City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Right man right place worst time, Commander Eric Feldt : his life and his coastwatchers, Betty Lee

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

illustrationsportraitsmaps

index present

non fiction

Right man right place worst time

bibliography

Betty Lee

Commander Eric Feldt : his life and his coastwatchers

In May 1939, Australia's Naval Intelligence had the foresight to set up a network of men located on various islands north of Australia to report on suspicious shipping movements near their coast. Only one man was considered ideal for commanding this top secret mission - Eric Feldt. Feldt was given the title Staff Officer Intelligence in Port Moresby. His task - recruit the civilian volunteers to be Coastwatchers. When war came to the Pacific these men were critical to the security of Australia and the US South Pacific Fleet. US Fleet Admiral Halsey told a gathering of the Australian-American Association, `I could get down on my knees every night and thank God for Commander Eric Feldt.' This is the story of Eric Feldt and his Coastwatchers

Dedication -- Author's note -- Acknowledgements -- Prologue -- Chapter 1: Peter, Gussie and the Feldt family 1876-1913 -- Chapter 2: The naval college years 1913-1916 -- Chapter 3: World War I and post war navy 1917-1923 -- Chapter 4: New Guinea pre World War II: 1923-1927 -- Chapter 5: New Guinea pre-World War II: 1928-1939 -- Chapter 6: The WWII coastwatchers: the beginning -- Chapter 7: The fall of Rabaul and the aftermath -- Chapter 8: The coastwatchers and the Japanese invasion of the N.E. area -- Chapter 9: The coastwatchers of Bougainville, Guadalcanal and other Solomon Islands -- Chapter 10: The coastwatchers - Townsville, the Paluma, and Papua New Guinea -- Chapter 11: The coastwatchers - Guadalcanal, Bougainville and illness -- Chapter 12: Post war life -- Bibliography -- Endnotes