The Glass Cannon: A Bougainville Diary 1944-45

The 2nd Volume of Peter Pinney's WW2 trilogy follows Johnno to Bougainville Island.

Pinney has shown what a fine writer he is with this 2nd novel. Johnno's observations are sharper, he has honed his skills from the days of his secret diary in the New Guinea campaign. While others come back from the line and play up, getting drunk, raiding and trading for contraband, Johnno is “..... always bloody writing“ a young comrade states, annoyed that he will not go on a raid to steal an officers liquor with his mates. Johnno though is also sensible enough not to seem too big for his boots by occasionally joining in the fun. He is changing. The racist language of the New Guinea campaign is still heavy in his speech but his observations of the peoples of Bougainville Island are now of a more curious nature.
He even contemplates the human nature of the Japanese enemy. At one point a fellow digger, Silver, confides in Johnno his love of art and his own talent. Silver states of the Japanese that they are “....extraordinary artists” with the “...discovery of real beauty a goal in itself”. Johnno writes that it was “...strangely disturbing, the compassion in his voice; as if he was inviting us to consider something which, we instinctively knew, was best ignored”

Though there are lots of patrols the enemy is rarely met and this leaves the troops frustrated. Discipline is poor. Rumours run rife; Western Australia is going to be invaded! They are fighting in a “second rate show” one of their officers confides at one point. Philosophical discussions on killing become part of the banter. For some it is the best time of their lives but for others? It hits the men hard when a newspaper from home is received and the public know that Bougainville Island campaign is but a sideshow.

The Barbarians was always going to be a hard act to follow but Pinney has done more than enough to make this a must read for anyone wishing to read his prose. Again rich in Strine and observation of the Australian soldier at war but this time on Bougainville Island, an even less known theatre of war than was the previous novels settings in Papua New Guinea. This is Johnno's (Pinney's) observations of his own “limited experience” but as he states in the preface “An attempt has been made to eliminate factual error, but bias and prejudice remain,....” “This book is in no sense a unit history, nor is it meant to be. If it gives even a marginal notion of men on Bougainville, it will have served its purpose” It's purpose has been served with this reader. Superb!

Pinney's second volume, following Trooper Johnno, who becomes a Corporal for a period of time becomes demoted and then isn't really sure where he stands... The 8th Commando Squadron are shipped to Bougainville, to replace the departing American forces who are off to the Philippines.

Pinney's writing is surely at its finest in these later books. While I always enjoy his writing, it has really scaled new heights here. It is incredibly rare for a book on a single page to be able to describe landscape and the soldiers moving through the jungle through jungle so clearly; to be able to clearly explain a soldiers attitude towards the Japanese - of pure hatred for the solider, but in all soldiers, not necessarily hatred of the man; and to perfectly fall into step with the conversation of a common man - in pure Australian complete with slang and rhyming slang yet still making it sound authentic.

The name of this book comes from a discussion near the end of the book, but it is quoted on the inside cover. Obviously about the futility of war, I have replicated it here.

"It's a stupid bloody fight," he said. "We will be needin' more than mops when the big rains come."

"Free tucker," Buster grinned. "Six bob a day and permission to fart. What more you want?"

Jonas glared. "It won't accomplish nothing', and a lot of blokes are going to get hurt. And when them rivers flood, and he poor bloody infantry bog down, the whole thing's going to blow up in our faces. It's like firing a glass cannon at bloody rainbow, ay? But galahs like you can't see that."

In the Preface, Pinney states that this book ... is intimately based on (his) diaries... and represents the limited experience of one man. An attempt has been made to eliminate factual error, but bias and prejudice remain, and the dialogues recorded here approximate only a few of the conversations that took place. The book is in no sense a unit history, nor is it meant to be. If it gives even a marginal notion of what the campaign meant for a small group of men on Bougainville, it will have served its purpose.

There is plenty of bias and prejudice - these are men tasked with eliminating an enemy - there is limited capacity in most soldiers to separate the individual from the enemy. They are referred to a Nips and Japs, they are ridiculed for their fear of the jungle (they like the clearer ground), but only the foolish believe they are not a risk.

Johnno introduces his fellow soldiers, we learn about their character, their flaws, their fears. Some are friends, some are frustrating men to be thrown in with. Some are not alive by the end of the book. The futility of war is written throughout, but this was a book I tried to read in small doses, not because it was a tough topic, or a heavy read, but because I didn't want the slender 228 pages to end. Mainly because I have not found a copy of the third in the trilogy yet.

5 stars