[1] Madang Province and its capital was first colonized by Germany in the late 19th century and German colonial rule lasted until the end of World War I.

He applied for release from colonial service to enter the military, but this was denied and he assigned to the Buka Passage sub-district and sent to Bougainville Island where his duties included coastwatching.

[1][2] Read had risen to the rank of sergeant in the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit; he was initially inclined to join the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1942 but was convinced by Eric Feldt, the naval intelligence officer in charge of the Coastwatcher service in New Guinea and the Solomons to remain in his post.

Due to his ideal position along the coast, his intelligence was to be especially valuable to the Allies during the initial phase of the Solomon Islands campaign.

[2][4][5][6] Ian W. Toll writes in The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944: For the second consecutive day, a coastwatcher had provided vital forewarning of an incoming airstrike.

Read was especially well situated for this purpose because his vantage point at Porapora commanded a panoramic view of all of Buka Island to the north, the eastern sea channels leading down the “Slot” (the body of water between the double file of islands that formed the Solomons archipelago), and the skies through which Japanese aircraft must pass.

[7]This vital information denied the Japanese the advantage of a surprise attack and gave the Allies time to prepare for the incoming Japanese airstrike, by defensively dispersing their ships, manning anti-aircraft stations, and having their fighters in the air and ready to defend the fleet and the landings against the attack.

[5] Eventually with the Japanese closing in on him, he was evacuated by the United States in July 1943 on the submarine USS Guardfish, which also rescued other coastwatchers and Australian civilians.

Admiral William F. Halsey, the United States Navy commander for the South Pacific, stated that the intelligence gathered by Read on Bougainville had "saved Guadalcanal and that Guadalcanal had saved the South Pacific"[8][1][2] Read was never honored by Australia or Britain for his service, a slight he attributed to prejudice against irregulars by the Australian Navy.