W E B Griffin - Corp 05 - Line of Fire
Page 54
VIA RAAF MELBOURNE
FOR OFFICER COMMANDING RAAF MORESBY
MOST SECRET
START
PART ONE
INFORMATION TO LT COMMANDER E. FELDT RANVR
PART TWO
START FOLLOWING FROM BANNING:
SUB A
SWIMMER WITH PATIENCE AS OF 1010 7OCT
SUB B
GREYHOUND DEPARTED STATION ABLE 1110M ETA STATION BAKER 1700M RPT 1700M
SUB C
STATION C COORDINATES 06 13 21 XXXX 14 16 07
RPT 06 13 21 XXXX 14 16 07
SUB D
RENDEZVOUS STATION C 0550M 9 OCT RPT 05SOM 9 OCT
END FROM BANNING
PART THREE
ADVISE ADMIRALTY MOST URGENT SIGNAL
SUB A ON ARRIVAL GREYHOUND
SUB B READINESS TO EFFECT SCHEDULED RENDEZVOUS
SUB C CAUSE OF AND EXPECTED TIME OF REMEDY ANY DELAY
SUB D ON DEPARTURE GREYHOUND FOR STATION C
SUB E RETURN OF GREYHOUND TO STATION B
BY AUTHORITY: SOAMES-HALEY, VICE ADM RAN
END
When the R4D With MARINES lettered along the side of its fuselage made a low approach from the sea and touched down smoothly, Lieutenant Commander Eric Feldt, RANVR, was standing outside RAAF Moresby Base Operations. It was 1655 hours (Melbourne Time).
A BSA motorcycle with a sidecar onto which a FOLLOW ME sign had been bolted led the R4D to a sandbag revetment. The driver signaled the aircraft where to shut down, then a ground crew appeared and manhandled the airplane into the revetment.
The rear door opened and a ladder was lowered. Once that was done, Major Jake Dillon climbed down.
"Hello, Jake," Feldt said. "How are you, old man?" It was not the profane and/or obscene greeting Dillon expected.
"Can't complain, Eric. Yourself,?"
Captain Charley Galloway appeared and climbed down the ladder.
"Captain Galloway, Commander Feldt," Dillon said.
Galloway saluted.
"You're the Coastwatcher commander, Commander?" Galloway asked.
Feldt nodded.
"A lot of people where I come from have a lot of respect for your people, Commander," Charley said.
Feldt looked uncomfortable.
"I hope you had a good flight," he said after a moment. Then he put out his hand to Second Lieutenant Malcolm S. Pickering as he turned from climbing down the ladder. "My name is Feldt, Lieutenant. Welcome to Port Moresby."
"Thank you, Sir."
"is the aircraft all right, Captain?"
"It ran like a Swiss watch, Sir. I'd like to go over it before we leave, of course."
"There's plenty of time for that. You're not due at Buka until six the day after tomorrow. Major Banning sent some steaks and whiskey. The rest of the lads are guarding it from the RAAF boys. I've got a car whenever you're ready."
MOST URGENT
RAAF MORESBY 1705 7Th OCTOBER NUMBER 107
FROM OFFICER COMMANDING RAAF MORESBY
FOR ADMIRALTY MELBOURNE FOR VICE ADMIRAL SOAMES-HALEY
VIA RAAF MELBOURNE
MOST SECRET
START
PART ONE
REFERENCE YOUR 212 7 OCT PART THREE SUB A: 1655M RPT 1655M
PART TWO
REFERENCE YOUR 212 7 OCT PART THREE SUB B: NO RPT NO PROBLEM ANTICIPATED
END FELDT LT COMM RANVR
[Four]
FLIGHT OPERATIONS BRIEFING ROOM
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE STATION
PORT MORESBY, NEW GUINEA
1800 HOURS 8 OCTOBER 1942
The four Marines and the RANVR Signalman First who were to land on Buka, along with Major Jake Dillon, Captain Charles M. Galloway, and Lieutenant M. S. Pickering, were sprawled in chairs in the small, airless, steaming hot room.
Most of them clutched beer bottles.
"I rather doubt if any of you people are sober enough to understand any of this, but permit me to go through the motions," Lieutenant Commander Feldt said.
Their laughter sounded just a bit forced.
"The last word we had from Ferdinand Six was at 9:55 this morning. Chief Wallace reports that the party that will carry the supplies up to Ferdinand Six from the beach, and the people who are being extracted, all departed at noon yesterday, that is, 7 October. Using as a guide the time it took Wallace to get from the beach to Ferdinand Six, it should take them about thirty hours to reach the beach. That means, barring any trouble, they should be getting there right about now.
"Of course they may not have been able to move as quickly as Wallace did alone. We don't know what shape Reeves, Howard, and Koffler are in. That may delay them, On the other hand, since they know where they were going, and Wallace had to look for Ferdinand Six, they may have got to the beach hours ago. Either way, we have just about twelve hours in the schedule to take care of the unexpected; the pickup is scheduled for ten minutes to six tomorrow morning.
