Australia in the War of 1939-1945 Vol. VI: The New Guinea Offensives
Australia in the War of 1939-1945 Vol. VI: The New Guinea Offensives

Author: David Dexter

Publisher:

Published: 2014-03-12

Total Pages: 922

ISBN-13: 9781783310029

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This volume relates how the Australian Army, supported by Allied naval and air forces, and with the help of some American regiments, drove the Japanese out of most of the mainland of Australian New Guinea in 1943 and early 1944. It also describes the concurrent operations of the American Army and amphibious forces in the Pacific.When the history opens in April 1943 the only infantry in contact with the Japanese in the Pacific area is the incomplete 3rd Australian Division (mainly the 17th Brigade). There appears to be a jungle stalemate in the tangle of mountains overlooking the Japanese base at Salamaua. But the Allies are preparing and in September 1943 the offensive opens in which the Australian Army drives the Japanese from Lae and Salamaua, and later from the Huon Peninsula and the Ramu Valley. Finally the defeated and starving XVIII Japanese Army is in full retreat across the Sepik River towards Wewak. In the New Guinea operations described in this volume about 35,000 Japanese perished; the Australians who were killed in action or died of illness numbered fewer than 1,300.Throughout the campaigns four Australian divisions were employed. By mid-1944 Australia's military strength was, for the time being, almost spent, having borne the main burden of the fighting on land in the South-West Pacific from the outset. Early in 1944 the Sixth American Army had begum to take over the main tasks and by September, in successive amphibious strides, had reached as far as Morotai.

The Hard Slog
The Hard Slog

Author: Karl James

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-04-05

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1107017327

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The first major study since 1963 to examine the historic Australian military campaign of 1944-1945 at Bougainville in the South Pacific.

Operation Postern
Operation Postern

Author: Ian Howie-Willis

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2024-01-03

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1922896152

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Japanese troops seized and brutally occupied New Guinea’s capital, Lae, for 18 months – until 16 September 1943. That day Australian soldiers retook the town against fierce resistance. Defeated, and after suffering huge losses, 8000 Japanese soldiers fled across the formidable 4000-metre mountains behind the town ; 2000 died on the nightmare trek. In a groundbreaking publication, independent professional historian Dr. Ian Howie-Willis unveils the untold story of 'Operation Postern' and its significant impact on the Pacific War. His latest book sheds light on the recapture of Lae, the capital of New Guinea, from Japanese forces on 16 September 1943. Through meticulous research, Dr. Howie-Willis brings to life the heroic efforts of Australian soldiers, the harrowing experiences of the Japanese retreat, and the often-overlooked plight of the Papua New Guinean village communities caught in the crossfire. Japanese troops had seized and ruthlessly occupied Lae for 18 months until the fateful day of the Australian soldiers' counteroffensive. Despite fierce resistance, the town was retaken, forcing the Japanese to retreat across treacherous 4000-meter mountains behind the area. Tragically, 2000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives during this nightmarish trek. Referred to as a turning point in the Pacific War, 'Operation Postern' shattered the Japanese belief that they could maintain control over the New Guinea mainland. Their continual retreat paved the way for subsequent successful Allied campaigns in the South-West Pacific theatre. However, victory came at a high cost, with over 2000 casualties within a fortnight for the Allies, while Japanese losses exceeded that number nearly fourfold. The exact toll on the Papua New Guinean village people remains unknown but undoubtedly significant. Dr. Howie-Willis challenges previous military histories that have marginalized the Papua New Guineans, highlighting their essential role as the "third party" to the conflict. By focusing on the village communities, he illuminates the horrific impact of the war on their lands and lives, offering a comprehensive and inclusive narrative. "Operation Postern" provides readers with an opportunity to revisit and reinterpret this crucial battle that shaped the course of history. Dr. Howie-Willis' extensive knowledge and meticulous attention to detail make this book a valuable contribution to the understanding of the Pacific War.

Fire and Fortitude
Fire and Fortitude

Author: John C. McManus

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 642

ISBN-13: 0451475054

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WINNER OF THE GILDER LEHRMAN PRIZE FOR MILITARY HISTORY An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die “This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.”—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian "Out here, mention is seldom seen of the achievements of the Army ground troops," wrote one officer in the fall of 1943, "whereas the Marines are blown up to the skies." Even today, the Marines are celebrated as the victors of the Pacific, a reflection of a well-deserved reputation for valor. Yet the majority of fighting and dying in the war against Japan was done not by Marines but by unsung Army soldiers. John C. McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor—a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war—to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower. At the pinnacle of this richly told story are the generals: Douglas MacArthur, a military autocrat driven by his dysfunctional lust for fame and power; Robert Eichelberger, perhaps the greatest commander in the theater yet consigned to obscurity by MacArthur's jealousy; "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell, a prickly soldier miscast in a diplomat's role; and Walter Krueger, a German-born officer who came to lead the largest American ground force in the Pacific. Enriching the narrative are the voices of men otherwise lost to history: the uncelebrated Army grunts who endured stifling temperatures, apocalyptic tropical storms, rampant malaria and other diseases, as well as a fanatical enemy bent on total destruction. This is an essential, ambitious book, the first of three volumes, a compellingly written and boldly revisionist account of a war that reshaped the American military and the globe and continues to resonate today. INCLUDES MAPS AND PHOTOS

Communiques of General MacArthur
Communiques of General MacArthur

Author: Douglas MacArthur and His General Staff

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2024-09-19

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 147669320X

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After defeat by Japanese invaders and a harrowing escape from the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942. Placed in charge of the newly created Southwest Pacific Area, MacArthur was desperate to retain his new post so that he might reconquer the Philippines and, in so doing, reclaim his honor. Thus began the daily issuance of communiques from his headquarters that related a grueling World War II campaign of more than a thousand days as Allied forces fought a relentless enemy from the northern shores of Australia to the heart of Manila. Never before available in print, this volume of communiques brings to life the regular updates issued to a public anxious for news of the great advance across the Southwest Pacific. These daily pronouncements present not only a record of the campaign but also a master class of public relations management as MacArthur attempted to portray himself as the great hero deserving of enduring fame regardless of the truth prevailing on the battlefield.

