On the Beach

Peter Holmes

A lieutenant commander in the Royal Australian Navy and liaison officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion. He lives in Falmouth with his wife Mary and infant daughter Jennifer; after briefly recovering from radiation sickness, he secretly takes a death pill with Mary after giving Jennifer a lethal injection.

Mary Holmes

Also known as Mary

Peter Holmes’s wife, a naval officer’s daughter raised in Southsea, England. As radiation sickness worsens, she asks Peter to end her and Jennifer’s lives; she takes a death pill with him.

Jennifer Holmes

Also known as Jennifer

The infant daughter of Peter and Mary Holmes. She becomes gravely ill during the radiation outbreak, and Peter gives her a lethal injection at Mary’s request.

Mr. Paul

A local farmer who supplies milk and cream to the Holmes family. He is married and has another baby on the way.

The Second Naval Member

Also known as Admiral Grimwade

An admiral in the Navy Department who assigns Peter Holmes to serve as liaison officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

Dwight Lionel Towers

Also known as Commander Towers · Captain Towers · Dwight

The U.S. Navy commander of the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Scorpion, whose crew took refuge in Australian waters after the war. Separated from his wife Sharon and their children in Connecticut, he grows close to Moira Davidson, then takes Scorpion out to sea to sink her.

Mr. Farrell

Also known as Lieutenant Commander Farrell

The executive officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

Mr. Lundgren

Also known as Lieutenant Commander Lundgren · Commander Lundgren

The engineering officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion, responsible for its nuclear-powered machinery.

Mr. Benson

Also known as Lieutenant Benson

An officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion who stands watch and makes a radio call to the shore at Edmonds.

Mr. O’Doherty

An officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

Mr. Hirsch

Also known as Lieutenant Hirsch

An officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion who reports that Yeoman Swain escaped through the hatch and later spots his fishing boat.

Captain Shaw

A senior U.S. Navy officer in Brisbane, whose ship cannot move and who may send orders to Dwight Towers.

Captain Nixon

An officer in the Navy Department’s Operations Division who asked Commander Towers how long a proposed cruise would take.

Moira Davidson

Also known as Miss Davidson · Moira

A young woman from a grazing property near Berwick and a friend of the Holmeses. She gives up drinking and grows close to Dwight Towers while accepting his devotion to his wife and children; as radiation sickness advances, she visits him before Scorpion’s final voyage, then takes a death pill while waiting near the sea.

Sharon Towers

Also known as Sharon

Dwight Towers’s wife, who remains in Connecticut with their children while he is away. Dwight imagines returning to her and tells Moira he will describe how she helped him remain faithful.

Junior Towers

Also known as Junior

Dwight and Sharon Towers’s son, mentioned while Dwight imagines returning to his family. Dwight buys him a fishing rod as a present.

Helen Towers

Dwight and Sharon Towers’s young daughter. Moira finds a Pogo stick labeled with Helen’s name for Dwight to give her.

R.A.F. squadron leader

Also known as the squadron leader

An unnamed Royal Air Force officer who previously visited the Holmeses and cried during the visit.

Moira Davidson’s father

Also known as Daddy · Mr. Davidson · the grazier · Bill Davidson

A grazier who owns a roughly five-hundred-acre farm near Berwick and is Moira Davidson’s father. He raises Angus cattle and sheep, works on his fences as the radiation approaches, lends Moira and Dwight his Ford for their fishing trip, and is gravely ill near the end.

Mary’s father

An unnamed naval officer who was Mary Holmes’s father.

John Seymour Osborne

Also known as Mr. J. S. Osborne · John Osborne · Honest John

An Australian scientific officer from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, assigned to the U.S.S. Scorpion to monitor radioactivity. Related to Moira Davidson and Sir Douglas Froude’s great-nephew, he races his Ferrari and wins the Grand Prix; as radiation sickness takes hold, he prepares his car for storage and takes a death pill in its driving seat.

Lieutenant Commander Isaac(s)

Also known as Isaacs

An Australian officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

Holman

An Australian officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

de Vries

An Australian officer serving aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion.

