Keeping their eyes peeled

When the Japanese invaded what is now Kiribati’s Tarawa atoll in 1942, 17 Kiwi coastwatchers were imprisoned and later executed. Yet the contribution of those who kept their eyes and ears on waters around Aotearoa and a dozen Pacific islands stretching up to Hawaii was not formally acknowledged by the New Zealand Defence Force until 2012. Worse, indigenous coast watchers such as Bougainvillean A’ata, who befriends David Hill’s Anzac trio in this gap-filling novel for middle-school readers, have never been officially honoured.

It’s 1943 and Kiwi signaller Frank Benson is with the Army Service Corps in the Pacific, providing on-the-ground surveillance support for frontline New Zealand troops in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). Having recovered from tuberculosis – yet ever alert for signs of its recurrence – he feels like “a real soldier” when sent ashore by mistake with an advance party, rather than just someone “sending and receiving messages in Morse code about everything from air attacks to toothpaste shortages”.

The hazards in store for Frank, his Māori buddy Wally and Aussie mate Les in setting up a clifftop vantage point on an island looking across to Bougainville include more than snakes, mosquitoes and patronising American officers. Although they desperately need A’ata’s local knowledge, they must decide whether he is friend or foe.

Hill can be relied on to create believable characters and be historically accurate while speaking to today’s readers. He’s not above indulging his own passion for astronomy through his protagonist – after all, it was Oceania’s night sky that allowed Tupaia to guide Captain James Cook to Aotearoa. And his wry humour allows his introverted narrator to crack enough gentle jokes to keep his readers engaged. l

COASTWATCHER, by David Hill (Penguin, $20)