"There are several potential problems. One is that they will run into our Nipponese friends; that could delay them beyond the twelve-hour cushion-"
"Or forever," one of the Marines said.
There was more forced laughter.
"Thank you ever so much, Sergeant, for that encouraging observation," Feldt said.
The sergeant held up his beer bottle.
"My pleasure, Commander."
"If I may continue?"
"Certainly, Sir."
"Or, as you have so cleverly deduced, Sergeant, it could well keep them from reaching the beach at all," Feldt said. "Second, since we were unable to land a Hallicrafters through the surf, the only radio now on the beach is the hand-held, battery-powered voice radio. That has a limited range and a limited battery life.
"In other words, Captain Galloway can't use that radio as a radio direction-finder; it's not powerful enough. Thus he'll have to find the beach on his own. If-and when-he finds it, he'll attempt to contact the beach, code name Greyhound Base, by radio.
"Now, if the radio is working, the officer in charge there, Lieutenant McCoy, will radio-"
"Sir, what if he's not on the beach?" another Marine sergeant asked; he sounded both very concerned and completely sober. "I thought he was supposed to go to Ferdinand Six. And you just said that they may not make it back to the beach."
"Sorry, I should have got into that. When they landed from the sub, they decided that Wallace could make better time to Ferdinand Six traveling alone. So Lieutenant McCoy stayed with Sergeant Hart."
"Did you say McCoy?" Pick Pickering asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Is he one of your people?" Pick asked.
"As a matter of fact, Lieutenant, no, he is not. He's sort of a rubber-boat expert they sent from Washington."
"Is that Killer McCoy?"
"Yes, but when you meet him, Lieutenant, I strongly suggest that you do not so address him."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Pick said.
"You know this guy?" Charley Galloway asked; they were sitting together.
"We went through OCS Quantico," Pick said.
Galloway shrugged.
"If I may continue?" Felt asked sarcastically. "As I was saying, if the battery-powered radio is working, the beach will communicate with the aircraft. if it is not working, McCoy has two signal panels, one red, meaning Do Not Attempt Landing, and one blue, meaning the beach is Safe to Land. If they display the red panel, the Hallicrafters aboard will be kicked out of the airplane into the water. If we're lucky, their packaging will float them and they will be washed ashore. The aircraft will then return here."
"I'm willing to jump in, Commander," the sober-sounding sergeant said.
"We all are," the other sergeant said, the one who obviously had had one or two more bottles of beer than his metabolism could handle.
"We considered that and decided against it," Feldt said.
"You will return here so we can try this again. Clear? I don't want any heroics out there." There was no reply.
/> "What I am waiting for, gentlemen, is an acknowledgment of that order."
"Aye, aye, Sir," the two sergeants said. Feldt looked at the other three members of the team and waited for them to say, "Aye, aye, Sir."
"If the green panel is displayed, the aircraft will land," Feldt said. "The radios and other supplies will be off-loaded, Reeves, Howard, and Koffler will be taken aboard, and the aircraft will depart."
"What happens to the two guys on the beach?" one of the Marines asked, "if the airplane can't land?"
"They're fucked," the drinking sergeant said.
"They will remain in position for seventy-two hours if they wish," Feldt said matter-of-factly. "In case we can restage the landing. At the end of seventy-two hours they will make their way to Ferdinand Six."
"Like I said, they're fucked," the drinking sergeant said.
"That will be quite enough, thank you, Sergeant," Feldt said. "If the people from Ferdinand Six are on the beach, they will of course lead everybody back there. If they are not there, the landing team, plus Lieutenant McCoy and Sergeant Hart, will carry one of the Hallicrafters and the equipment in bags marked with red tags and make for Ferdinand Six. The other equipment will be concealed somewhere near the beach for pickup at a later time. We've been over all this, of course, in great detail before.
"Are there any questions?" There were none.
"There is one case of beer left, plus a few other bottles. When that's gone, that's it. My advice is try to get some sleep. We'll wake you at 0100. There will be breakfast, the rest of the steak and eggs, and then you will board the aircraft. I remind you there is only a bucket aboard the aircraft for bowel movements, and that can get messy. So try to take care of that before you get on the airplane.
"I thank you for your kind attention, and please be generous when the hat is passed." There was more laughter. This time some of it seemed genuine.
[Five]
NORTH PHILADELPHIA STATION
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
0915 HOURS 9 OCTOBER 1942
"That must be him, Lieutenant," Sergeant Howard J. Doone, USMC, said to First Lieutenant J. Bailey Chambers, USMC, discreetly pointing down the platform to a Brigadier General of The U.S. Marine Corps who had just stepped from the train.
Lieutenant Chambers moved quickly down the platform, saluted, and inquired, "General Pickering, Sir?" Fleming Pickering returned the salute.
"Admiral Ashworth's compliments, Sir," Lieutenant Chambers said.
