Soon after Yakimoto had told Koko he must
postpone his own escape, Koko became privy to most aspects of the
mass escape plan and even became an essential part of it. Because
of his fluent English, he was assigned to teaching the NCO’s a few
words of basic English which might prove helpful during the
breakout, and he was told to report anything of interest he heard
the guards discussing. While Koko hoped he would never be put to
the test of having to decide whether or not to report anything
critical that he might overhear, he was relatively comfortable
about the teaching duties. After all, that was the price he had to
pay for his freedom and the chance to implement his own plans.
About twenty Japanese NCO’s each took on a
particular training task, from conducting daily exercise routines
to ensure the men were physically fit, to gradually building
armories of crude but lethal weapons fashioned from kitchen knives,
forks, hammers, and garden and carpentry tools. Others worked
directly with Yakimoto, planning how the prisoners would scale the
high wire fences and overpower the guards and seize their weapons
for the assault on the Infantry Training Centre.
There was no looking back now for Koko. The
only thing that might make him change his mind about escaping would
be word from Faith and Joe that the Horan bothers had been brought
to justice. Until that happened there was just no decision to make
at all.
CHAPTER
THIRTY
The tide of the war in the Pacific was
turning. With the enemy reeling from the success of the Allied
offensive in New Guinea, the once impregnable wall of Japanese
Imperial might built on Australia’s northern doorstep had started
to crack. Soon it would begin to crumble and fall.
Already the supply lines of the huge enemy
garrisons on Bougainville Island in the Northern Solomons, and
Rabaul in New Britain had been effectively cut off, leaving
thousands of Japanese troops marooned and effectively neutralized
while the war swept past them to the north. While American sea and
air power blazed a trail for the invasion of the Philippines, the
job of eliminating the many isolated, but still powerful, Japanese
island strongholds left in their wake, fell largely to the
Australians.
It became clear that in all theatres of war,
the days of the Emperor’s forces and those of his allies, were
numbered. Total victory was within sight. Italy had been brought to
its knees and its dictator, Mussolini, hanged like a common thief.
Hitler’s Germany was reeling and fighting for it’s very life. And
with the direct threat to their homeland removed, it was possible
for Australians to begin to look to the future and to the new world
order which would emerge after the war.
With the home front secure, Prime Minister
John Curtin and General Blamey, travelled overseas to Washington
and London to try and ensure that Australia played a leading part
in the post war restructuring of the Pacific region. And even
though the end of the war was probably a year or more away,
Australian politicians pressed for large numbers of servicemen to
be released back into their civilian jobs so that Australian
industry could take advantage of the buoyant peacetime economy
which would surely follow the end of hostilities.
While General Blamey and General MacArthur
resisted any moves which would weaken the overall Allied military
strength before the Japanese were forced into submission, the
Australian chiefs of staff did consider further reducing, or even
disbanding, some non-essential military units and redeploying their
manpower elsewhere. One of the special units that came under
consideration was the North Australia Observer Unit.
*
Before leaving North Goulburn Island,
Joe had sent a coded radio message to Nackeroo headquarters
requesting permission to sail eastward in pursuit of the
Groote Eyelandt Lady.
But his request
had been refused because he had no specific information confirming
the exact movements of the vessel. Instead he was ordered to sail
immediately to Darwin and report to Larrakeyah Barracks where he
would be given new orders.
When the
Walrus
arrived in Darwin, Joe was surprised to
see two other vessels of the Nackeroos’ ragtag fleet tied up at the
wharf. When he stepped ashore, a lieutenant commanding one of the
little boats told him that they too had been ordered to report to
Darwin. The lieutenant told him there was to be a skipper’s meeting
with a senior officer at Larrakeyah Barracks. And he said that
because the
Walrus
was the
last of the three vessels to reach Darwin, the meeting was likely
to take place very soon. When Joe asked what the meeting was all
about the lieutenant said he had no idea.
The meeting was held the next morning. The
senior officer turned out to be a lieutenant colonel attached to
Army Intelligence.
‘Thank you for getting your vessels to Darwin
as quickly as you could, gentlemen,’ the lieutenant colonel said
when he came into the room. He took up a position beside a map on
the wall. ‘Now, as you are all aware, most of the Nackeroo horse
patrols have been discontinued and almost all of the remote coastal
observation posts have been abandoned due to the reduced threat of
an enemy invasion. It is all a matter of the Army using its
resources to the best advantage. It is because of that, you men and
your vessels have been seconded by the Observer Unit to Army
Intelligence.’
The three skippers exchanged surprised
glances.
‘As of today,’ the officer continued, ‘your
vessels will be used solely in anti-espionage operations and report
directly to Army Intelligence. We believe that in the past, your
efforts in this area have been largely a hit and miss affair
because they have been combined with other duties.’
‘But sir,’ one of the skippers interjected,
‘the last air raid on Darwin was six months ago. and with the way
the war’s going there’s not likely to be anymore. So who would be
spying around here now?’
‘Although we believe information is no longer
transmitting to the enemy about Top End military installations to
the extent it once was, we think enemy spies are now using their
expertise in other areas.’ The officer glanced at each man in turn.
‘What I am about to tell you now is highly sensitive and must not
go beyond this room. For a long time now we have suspected that top
secret Army Intelligence information contained in the Australian
Military Forces Weekly Review reports are being leaked to the
enemy. Recently we received absolute proof when several military
operations in the Pacific mentioned in the review, were countered
by the enemy so effectively that they must have had advance
information. In addition, our relations with the Americans have
been strained because they supply us with most of the sensitive
information contained in the review.’
‘How does the Top End coast fit in to all
this, Major?’ another skipper asked. ‘Surely the leak must emanate
from somewhere in the south, a government department or perhaps a
foreign embassy.’
