Missing Pieces: - Royal Australian Navy

40 Missing Pieces
In accordance with new orders, Sautot embarked in a Norwegian tanker for the passage
to Noumea on 16 September which, escorted by Adelaide, arrived off Noumea early on
the morning of 19 September. Challenged by a boat from Dumont d’Urville, Showers
stood off the port. Shortly after 0800 the first news of the uprising, and the state of
martial law declared by Governor Denis in response, was received via a boat from shore.
At this point, the port, the town and all the roads leading to it were in Vichy military
hands, and the fort overlooking the port had orders to fire on Adelaide. Affairs did not
bode well for the successful execution of the plan, but Showers decided to await the
events of the day. He recognised that Adelaide could be in some danger from the guns
of the fort, but he was more than a match for Dumont d’Urville, especially because
many members of her ship’s company had been deployed ashore on tasks supporting
Governor Denis.
Later in the morning, Showers embarked M. Sautot in Adelaide, and shortly afterwards
a boat from the de Gaulle Committee finally appeared with the news that the popular
uprising had been successful. Sautot was despatched in the boat to shore, and nothing
more was heard that day. A morning visit to Adelaide by Ballard and the British consul
Johnston on 20 September brought a request from Sautot that de Gaulle dismiss Denis
as military commander and appoint a Captain Michel in his place. In a second visit
later that day, Ballard advised that law and order appeared to be breaking down, and
that ‘the possibility of an unfortunate incident’ during the night was therefore very
great. The nature of the possible incidents was not revealed by Showers, but Wilfred
Burchett, an Australian journalist who was observing the mood of the Noumea crowd,
suggested that some Gaullists wanted to take drastic measures to entrench their hold
on power through a pogrom against Vichy forces and their supporters. 93 Ballard also
conveyed Sautot’s request that Adelaide should remain a further 48 hours. The Naval
Staff agreed that Showers should remain in Noumea until further orders, and this
stretched into a further five days. 94
On the same day, the Dominions Office advised that the Vichy sloop Amiral Charner
was believed to have sailed from Saigon for Noumea on 14 September with 100 troops
embarked, and that Governor Denis had been ordered to use force if necessary to
quell the Gaullists. Although the night passed quietly, the morning of 21 September
brought further news of the confused situation ashore and a formal protest from the
commander of Dumont d’Urville at the presence of Adelaide in French waters. The
Australian Government now had to consider the possibility of the arrival of a second
Vichy warship, while the outcome of the coup remained unclear. It already had advice
from Sautot that all the military officers of the garrison were against him, and that he
feared a second coup after Adelaide’s departure.
On 22 September the Australian Government cabled the Dominions Office exploring
the likely reaction in London if force were used to expel or neutralise Dumont d’Urville,
and to deter Amiral Charner from entering Noumea. London responded on 24 September