Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Eric Augustas Feldt (3 January 1899 – 12 March 1968) was an officer in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and the director of the

Coastwatchers The Coastwatchers, also known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau, were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific islands during World War II t ...

organisation for much of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Feldt was born in Ingham,

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

, on 3 January 1899, the eighth child of Swedish immigrants, Peter Nilsson Feldt, a cane farmer, and Augusta Blixt. Feldt attended the local school before winning a scholarship to

Brisbane Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , established = 1868 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = , key_people = , ci ...

where he boarded for a year. He then won selection for the first intake of cadets into the Royal Naval College in 1913, being the only cadet from Queensland. He graduated as a midshipman in 1917 and sailed to England in April 1917 where he initially served on HMS Canada. He was promoted to lieutenant in February in 1920. In 1922 he left the Navy and was placed on the retired list. In February 1923, Feldt became a clerk in the public service of the mandated

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the nam ...

. He rose to a patrol officer and then to district officer. In

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, on 10 January 1933, he married Nancy Lynette Echlin. They had no children. Feldt suffered a near-fatal bout of

scrub typhus Scrub typhus or bush typhus is a form of typhus caused by the intracellular parasite '' Orientia tsutsugamushi'', a Gram-negative α-proteobacterium of family Rickettsiaceae first isolated and identified in 1930 in Japan.ound recording/ref> On recovery he took up the position of Warden of Wau goldfields.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

In April 1939, aware of the stirrings in Europe, Feldt transferred back to the Navy’s emergency list. When war came in September 1939, the Director of Naval Intelligence, Commander Rupert Long, a 1913 naval classmate, offered Feldt the task of heading a new Naval Intelligence Centre in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

. From there Feldt could vastly extend the existing, but small, Coastwatcher service in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. Feldt accepted the position. In that same month Feldt set out to travel in New Guinea, Papua and the Solomons to personally enlist the help of every man who had a teleradio. "My travels took me all around the area by ship, motor boat, canoe, foot, bicycle and aeroplane, so I saw nearly everybody and nearly everybody saw me…… and nearly all were helpful." At this stage all Feldt’s appointments were unpaid civilian volunteers. A teleradio consisted of a transmitter, a receiver and a loud speaker, which were transported in three metal boxes measuring 60 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm.They were powered by car batteries, which were charged by a petrol engine weighing 30 kg. Moving them was difficult, requiring 12–16 indigenous people to help carry them. Feldt then conceived the necessity of the positioning of Coastwatchers so that they formed a virtual fence reaching from the Dutch border with New Guinea to the eastern side of the Solomon Islands. He proposed that teleradios be loaned to selected persons at strategic points to close any gaps in the Coastwatching chain. Where there were no suitable people Feldt requested a naval person be sent. This being done, the fence was built and the gates shut. Feldt gave his organisation the code name of "Ferdinand", taking the name from a children's book about a bull, ''

The Story of Ferdinand ''The Story of Ferdinand'' (1936) is the best-known work by the American author Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson, the children's book tells the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. He sits in the midd ...

'' which had been popularised by a Walt Disney cartoon in 1938. It appealed to Feldt because "Ferdinand ... did not fight but sat under a tree and just smelled the flowers." It was meant as a reminder to coastwatchers that it was not their duty to fight and so draw attention to themselves, but to sit circumspectly and unobtrusively, gathering information. Of course, like their titular prototype, they could fight if they were stung. Thus Feldt built up a team of reliable, trusted and experienced coastwatchers many of whom were expatriate Australians who knew the territory and the risks they would be taking. The Coastwatchers headquarters was moved to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

in May 1941. When the

War in the Pacific The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

commenced at the end of 1941, Feldt's responsibilities for his Coastwatchers increased, as the Japanese advance left the island screen as the front line. He insisted the Coastwatchers be given military standing which would provide them some income and protection for their widows via a pension, should the worst outcome occur. In April 1942 the Coastwatchers became members of the

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to yac ...

(RANVR). By this time many of them were behind enemy lines. As Supervising Intelligence Officer (SIO), Feldt’s duties were varied and demanding. As well as evaluation of intelligence, coding and de-coding, many other practical issues required overseeing. These included organising supplies such as food, uniforms, radio parts and parachutes to drop the latter, arranging finance for the supplies and organising submarines, PT boats and aircraft to retrieve downed airmen, sailors and coastwatchers who were ill or injured and placing new coastwatchers in their stead. To Feldt the needs of his coastwatchers were first and foremost. They, in turn, were extremely loyal to him. He worked for long hours throughout 1942 and into 1943. He suffered the loss of his best friend, Bill Kyle, whom he had recruited as a coastwatcher. Kyle was captured and executed by the Japanese. The Coastwatchers made many significant contributions to the war in the Pacific but none more so than in the Battle for Guadalcanal. Messages from Read and Mason, such as "24 bombers headed yours" gave the American fighter aircraft a distinct advantage with time to be in the air as a "welcoming party" for the Japanese planes. This happened many times over and was of such significance that US Admiral of the Fleet William F. "Bull" Halsey said: "The coast watchers saved the Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific." Besides their vital intelligence gathering, the Coastwatchers rescued 321 downed Allied airman, 280 sailors, 75 prisoners of war, 190 missionaries and civilians and hundreds of native peoples. The responsibility and demands of leadership eventually took its toll on Feldt. While making a personal visit to some of his Coastwatchers in Guadalcanal in 1943, he suffered a heart attack, at the age of 44, and resigned his command. Commander J. C. McManus succeeded Feldt. While recuperating in Brisbane in 1943, Feldt commenced writing his personal account. His book ''The Coast Watchers'' was published in 1946.

Post War

Feldt and Long were both present at the opening of the Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse at

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

in 1959. Feldt gave an emotional speech before unveiling a plaque at the base of the lighthouse which held the names of the thirty-six men who had given their lives. On a visit to Australia in 1954, Admiral Halsely expressed his thanks and recognition of the role played by Feldt and his Coastwatchers and by saying "I could get down on my knees every night and thank God for Commander Eric Feldt." Despite this, Feldt’s sole award was to be an OBE in 1944 as Australians received British honours at this time. No award officially recognising his contribution was given by the United States. Eric Feldt died of a heart attack on 14 March 1968 in

New Farm New Farm is an inner northern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , New Farm had a population of 12,542 people. Geography The suburb is located 2 kilometres east of the Brisbane CBD on a large bend of the ...

. He was cremated and his ashes scattered into the sea off the Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse at Madang.

References

Notes

Books

* * * * * * * * *

Popular Culture

* Eric Feldt features in the

W.E.B. Griffin William Edmund Butterworth III (November 10, 1929 – February 12, 2019), better known by his pen name W. E. B. Griffin, was an American writer of military and detective fiction with 59 novels in seven series published under that name. Twenty-one ...

series, " The Corps" as commander of the Coastwatcher's organisation. Griffin portrays Feldt in an heroic light, but as a heavy drinker, and a person with enormous disdain for the military hierarchy above him.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Feldt, Eric 1899 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Australian writers Australian military personnel of World War I Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Australian Navy officers Solomon Islands in World War II Special forces of Australia Writers from Queensland