‘Quite right, Lieutenant. And we suspect the
Chinese amongst others. So we have directed Amalgamated Wireless
Australasia, which is responsible for transmitting all overseas
cables, to forward copies of all messages sent to foreign embassies
to General MacArthur’s chief signal’s officer. We have also asked
the Postmaster General’s Department to monitor overseas telephone
calls made by the staff of those embassies. And we have also
severely curtained distribution of all sensitive military reports.
They are now only sent to various departments on a strictly "need
to know" basis. But so far our attempts to uncover the spies have
been unsuccessful and information is still getting through to the
enemy. The Americans believe it is being transmitted by short wave
radio signals. They constantly monitor international radio traffic
but it is extremely difficult to locate the source of the signals,
especially if the location is not constant.’
‘So, just like during the Top End bombings,
you think that information might be being transmitted by fifth
columnists aboard vessels plying the coast?’
‘Yes. So in addition to trying to identify
the spies in Canberra, we are also going all out to track down
their accomplices who are transmitting the information
overseas.’
‘But by using short wave they could transmit
off Sydney heads just as easily as from Cape York or Darwin.’
‘That’s true,’ the lieutenant colonel said
quickly. ‘But vessels repeatedly transmitting from the east coast
can be more easily monitored and tracked down. The eastern seaboard
is alive with shipping. But it’s different up here. There’s
practically no traffic at all. As you all know well, you can sail
hundreds and hundreds of miles along this coast and not see a
soul.’
‘But the spy ship or ships would still have
to be close to phone or telegraph lines to receive the information
from Canberra.’
‘Yes, and in the Top End that narrows it down
to the Darwin area. That’s why we ordered you blokes to report
here. We believe the information from Canberra is probably received
by agents here in Darwin, Adelaide or Katherine and in turn they
contact spy boats by light signals or by coastal wireless. In the
next few days your vessels are to be equipped with the latest
American radio monitoring equipment and you will be taking some
training in its use at the communications centre at the US Army Air
Force base at Katherine. When you’re done there, you’ll each be
assigned a specific coastal area to patrol.’
*
With the availability of shipping in the
south-west Pacific still acutely critical, Lyle Hunter had to use
all his public relations skills and much of his clout as senior
Army liaison officer at US headquarters to secure a berth for Faith
aboard a steamship bound for the United States.
In the end it was only because of the fact
that Faith was classified as an employee of the United States
government that the vessel’s agent in Brisbane was able find a
technical loophole which allowed him to authorize that a berth be
allotted to her. Lyle also used his position and connections with
Australian officials to gain Faith’s early release from the
Manpower Directorate regulations and to speed up the issuance of
her travel documents.
The confirmation of her passage aboard
the SS
Chesapeake Bay,
once a
liner on the North Atlantic run but now under permanent charter to
the United States government as a troopship, came only three days
before Lyle’s flight home. The vessel was one of several bringing
additional American forces to join the swelling number of troops
preparing for General MacArthur’s invasion of the Phillipines. On
her return journey, the
Chesapeake
Bay
was to transport home non-critically wounded
soldiers and officers and men of various American divisions which
had completed their tour of duty in the South Pacific. The vessel
was scheduled to call at the Port of Brisbane in early
June
Lyle Hunter’s replacement asked Faith to
remain in her job at headquarters for as long as she could after
Lyle left to help him get the feel of things and Faith agreed to
stay on until a few days before her ship sailed. As always, she
found that keeping busy kept her mind off other things, like the
trauma of leaving everything and everybody she had ever known
behind and travelling half way around the world to live in a
strange country. It also helped keep at bay her occasional doubts
as to whether she was doing the right thing.
As the time to leave Australia drew closer,
Faith’s thoughts turned more and more to Joe. She had written to
him telling him she was marrying Lyle and leaving for the United
States but had received no reply. Three days before she was to
leave headquarters, she was sitting at her desk wondering if she
would hear from Joe before she sailed when her telephone rang. She
was stunned to hear Joe’s voice on the line.
‘Joe, where are you?’
‘I’m at a US Army Air Force base in the Top
End doing some training. I’ve been away at sea. I only just got
your letter, I got three at the same time as a matter of fact.’
‘Joe, it’s so wonderful to hear your voice. I
was so hoping to hear from you before I left.’
‘I knew I could never get a letter to you in
time. I just happened to mention you were going to Albany to an
American officer here. He’s from New York. When I told him where
you work, he put this call through.’ Joe laughed. ‘The Yanks make
everything so bloody easy.’
‘Are you all right, Joe?’
‘I couldn’t be better.’
‘Joe, did you get my letter saying Sergeant
Herbert had been here and that I saw Koko and gave him your
message?’
‘Yes, I did. How the hell did you manage to
swing that?
Faith laughed. ‘Like you said Joe, the Yanks
make everything easy.’
‘And how was Koko?’
‘Oh, he’s holding up. But it was very sad
seeing him under such circumstances. Is there any more news about
those croc-shooters?’
‘Yes. They were sighted again just recently
at North Goulburn Island. It may take a little time but we will
hunt the bastards down eventually.’
‘I do hope so, Joe.’
There was a moment’s silence, then Joe said:
‘Look Faith, I’ve got to go now. Say hello to Dick and Helen. And
when you get settled in over there, you’ll write, won’t you?’
‘Of course.’ Faith fought to keep her voice
steady. ‘And Joe… I love you.’
Faith put the phone down and spent some time
alone with her thoughts. She was so pleased to have heard from Joe.
It made her leaving a little easier. After a minute or two her mind
turned to Koko and impulsively she picked up the telephone
again.