow, scattered collection of the Solomon coastwatchers' history. He references subjects that he assumes the reader has knowledge of, with no attempt to fill in the gap. For example, out of the blue in a later chapter he references the location of the Solomons chain in proximity to the Russell Islands: so what? Lonely Vigil is worth reading for the myriad stories of the many selfless individuals who contributed to the important role of tracking Japanese activity to take Guadalcanal. It's hard to believe such a small chain of islands was so important to the course of the Pacific war, but it was, because of proximity to Australia and reach of the central Pacific. Look past to mediocre authorship for the story
May 20, 2025
One of those 50-year-old books that would be difficult (if not impossible) to write today -- because nearly all the participants and witnesses would be gone, gone, gone. So thanks, Walter Lord, for writing this when one still could interview 141 people who lived this story.
As indicated by the subtitle, the tale is confined to the Solomon islands (other coastwatchers were elsewhere); the action takes place in 1942-43. We are introduced to many people, natives and "whites" alike, who selflessly were willing to risk death and to suffer. Often the information and early warnings provided by the handful of coastwatchers were the difference between defeat and victory. In many other situations, downed airmen or shipwrecked sailors would not have survived without the help of the coastwatchers and their native allies. It was a case of a few people in the right places at the right times willing to act . . . and making a big difference.
As indicated by the subtitle, the tale is confined to the Solomon islands (other coastwatchers were elsewhere); the action takes place in 1942-43. We are introduced to many people, natives and "whites" alike, who selflessly were willing to risk death and to suffer. Often the information and early warnings provided by the handful of coastwatchers were the difference between defeat and victory. In many other situations, downed airmen or shipwrecked sailors would not have survived without the help of the coastwatchers and their native allies. It was a case of a few people in the right places at the right times willing to act . . . and making a big difference.
March 11, 2020
More like 3.5 stars, but I’m rounding up because of the historical importance of doing all the interviews and telling the stories.
And a smattering of stories it was. They were interesting, but often confusing. The maps in the Kindle edition were almost worthless. I often switched to Google Maps to get a sense of the geography that is critical to understanding these stories. It was sometimes hard to keep all the characters straight, because of the casual writing style that the author uses.
Speaking of writing style, I expected such an acclaimed author to use the comma as punctuation much more often than he did. I think his approach was, “if leaving out this comma just annoys rather than confuses then out it stays.” (Commas omitted as an example.)
In the end, I learned a lot about the importance of the Solomons in WWII, and the strategy that led to victory. For that, I’m grateful.
And a smattering of stories it was. They were interesting, but often confusing. The maps in the Kindle edition were almost worthless. I often switched to Google Maps to get a sense of the geography that is critical to understanding these stories. It was sometimes hard to keep all the characters straight, because of the casual writing style that the author uses.
Speaking of writing style, I expected such an acclaimed author to use the comma as punctuation much more often than he did. I think his approach was, “if leaving out this comma just annoys rather than confuses then out it stays.” (Commas omitted as an example.)
In the end, I learned a lot about the importance of the Solomons in WWII, and the strategy that led to victory. For that, I’m grateful.
December 20, 2023
A fantastic quick-read book by the best “master-narrator” I’ve seen. So besides his other masterpieces that I’ve read where I knew about the subject (i.e. Titanic. Pearl Harbor, Alamo, etc.) I picked up this book he wrote about this secret rescue network guys in the Solomon Islands near Australia at the turning point of the war in the Pacific in 1943. Do you remember the story of how John F. Kennedy’s crew was rescued in the PT 109 story - well that is just one of hundreds of tales. I learned a lot and gained a lot of respect. So on top of having a very entertaining read from what I consider one the best authors I’ve had the pleasure of … I can also say you can pick up one of his works you know nothing about and get education as well as enjoyment. I recommend this book.
July 21, 2020
Read a number of Lord's works over the years and always enjoyed them. This one, and a number of other works, have led me deeper into the Southwest Pacific Theater in WW2. If you've read this and want more (though it is heavy going), I recommend ANGAU (Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit): The Third Force. These were the men who lived and worked with the native people on New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomons, et al. They knew the ground and they knew the people. I've added a more recent work by an Australian to my 'to read' list. Lord's work may not be as detailed, but imminently readable. A great place to start.
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