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 19
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 19

Author: Melanie Nolan

Publisher: ANU Press

Published: 2021-03-09

Total Pages: 970

ISBN-13: 1760464139

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Volume 19 of the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) contains concise biographies of individuals who died between 1991 and 1995. The first of two volumes for the 1990s, it presents a colourful montage of late twentieth-century Australian life, containing the biographies of significant and representative Australians. The volume is still in the shadow of World War II with servicemen and women who enlisted young appearing, but these influences are dimming and there are now increasing numbers of non-white, non-male, non-privileged and non-straight subjects. The 680 individuals recorded in volume 19 of the ADB include Wiradjuri midwife and Ngunnawal Elder Violet Bulger; Aboriginal rights activist, poet, playwright and artist Kevin Gilbert; and Torres Strait Islander community leader and land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo. HIV/AIDS child activists Tony Lovegrove and Eve Van Grafhorst have entries, as does conductor Stuart Challender, ‘the first Australian celebrity to go public’ about his HIV/AIDS condition in 1991. The arts are, as always, well-represented, including writers Frank Hardy, Mary Durack and Nene Gare, actors Frank Thring and Leonard Teale and arts patron Ian Potter. We are beginning to see the effects of the steep rise in postwar immigration flow through to the ADB. Artist Joseph Stanislaw Ostoja-Kotkowski was born in Poland. Pilar Moreno de Otaegui, co-founded the Spanish Club of Sydney. Chinese restaurateur and community leader Ming Poon (Dick) Low migrated to Victoria in 1953. Often we have a dearth of information about the domestic lives of our subjects; politician Olive Zakharov, however, bravely disclosed at the Victorian launch of the federal government’s campaign to Stop Violence Against Women in 1993 that she was a survivor of domestic violence in her second marriage. Take a dip into the many fascinating lives of the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Unending War
Unending War

Author: Ian Howie-Willis

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2016-05-05

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1925275736

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Malaria is not only the greatest killer of humankind, the disease has been the relentless scourge of armies throughout history. Malaria thwarted the efforts of Alexander the Great to conquer India in the fourth century BC. Malaria frustrated the ambitions of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan to rule all Europe in the fourth and thirteenth centuries AD; and malaria stymied Napoleon Bonaparte’s plan to conquer Syria at the end of the eighteenth century. Malaria has also been the Australian Army’s continuing implacable foe in almost all its overseas deployments formation of the Australian Army in 1901. On at least three occasions malaria has halted Australian Army operations, bringing it to a standstill and threatening its defeat. The first time was in Syria in 1918, when a malaria epidemic cut a swathe through the Australian-led Desert Mounted Corps. The second time was in Papua New Guinea in 1942–43, when the Army was fighting malaria as well as the Japanese. The third time was in Vietnam in 1968, when malaria caused more casualties than did enemy action. Indeed the Australian Army has been fighting ‘an unending war’ against malaria ever since the Boer War at the end of the nineteenth century. The struggle against the disease continues 115 years later because virtually all Army’s overseas deployments are to malarious regions. Fortunately for Australian troops serving in nations where malaria is endemic, the Australian Army Malaria Institute undertakes the scientific research necessary to protect our service personnel against the disease. Ian Howie-Willis, in this very readable book, tells the dramatic story of the Army’s long and continuing struggle against malaria. It breaks new ground by showing how just one disease, malaria, is as much the serving soldier’s foe as any enemy force.

Forgotten War
Forgotten War

Author: Brian E. Walter

Publisher: Casemate

Published: 2023-12-31

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1636243584

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A new assessment of the British and Commonwealth contribution to the defeat of Japan in the Pacific. The monumental struggle fought against Imperial Japan in the Asia/Pacific theater during World War II is primarily viewed as an American affair. While the United States did play a dominant role, the British and Commonwealth forces also made major contributions—on land, at sea and in the air, eventually involving over a million men and vast armadas of ships and aircraft. It was a difficult and often desperate conflict fought against a skilled and ruthless enemy that initially saw the British suffer the worst series of defeats ever to befall their armed forces. Still, the British persevered and slowly turned the tables on their Japanese antagonists. Fighting over an immense area that stretched from India in the west to the Solomon Islands in the east and Australia in the south to the waters off Japan in the north, British and Commonwealth forces eventually scored a string of stirring victories that avenged their earlier defeats and helped facilitate the demise of the Japanese Empire. Often overlooked by history, this substantial war effort is fully explored in Forgotten War. Meticulously researched, the book provides a complete, balanced and detailed account of the role that British and Commonwealth forces played on land, sea and in the air during this crucial struggle. It also provides unique analysis regarding the effectiveness and relevance of this collective effort and the contributions it made to the overall Allied victory.