By
this time, Australia had already come under direct attack. With the usual supply
lines already cut, all Allied support to the Philippines and Dutch East Indies
had to be funneled through the northern Australian port of Darwin. Japan’s planners
took notice of Darwin’s importance. As Japanese forces prepared to wrap up
their East Indies conquest, Tokyo sent Admiral Nagumo’s powerful carrier force,
Kibu Butai, into the Indian Ocean to
strike the British Royal Navy at Colombo, Ceylon, and block all lines of Allied
retreat from Java. Sailing close to Australia, the six carriers launched a devastating
air raid against Darwin, essentially destroying the town. Savaging ships and aircraft in the area, the
Japanese sailed on to pummel the Royal Navy near Ceylon and chase the remaining
ships out into the Indian Ocean.
Many
people in Australian coastal ports panicked. With Kibu Butai roaming the Indian Ocean at will, residents feared
further air attacks or even bombardment by battleships. Many relocated as far
inland as they could afford. Such fears were prevalent in the southwestern
cities off Perth and its port, Freemantle. These offered the only practical haven to the
defeated Allied Naval forces trying to escape Java.
The
situation to the north continued to deteriorate. Extending their East Indies
conquest, the Japanese seized the Admiralty Islands and New Britain, with its
magnificent harbor of Rabaul. Landings soon followed at Lae and Salamaua on the
north coast of New Guinea.
In Mid-March,
1942, President Roosevelt ordered General MacArthur to break through the
Japanese blockade and take command in Australia. When he reached Melbourne, he
was appalled to discover that he had few forces at his disposal. Australia’s
Army was in the Middle East fighting Rommel or in Japanese POW camps in
Singapore. Australia was, in fact, very vulnerable to invasion. Continued air
strikes against Darwin from the former Dutch East Indies and the appearance of
enemy submarines off both the east and west coasts of Australia emphasized its
vulnerability.
This
is the situation into which I thrust my characters in my new novel, Endure the Cruel Sun (working title). Those who have
read my second novel, Hold Back the Sun,
will remember some of them at once. Dutch officers, Colonel Jan Dijker and
Captain Garrit Laterveer, are prisoners of the Japanese. Unfortunately for the
two officers, the Nazi Gestapo had
asked that they be returned to Europe by submarine. Nurse Catherine van Zweden,
Garrit’s fiancé, is in a civilian internment camp. What fate does the cruel
Japanese Colonel Katsura Okuma have in store for her?
Dutch
intelligence in Australia learns of the Gestapo’s
request as a result of Allied codebreaking. They scramble to determine if
there is any possibility of rescuing the former master spy and air ace.
Jack
Sewell, promoted to Lieutenant Commander, now commands the old four-stack
destroyer, Rust. With Japan
marshaling for a full scale invasion of New Guinea, Allied naval commanders
dragoon Rust into the Royal
Australian Navy for the looming naval battle to seal Australia’s fate.
I
plan to publish Endure the Cruel Sun
early next fall. Those who have yet to read HoldBack the Sun may want to check it out before release of the new book.
On
Amazon.com, Hold Back the Sun has 131
reviews with a 4.2 out of 5 stars overall rating. Forty-three percent of the
reviews are five-star.
Warren Bell is an author of historical fiction. He spent 29 years as a
US Naval Officer, and has traveled to most of the places in the world
that he writes about. A long-time World War II-buff, his first two
novels, Fall Eagle One and Hold Back the Sun are set during World War II. His third novel, Asphalt and Blood, follows the US Navy Seabees in Vietnam. His most recent novel, Snowflakes in July, was
released on Kindle on September 15, 2015, and a paperback version will
be following. For more about Warren Bell, visit his website at:
wbellauthor.com or see him on twitter @wbellauthor. 
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