A further misjudgement by Mitchem is his decision to put Bamforth in charge of the Japanese prisoner .He has observed the fact that Bamforth has ‘ struck up ‘ a friendship with the prisoner, but nonetheless puts him in charge when other more obviously reliable platoon members, for example Smith, are overlooked. The immediate catalyst for the subsequent fatal outcome can be seen as the relationship between Bamforth and the Japanese prisoner.
The most crucial misjudgement by Mitchem was the order to Whitaker to ‘ Grab a gun and cover the nip ‘. Whitaker cannot handle the tension and ‘buckles ‘, with fatal consequences as, in panic, he shoots the Japanese prisoner, which in turn alerts the Japanese soldiers to the whereabouts of the platoon. Mitchem gave this important order to Whitaker, of all people. A man who, from Act 1, has shown us that he not good under pressure. Incidentally, it should be noted that, through the perfect vision of hindsight, the decision of Mitchem not to kill the prisoner shortly after capture was a very significant misjudgement when the lead up to the fatal finale is considered.
The disruptive influence of Private Bamforth cannot be ignored as a contributory factor in how the events unfold in ‘ The Long and the Tall and the Short ‘.He is what might be termed a ‘ rabble rouser ‘ within the platoon who constantly seeks to cause trouble and involve other platoon members. Bamforth is a ‘ mischief maker ‘ in the true sense of the term. He does not like ‘ taking orders ‘ from his superiors and he relishes every opportunity to undermine authority. The newly promoted Macleish is, of course, a prime target. Bamforth calls him a ‘ Scottish Haggis ‘ and makes it clear that he does not reckon him worth his promotion. His boisterous and undisciplined behaviour has a disruptive influence on the platoon and is divisive and demoralising. It is quite clear that Bamforth is intent on ‘ looking after number one ‘ – himself ! He shows little recognition of the gravity of the position the platoon is in, or real interest in the platoon`s operational objectives.
The relationship between Bamforth and the Japanese prisoner is pivotal in terms of the subsequently fatal conclusion of events. His passionate pleas in defence of the Japanese prisoner, in the face of Mitchem`s decision that the prisoner must die, show a side to his character far removed from that shown to his own platoon ‘ mates ‘.
Once the bonds of friendship are tied with the prisoner, Bamforth changes his position from when he was first captured. At that time, he was nonchalantly contemplating the killing of the prisoner as ‘ like carving a pig ‘. The malign influence of Bamforth on the morale, fortune and fate of the platoon is a further example of the problems that can develop without strong leadership, authority and discipline.
Private Whitaker, at best a man scraiped from the bottom of the military conscription barrel; at worst, an incompetent, cowardly and deluded fool. We had early evidence in the play as to the character and competence of Whitaker. In Act 1, when the Japanese soldier is outside the hut….the tension mounts as to whether the platoon will be discovered. Mitchem orders Whitaker to grab the radio that is on the table, in full view. What does Whitaker do?
The stage directions tell us that ‘ Whitaker moves as if to cross to the table, but changes his mind and hugs the wall in terror’. He is ‘ afraid to move ‘. From this perspective, the decision of Mitchem to put Whitaker in charge of the Japanese prisoner, instead of say Evans or Smith.Mitchem`s misjudgement here has direct and fatal consequences for the platoon.
Had Evans or Smith been put in charge, it can be argued that they would not have gone into a panic as Whitaker, predictably, did. Mitchem had actually heard Smith ‘ side ‘ with his decision to kill the prisoner ‘ I just take orders. I just do as I’m told I just plod on…it’s like Mitch says – it’s him or us ‘ He has also heard Evans say ‘ I reckon Mitch is right, you know. We couldn’t get him back to camp, could we boyo ?‘ as he resists impassioned pleas for clemency for the prisoner from Bamforth. Yet Mitchem overlooks these more reliable ‘ candidates ‘ for the important job of guarding the prisoner. Instead he orders Whitaker to ‘ cover the nip’. We are told that Whitaker is ‘ trembling with fear ‘as does so. The shooting of the prisoner, and the discovery and death of the platoon, seem strangely inevitable from the moment Mitchem gives this order to Whitaker.
Notwithstanding a strong supporting cast of other contributory factors, it is Whitaker who more than any other platoon member who is most to blame for the death of the platoon. His character is a consistently weak, and cowardly. Put bluntly, not a man who would be likely to inspire the confidence of other platoon members in a life or death situation. He appears ill suited to army life in general, and war in particular. This is a man who, on active service for the British army in an Asian jungle, with enemy soldiers all about, darns his socks and worries about kit inspection. Whitaker is the classic ‘ lame zebra ‘ in this platoon. He has no authority and is often the butt of jokes from other platoon members.
At times Whitaker seems strangely ‘ semi detached ‘, at least mentally, from the obvious tension felt by other platoon members at their plight. In the midst of this, he irritates his ‘ comrades ‘ with stupid and irrelevant questions – ‘What is the time?’ and the classic ‘ When are we leaving?’ Whitaker’s disposition and bizarre questions simply add to an already bad atmosphere and adds to the sense that the platoon morale is low and that they are not a cohesive group of fighting men.
Although we learn that all the platoon members are conscripts, Whitaker appears to be more afraid than the others and almost scared of his own shadow. An example of this is that he becomes frightened when he even hears a Japanese voice on the radio. Even though the Japanese prisoner is being guarded, Whitaker won’t go near him!
His apparent incompetence as a radio operator has a negative impact on the fate of the platoon and, when he leaves the radio on the hut table in ‘ full view ‘ of the approaching Japanese soldier, he, literally, ‘ freezes ‘ when given an order by Mitchem to retrieve it. The fatal events that follow can, in some measure, be traced back to Whitaker’s failure to hide the radio that he was responsible for. Had he done so, then there would have been no need to capture the Japanese soldier who, almost certainly, would have moved on without being captured by the platoon.
Arguably, the inability to control his fear in the final scene, gives Whitaker a clear lead as candidate most worthy of blame for the death of the platoon. Once the order has been given, Whitaker is ‘ trembling with fear ‘ and unable to calm the by now ‘ excited ‘ prisoner. When the agitated prisoner gets up from the chair, instead of using physical force, or perhaps his bayonet, to threaten or coerce the prisoner into sitting down again, we are told that ‘ Whitaker’s finger tightens on the trigger. A long burst from the sten shudders……and the bullets slam home into the body of the prisoner like hammer blows ‘.
The ‘ long burst from the sten ‘ fired by Whitaker into the prisoner illustrates, at an individual level, that it must be he who is most directly to blame for the death of the platoon. The catalogue of misjudgements by other characters, and the other contributory factors outlined throughout, culminated in a situation arising in which the split second action of a weak, cowardly and incompetent man effectively sealed the fate of the entire platoon.