Chief of the Boat Mortimer

Also known as Mortimer

The U.S.S. Scorpion’s chief of the boat. He swims after Yeoman Swain when Swain escapes to shore.

Vice Admiral Sir David Hartman

Also known as Sir David Hartman · the First Naval Member

The First Naval Member, a senior Australian naval officer who briefs Dwight Towers and Peter Holmes and receives their cruise report. He convenes a conference about the cruise, lives near the Davidson family, and formally releases Towers to take Scorpion out of Australian waters.

Anne Sutherland

A woman whose party Moira Davidson considers skipping to visit Dwight Towers.

Johnny Dismore

Also known as the captain of Swordfish · Captain of the Swordfish

The captain of the U.S.S. Swordfish, a sister submarine to Scorpion; his report describes its postwar cruise through the Northern Hemisphere.

Mr. Donald Ritchie

Also known as the Prime Minister · your Mr. Ritchie

The Prime Minister of Australia, who briefs the Scorpion’s commander on the cruise and forbids the crew from taking anyone aboard without permission.

Dr. Halloran

The Holmes family’s doctor, whom Mary consults about the risk of Jennifer catching measles.

Mrs. Foster

A neighbor of the Holmeses who is asked by Mary to bring steak and onions from town.

Surgeon Commander

Also known as the surgeon commander

An unnamed medical officer Peter Holmes considers consulting about measles in babies.

Principal Scientific Officer

Also known as the Principal Scientific Officer · P.S.O.

An unnamed senior scientific officer who attends a Navy Department meeting with Peter Holmes and John Osborne.

Sir Douglas Froude

Also known as Douglas Froude · Lieutenant General

John Osborne’s great-uncle, a retired army commander who lives on a small property near Macedon, studies Australian birds, and is still trying to write his memoirs. He belongs to a club with a large cellar of vintage port, which he drinks regularly; as radiation sickness spreads, he remains convinced that he is well, while staying at the club after his sister’s death.

Intelligence officer

Also known as the guy from Intelligence · this officer from the Pentagon

An unnamed officer who briefed Dwight Towers’s commanding officers’ course about the strategic tensions between Russia and China before the war.

Major Chan Sze Lin

Also known as Chan Sze Lin

An officer in the Chinese Air Force who seems to have commanded Chinese forces late in the war and controlled rockets and bombs. The Australian Prime Minister tried to contact him to stop the fighting.

Black dog at Cairns

A large dog seen barking at the U.S.S. Scorpion from a wharf in Cairns; apparently the only living creature there.

Moira Davidson’s mother

Also known as Mummy · Mrs. Davidson

An unnamed woman who lives on the Davidson farm and is Moira’s mother. She hopes Moira will marry and have children; near the end she is gravely ill with radiation sickness.

Moira Davidson’s brother

Also known as Donald

Moira Davidson’s older brother, who is in England.

Lou

Also known as the farm hand

The only employee on the Davidson farm, who helps Moira with the horse and buggy.

Professor Jorgensen

Also known as Jorgensen

A scientist who argues that atmospheric radioactivity may diminish quickly after precipitation washes radioactive material from the air. His theory motivates the planned U.S.S. Scorpion cruise, though most scientists consider him overly optimistic.

Moira Davidson’s former suitor

Also known as the Forrest boy

An unnamed man who once stayed at the Davidson home before the war. Moira’s parents recall that she did not seem to care for him.

Dwight Towers’s father

Also known as Dad

An unnamed doctor in Westport, Connecticut, who served as a Navy surgeon during the First World War and later established a local practice.

Sharon Towers’s father

Also known as her Dad

An unnamed lawyer in New York City who has an apartment near Central Park and a summer home at Westport. He helped Dwight and Sharon financially when they married.

Johnny Bowles

A man who bought and shipped a Ferrari racing car to Australia but never raced it because the war began. John Osborne later bought the car from Bowles’s widow.

Donezetti

A racing driver who won the Grand Prix of Syracuse in John Osborne’s Ferrari the year before the war.

