Will Red, a boxer turned novice sailor aboard two small Allied Intelligence boats during World War II, survive the dangers that lurk behind enemy lines? Tasked with spying and supporting the secretive Coastwatchers deep in Japanese-occupied territory, he faces betrayals, relentless enemy pursuit, aerial bombardment, and the constant threat of disease in the tropical wilderness.
Inspired by true events, Wooden Ships and Iron Men is a gripping tale of adventure, courage, and endurance — a story
of family, passion, and the indomitable Aussie spirit, laced with moments of humour amid the horror of war.
REVIEWS: ‘The grit, skill, and bravery of the unheralded servicemen who operated behind enemy lines
on our doorstep in WW2.’
— Greg Bourke, (author of ‘Under Silkwood’)
Peter Long generates a dynamic, unified effect through brief chapters that move back and forth from one player’s point of view to another’s, and back again. This creates a narrative tension that never wanes. Individual chapters are like short stories, but there is always a sense of integrated forward movement, never of episodes.
The writing style is vigorous and versatile; always smooth and precise. Peter Long is a master of the present tense for the purpose of immediacy. His vocabulary is prodigious and precise, and his sentence structure flawless.
The research conducted for this work was so extensive that we reap an education in many realms: military and naval history and procedures; the intrepid coastwatchers and special forces of WW2; Oceanic and Asian geography; oceanography; anthropology; cross-cultural relationships; boxing; and the psychology of combat and its aftermath. The result of this thoroughness is an authoritative, unflagging sense of place and time. I have lived, worked and researched in several of the locations featured in the novel, and can vouch for the author’s credibility in his depiction of them.
This is an outstanding fictionalised biography, both fast-moving and deep, founded on the author’s intensive family experience of war.
- Anthony English (author ‘Death of a Coastwatcher’)
