xii, [2], 322 pages, illustrations, maps, cloth, dj, very good. The first complete account of the Coastwatchers of the Solomons, that remarkable band of individualists who operated behind Japanese lines in the dark days of 1942-1943. Living by their wits, with the help of friendly natives, they gave us our best intelligence, rescued our downed flyers, saved our men from their sinking ships - including John F. Kennedy's PT 109. In Admiral Halsey's words, 'The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific.' Yet the full saga of the Coastwatchers is more than the story of a few brave men. It is also the story of the natives who helped them, the missionaries they worked with, the downed flyers and castaways they recurred, the Marine patrols they guided, the pilots and submariners who serviced them, even the Japanese who chased them.

WORLD WAR TWO WWII OCEANIA SOLOMON ISLANDS MILITARY HISTORY