Mr. Goldie

Also known as Goldie · the chemist

The chemist in Falmouth whom Peter Holmes knows and consults about radiation sickness. He secretly gives Peter dummy packages showing the death pills and injection that will later be distributed to people who request them.

Lieutenant Sunderstrom

Also known as the radio and electrical officer · the radio officer · the lieutenant

The U.S.S. Scorpion’s radio and electrical officer, familiar with the Santa Maria Island communications installation. He discovers that a fallen window frame has been activating a transmitter, sends a report confirming there is no life there, and later transmits a signal saying the crew is well.

Sir Phillip Goodall

Also known as the director of C.S.I.R.O. · the director

The director of C.S.I.R.O. who presents the conference with a summary of radio transmissions monitored from the Seattle area.

Third Naval Member

Also known as the Third Naval Member

An unnamed senior naval officer whose office Peter visits; a Wran writer there says she is expecting Commander Mason.

Secretary to the Prime Minister

Also known as one of the Prime Minister’s secretaries

An unnamed secretary to the Australian Prime Minister who attends the conference about the Scorpion’s cruise.

Ralph Swain

Also known as Yeoman First Class Ralph Swain · Yeoman Swain · Ralphie · Swain

A Yeoman First Class and radar operator aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion. He escapes through the submarine’s hatch to return to Edmonds, where he finds his family and girlfriend dead; he spends his final day fishing and declines the captain’s offer of an automatic.

Ken Puglia

Also known as Ken

An Edmonds drugstore owner, known personally to Ralph Swain. Swain sees that his store is open and its neon sign is still lit.

Mrs. Sullivan

An Edmonds resident whose house Swain sees through the submarine’s periscope; one of its windows is broken.

Hector Fraser’s wife

Also known as Mrs. Hector Fraser

A woman who has known Moira Davidson since childhood. She tells Moira that Dwight Towers tried to buy a Pogo stick and speculates about whom he is courting.

The jeweller’s assistant

Also known as Mr. Thompson · the fair-haired one

A young man at Simmonds’ jeweller who sells Dwight Towers an emerald-and-diamond bracelet and cannot direct him to a shop with Pogo sticks.

Ralph Swain’s father

Also known as Dad

An unnamed man in Edmonds, Ralph Swain’s father. Ralph finds him dead in bed after returning home.

Ralph Swain’s mother

Also known as Mom

An unnamed woman in Edmonds, Ralph Swain’s mother. Ralph finds her dead in bed after returning home.

Ralph Swain’s girlfriend

Also known as the girl

An unnamed woman from Ralph Swain’s hometown of Edmonds, whom he visits after returning from the submarine. He finds her dead.

Commander Peterson

An Australian naval commander who phones Mary Holmes with news of the Scorpion’s radio signal and is the contact she considers asking about its estimated arrival.

Lieutenant Brody

An officer aboard the U.S.S. Scorpion who develops symptoms resembling acute appendicitis during the cruise; they subside, and Peter Holmes takes over his duties.

Jerry Shaw

The outgoing commanding officer of U.S. Naval Forces in Brisbane. Before communications cease, he orders Dwight Towers to assume command of U.S. naval forces in all areas.

The doctor at Harkaway

Also known as the doctor

An unnamed local doctor called to examine Dwight Towers when he develops a fever after the cruise. He diagnoses flu, advises rest, and travels in the rain to an operation at the hospital.

The woman with a stomach growth

An unnamed patient whom the Harkaway doctor plans to operate on, hoping the operation will give her more years of useful life.

Mr. Alan Sykes

Also known as Alan Sykes · Mr. Sykes

The director of the State Fisheries and Game Department. He consults Sir Douglas Froude about an early trout season and drafts the announcement advancing it.

The Minister

An unnamed minister whom Moira Davidson approaches about opening the trout season early; he supports the proposal, which Mr. Sykes says may reflect election concerns.

Leading Seaman Edgar

Also known as Edgar

A leading seaman assigned to drive the grey Chevrolet provided for Dwight Towers.

Peter Holmes’s landlord

An unnamed landlord who owns a Holden and retained some petrol for cleaning clothes.

