Martin Clemens Major Warren Frederick Martin Clemens CBE , MC , AM ( 17 April 1915 – 31 May 2009 ) was a British colonial administrator and soldier . In late 1941 and early 1942 , while serving as a District Officer in the Solomon Islands , he helped prepare the area for eventual resistance to Japanese occupation . His additional duties as coastwatcher alerted the Allies to Japanese plans to build an airstrip on Guadalcanal . This resulted in Allied carrier raids and eventually a landing by U . S . forces and the beginning of the epic struggle in the Solomons . Clemens then directly served the U . S . Marines in coordinating intelligence on Japanese activities . Early life . Martin Clemens was born in Aberdeen , Scotland , son of Warren Clemens ( musician ) . He won scholarships to Bedford School and Christ ' s College , Cambridge , where he studied agriculture and natural sciences from 1933 – 1937 . Career . In 1938 , Clemens joined the Colonial Service and was sent out to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate ( BSIP ) . He served for three years as a cadet in Malaita , and became a District Officer in 1941 . With the coming of the Pacific War , he volunteered for military service in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force and was commissioned a Captain . After a short leave in Australia in late 1941 , Martin Clemens returned to the Solomons on a ship sent to evacuate European and Chinese residents from Guadalcanal . While responsible for nearly fifteen thousand citizens and various other people on Guadalcanal , District Officer Clemens additionally served as a coastwatcher . The Japanese planned to cut off the United States ' communications with New Zealand and Australia by building an airstrip on Guadalcanal . When they began landing infantry , support troops and engineers to begin the airstrip , Clemens reported such to the Allies by radio . Meanwhile , the managers of the coconut plantations had fled Guadalcanal in panic , abandoning the native workers from neighboring islands , who were left to be repatriated by Clemens . He then established his radio station and coastwatching activities . Though he was a commissioned officer , Clemens received no support from the military and had no uniform . After the Japanese occupied the island of Tulagi in early May , they initiated searches for Clemens and other known colonial officers . In June , the Japanese commenced the construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal , further isolating Clemens and forcing him to conduct his activities from enclaves in the mountains . Clemens , on his jungle - shielded mountain , played a dangerous game of hide and seek with the Japanese . He and his tiny coastwatcher contingent were running low on everything they needed : food , supplies , and most critically , radio batteries . Barefoot , Clemens shared the privations of his coastwatchers . His shoes had disintegrated . Guadalcanal became the site of the first major land offensive against the Japanese in the South Pacific . Upon the American invasion of Guadalcanal , Clemens and his BSIP police made contact with the surprised Marines when they marched to the American positions carrying the Union Flag . Cooperation between Clemens and the U . S . Marines made him a key operative on the island . Clemens and his scouts provided the U . S . Marines much assistance with continuous raids on Japanese supplies and radio reports of the enemy ' s position . His war service earned him the Military Cross ( MC ) on 15 December 1942 , and in 1944 the U . S . Legion of Merit . The First Marine Division also awarded him the commemorative Faciat Georgius medal , which he helped design . Following the war , Clemens served in Palestine in 1946 – 1947 and Cyprus in 1948 – 1949 , returning to Cyprus in 1951 – 1957 as District Commissioner , and was Defence Secretary during 1959 – 1960 . Offered a further colonial position variously reported as having been in Burma or Sarawak , he instead moved to Australia , which was home to his wife Anne . This later colonial career led to his appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) in the 1956 Queen ' s Birthday Honours , and promotion to Commander in that order ( CBE ) in the 1960 New Year Honours . Personal life . Martin Clemens married Anne Turnbull in 1948 . They had four children . Clemens became an Australian citizen in 1961 and was involved in numerous public service and charity efforts . According to the official Australian Government online database of honours , he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia ( AM ) in 1993 , but obituaries report this honour as the lesser Medal of the Order of Australia ( OAM ) . In popular culture . He is featured in the video game , where he helps the main character locate and rescue American POWs .