"My compliments -to the Admiral," Pickering said. "We have a car?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Do you know where to find Tatamy, Sergeant?" General Pickering asked.
"Yes, Sir. It's a small town just north of Easton. About sixty-five, seventy miles, Sir."
"Let's go, then," Pickering said. "Where's the car?"
"The General's traveling alone?"
"My aide is otherwise occupied, Lieutenant. Let's go."
"Aye, aye, Sir."
Mrs. Ellie Stecker heard the car door slam. She pushed aside the lace curtain and watched a Marine brigadier general get out of the backseat before the driver could run around the front and open it for him.
Oh, dear God, please no!
She heard footsteps on the narrow wooden porch of the row house, and then the twisting of the doorbell.
If I don't answer it, it won't be happening.
The Brigadier General had his cover tucked under his arm when she pulled the door open.
"Mrs. Ellie Stecker, please. My name is Pickering."
"I am Mrs. Stecker."
"Mrs. Stecker, I'm afraid I-"
"Dick? Or my husband?"
"Dick. He's been in a crash."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Pickering said.
Thank you, God!
"How bad?" she asked.
"He's rather badly hurt, I'm afraid," Pickering said.
"What, exactly, General, does that mean?" Pickering reached in his pocket and handed her a sheet of paper.
URGENT
FROM HQ FIRST MARDIV 1130 6OCT42
TO COMMANDANT USMC
WASHINGTON DC
FOLLOWING PERSONAL FOR BRIGGEN FLEMING PICKERING USMC
REGRET TO ADVISE THAT 2ND LT RICHARD J STECKER USMC SERIOUSLY INJURED PLANE CRASH TODAY X OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION WILL FOLLOW X IF POSSIBLE WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR RELAYING ELLIE MY DEEP REGRET AND OFFER ANY HELP NEEDED X JACK SAW HIM BEFORE AIR EVACUATION ESPIRITU SANTO THENCE NAVY HOSPITAL PEARL HARBORX PROGNOSIS FULL RECOVERY X YOUNG STECKER AND YOUR BOY BOTH ACES AND FINE MARINES X REGARDS X VANDERGRIFT
END PERSONAL GENERAL VANDERGRIFT TO GENERAL PICKERING
"That was very kind of General Vandergrift," Ellie Stecker said, "and of you, General, to come here with this."
"Jack and I are old friends," Pickering said. "And I'm fond of Dick, too."
"Oh, my God, I didn't put that together. You're Pick's father, of course. But I thought you were a captain in the Navy?"
"That was a mistake that was straightened out," Pickering said. "By the time you get to California, we should have more specific word for you on exactly what happened."
"I don't understand."
"Arrangements have been made to fly you to Pearl Harbor," Pickering said.
"How can that be done?" she asked.
"It's done," Pickering said. "One of my officers will have the details worked out by the time we get back to Philadelphia."
"It wouldn't be fair to the other wives and mothers-"
"The Commandant seems to feel, Ellie, that someone who has put as many years into The Corps as you have is entitled to a little special treatment."
When he telephoned Walter Reed with Vandergrift's message, the Commandant's precise words were, "You seem to have a lot of influence, Pickering. Why don't you use some of it to get Jack's wife out to Hawaii to be with her boy?"
"Oh, I don't know how I could-"
"Nonsense," Pickering said. "This won't be the first time you've picked up and gone somewhere on no notice at all." She looked at him.
"No," she said finally, "it won't. I'll throw some things in a bag."
[Six]
MOST URGENT
RAAF MORESBY 0410 9TH OCTOBER NUMBER 21
FROM OFFICER COMMANDING RAAF MORESBY
FOR ADMIRALTY MELBOURNE FOR VICE ADMIRAL SOAMES-HALEY
VIA RAAF MELBOURNE
MOST SECRET
START
PART ONE
REFERENCE YOUR 212 7OCT PART THREE SUB D: 0315M RPT 0315M
END
FELDT LT COMM RANVR
It began to grow light a little after five. Captain Charles M. Galloway, who was flying, reached over and touched the sleeve of his copilot, who was dozing. His arms were folded on his chest; his head was tilted to one side.
He woke startled.
"Go back and find somebody to come up here," Galloway ordered.
Pickering nodded, unstrapped his seat and shoulder belts, and went back into the cabin. He returned with the Marine sergeant who had given the Aussie Naval officer all the trouble during the briefing. He looked-and was-more than a little hung over.
Galloway waited until Pickering had strapped himself back in.
"You have the aircraft, Mr. Pickering," he said, and then unstrapped himself and got up, Pickering looked over his shoulder to see what Galloway was up to.
Galloway unfolded the step that let you stand and take navigational observations through the Plexiglas dome on top of the fuselage. Then he installed the hung over sergeant on it, facing to the rear.
He returned to his seat and strapped himself back in.
"What was that all about?"
"I don't know what I'll do if it happens," Galloway said.
"But if we are spotted by a curious Japanese, I think it would be nice to know it before he starts shooting."