Published Date Time

The Coastwatchers of the British Empire remain one of the most remarkable examples of integrated local knowledge, intelligence gathering, and unconventional warfare in the Pacific. From the early warning at Guadalcanal to the rescue of downed airmen and the coordination with Allied forces, these networks demonstrate how individuals and communities can influence the strategic balance of war. Yet their legacy extends beyond history — it provides enduring lessons for how small forces, indigenous partners, and maritime surveillance can contribute to modern security challenges.

Call for Papers: Applied History and the Coastwatchers – Lessons for Modern Military Operations

Hosted by: UNSW Canberra | Sea Power Centre–Australia 

Save the Date - Canberra, 08 May 2026

Theme



This Call for Papers invites contributions on applied history — research that draws actionable insights from historical experience to inform current and future military and strategic practice. Submissions should engage with how the Coastwatchers’ experience in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor L’este and the Solomon Islands might illuminate contemporary issues in defence strategy, intelligence, civil–military cooperation, local partnership, maritime domain awareness, resilience, and sovereignty.

Possible Themes

  • Lessons for Modern Operations: Applying Coastwatcher models to today’s distributed operations, grey-zone activities, or littoral warfare.
  • Indigenous and Local Agency: The role of Melanesian, Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander partners in intelligence, logistics, and survival networks.
  • Command, Communication, and Autonomy: The strategic use of dispersed and semi-independent operators.
  • Cultural Intelligence and Human Terrain: How understanding local environments enhanced situational awareness and trust.
  • Comparative Applied History: Parallels between Coastwatchers and modern community-based surveillance or resistance networks (Ukraine, the Philippines, Indonesia, or the Arctic).
  • Maritime Domain Awareness and Technology: Continuities between visual coast watching and modern space, sensor, or drone-based surveillance.
  • Strategic Geography: Reassessing the Solomons, Torres Strait, and Northern Australia as enduring geopolitical chokepoints.
  • Ethics and Law: How the Coastwatchers’ irregular status challenges our understanding of lawful combatancy, intelligence, and protected persons.
  • Memory and Legacy: How Coastwatcher stories shape national identity, commemoration, and Defence culture.

Format

Papers may be:
- Academic research papers (5,000–8,000 words)
- Operational analyses or case studies (3,000–5,000 words)
- Short reflective essays or oral histories (1,500–2,500 words)

Selected papers will be presented at a dedicated roundtable hosted at UNSW Canberra and published in an edited collection titled “Coastwatchers: Lessons for the Modern Military Profession” (Springer, 2027).

Submission Details

Abstract deadline: 15 February 2026 (300–400 words, plus short bio)
Notification of acceptance: 1 March 2026
Full papers due: 1 October 2026

Please send submissions or enquiries to: samuel_camden_duckett.white@unsw.edu.au 

Context

This initiative forms part of the Coastwatchers: Then and Now research project, exploring how historical models of cooperation between Defence, Indigenous communities, and regional allies can inform Australia’s modern strategic posture. By re-examining these networks through an applied history lens, the project seeks to bridge past and present—to draw forward the lessons of those who “watched the coast” so that others might defend it.