Peter Holmes’s R.A.F. cousin

Also known as Bill

An unnamed cousin of Peter Holmes who serves in the Royal Australian Air Force at Laverton Aerodrome. He visits in an M.G. and is described as someone who never saved anything.

The Shell refinery engineer

An unnamed engineer at the Shell refinery at Corio who says he bought petrol on the black market in Fitzroy.

Miss Fay Gordon

Also known as Fay Gordon

A woman racing driver who competes in an M.G. in the first heat at Tooradin. Her car leaves the wet track at Lake Bend and overturns in the water; the rescuers recover her body.

Sam Bailey

A young air mechanic who builds and races a fast Lotus powered by a Gipsy Queen aeroengine. He wins a Grand Prix heat but crashes during the race.

Jerry Collins

A driver who pilots a three-litre Maserati in an elimination heat against John Osborne.

Don Harrison

Also known as the driver of a Jaguar

A Jaguar driver in John Osborne’s heat who offers him a drink before the race. He dies from injuries after a crash, and his wife gives Osborne permission to use Don’s transporter and parts from the wrecked Jaguar.

Mrs. Harrison

Also known as Don Harrison’s wife

Don Harrison’s wife, present at the race after his fatal crash. She accepts his death as the kind of end he wanted and lets John Osborne use Don’s transporter and car parts.

Eddie Brooks

A member of John Osborne’s Ferrari pit crew who accompanies him to speak with Don Harrison’s wife and helps recover usable parts from wrecked cars.

Commander Mason

An officer whom the Wran writer expects to arrive aboard the aircraft carrier for business in the Third Naval Member’s office.

The Ferrari mechanic

Also known as the mechanic

An unnamed mechanic working with John Osborne on repairs to the Ferrari.

Bill Adams

Also known as Bill

A Goodyear employee who helps John Osborne fit new tires to the Ferrari’s wheels.

Jamieson hotel landlady

Also known as the landlady

The landlady of the crowded hotel in Jamieson, delighted by the return of fishermen after two quiet years.

Night-fishing angler

Also known as the earnest fisherman

An unnamed fisherman staying at the Jamieson hotel who targets a large fish at night and gives Moira and Dwight a small fly spoon that helps Moira catch a fish.

Frog-bait angler

Also known as the companion fisherman

An unnamed fisherman at the Jamieson hotel who describes fishing for trout with a frog as bait.

John Osborne’s mother

Also known as Mum · Mother

John Osborne’s elderly mother, who falls ill with radiation sickness after his Grand Prix win. She takes a death pill and leaves him a note asking him to care for her Pekinese.

Dr. Hamilton

The doctor John Osborne calls for his sick mother. He diagnoses her illness as radiation sickness and says he is becoming sick himself.

John Osborne’s secretary

Also known as his secretary

An unnamed secretary at John Osborne’s office who writes that she is too unwell to return and thanks him for his kindness.

Melbourne tram driver

Also known as the driver

An unnamed tram driver who says he will keep working until he becomes sick, then drive the tram to his home depot.

Chemist’s counter girl

Also known as the girl behind the counter

An unnamed young woman at a Melbourne chemist who gives John Osborne a red carton of death pills and plans to take her own with an ice-cream soda.

Ming

Also known as little Ming · the Pekinese

John Osborne’s mother’s Pekinese dog. After her death, John gives Ming a lethal dose of Nembutal so he will not be left alone.

Collins the hall porter

Also known as Collins

A hall porter at the club where Sir Douglas Froude is staying. He returns to work amid the outbreak and is to prepare lunch for Douglas and John Osborne.

Tom Fotherington

A man who dined with Sir Douglas Froude at the club and said he would call the next morning; Douglas wonders whether he has fallen ill.

Sir Douglas Froude’s sister

An unnamed woman who kept house for Sir Douglas Froude at Macedon. She dies during the radiation outbreak, after which Douglas stays at his club.

Woman at the dockyard

Also known as one of the women

An unnamed woman among those at the dockyard as Dwight Towers departs in Scorpion. She tells Moira Davidson that she will not have to go on living.