Creforce


Book Description

In the first parachute drop of World War II, the Germans invaded Crete on 20 May, 1941. Australian, New Zealand and British troops, alongside Greek soldiers and the people of Crete, formed a crucial bond as they defended the tiny island.




Anzac Fury


Book Description

From Tobruk to the Battle of Crete - the new bestseller from the author of Pacific Fury. Anzac Fury commemorates the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe when 8900 Anzac prisoners of war captured in Greece and Crete were released from captivity. In 2010 it will be exactly 70 years since the 2nd AIF arrived in the Middle East to begin their extraordinary adventures in battles against the German and Italian armies in North Africa, mainland Greece and Crete prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Written by a brilliant storyteller, Anzac Fury tells the riveting story of how the legendary Anzac Corps was reformed in the heat of battle during World War II to fight a powerful and merciless foe. Dramatically combining personal memories with combat action, Anzac Fury gives voice to the experiences of young Australians and New Zealanders who were sent on Churchill’s orders from the victorious battlefields of Libya on a disastrous mission to Greece and Crete. A companion volume to the acclaimed 2008 publication Pacific Fury, this book celebrates the Anzac spirit of sacrifice, mateship, courage and endurance that sustained the new Anzacs during the darkest days of the war.




Battle on 42nd Street


Book Description

At what point does the will to survive on the battlefield give way to bloodlust? The battle for Crete was at once the most modern and the most ancient of wars. For a week Australian and New Zealand forces were relentlessly hammered from the skies by the Luftwaffe and pursued across Crete by some of the most accomplished and best equipped forces Hitler could muster. On the morning of 27 May 1941, however, all that was about to change. When a unit of German mountain troops approached the Allies’ defensive line — known as 42nd Street — men from the Australian 2/7th and 2/8th Battalions and New Zealanders from several battalions counter-attacked with fixed bayonets. By the end, German bodies were strewn across the battlefield. Acclaimed historian Peter Monteath draws on recollections and records of Australian, New Zealand, British and German soldiers and local Cretans to reveal the truth behind one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. 'This is military history at its best: deeply researched, powerfully told and proving that the essence of war is men killing other men.' — Joan Beaumont




On The Run: Anzac Escape and Evasion in Enemy Occupied Crete


Book Description

An incredible story of courage, survival and loyalty amongst men trapped on an enemy-occupied island in the middle of a war - told in full for the first time. When the order to surrender was given after the Battle of Crete in 1941, over 6000 Australian, British and New Zealand soldiers were left behind on the south coast. Some escaped immediately on abandoned naval barges or took to the hills. But the vast majority was marched back over the White Mountains to makeshift POW camps. Many escaped, relying on Cretan mountain villagers to shelter and guide them. The relationships forged between these troops and their Cretan helpers are remembered to this day. Drawing on previously unpublished memoirs, including a detailed diary kept by co-author Ian Frazer's Australian officer father, On The Run is a remarkable and moving picture of heroism and endurance.




Every Second Child


Book Description

Study on health patterns and problems of Aboriginal children based on the authors experiences as a medical practitioner at Collarenebri Aboriginal settlement, NSW; Relates his success in entirely eliminating infant death by the use of vitamin C and criticism of his theories on the causes and treatment of Aboriginal health problems by his colleagues; Many case histories of disease cure through the use of vitamin C given Diseases and health problems discussed; upper respiratory tract infections, gastroentritis, malnutrition (3 types), pneumonia/bronchospasm, anaemia, parasite infections, otitis media (abscess formation in the ear), running noses, faulty immune; reactions, malabsorption, vitamin deficiencies, dangers of oral antibiotics, viral v. bacterial infections (gastroenteritis), poor living conditions (dirt floors, dusty out door areas), and respiratory infections, breast v. bottle feeding in the; development of antibody protection, use 7 Sunshine milk, dangers of immunisation programmes, disturbances to the gastro-intestinal andmucous membranes, diarrhoea, zinc deficiency caused by genetic fault associated with the inability to defoxify; alcohol leading to alcoholism, the enzyme alpha antitripsin and genetic factors in Aboriginal health patterns, Vitamin c (scurvy, symptons of deficiency, utilisation by the body during teething, infection, immunisation and in the presence of antibiotics, deficiency as a cause of sudden unexpected infant death), infant disease patterns, need for health education programmes and misunderstanding of Aboriginal health problems by doctors; Also discusses B.C.G. vaccine against T.B., tests for detecting sodium, potassium and hemoglobin levels in the blood and vitamin C in urine, the R or transferable drug resistance factor, trial of Nancy Young from Cunnamulla for criminal neglect leading to the death of her child, Aboriginal attitude toward twins and associated infanticide, overview of Aboriginal adult health problems including coronary occlusions, strokes, blindness, diabetes, trachoma, Labrador Keratitis.




Black Snake


Book Description

Part of the award-winning Young Adult non-fiction series, The Drum. “Everyone looks on me like a black snake.” – Letter from Ned Kelly to Sergeant Babington, July 1870. Ned Kelly was a thief, a bank robber and a murderer. He was in trouble with the law from the age of 12. He stole hundreds of horses and cattle. He robbed two banks. He killed three men. Yet, when Ned was sentenced to death, thousands of people rallied to save his life. He stood up to the authorities and fought for what he believed in. He defended the rights of people who had no power. Was he a villain? Or a hero? What do you think?




The Cretan Runner


Book Description

A witty, thrilling, and “effortlessly poetic” account of the Cretan resistance during World War II—with a map and 32 black-and-white photographs (The Guardian) George Psychoundakis was a 21-one-year-old shepherd from the village of Asi Gonia when the battle of Crete began: “It was in May 1941 that, all of a sudden, high in the sky, we heard the drone of many aeroplanes growing steadily closer.” The German parachutists soon outnumbered the British troops who were forced first to retreat, then to evacuate, before Crete fell to the Germans. So began the Cretan Resistance and the young shepherd’s career as a wartime runner. In this unique account of the Resistance, Psychoundakis records the daily life of his fellow Cretans, his treacherous journeys on foot from the eastern White Mountains to the western slopes of Mount Ida to transmit messages and transport goods, and his enduring friendships with British officers (like his eventual translator Patrick Leigh Fermor) whose missions he helped to carry out with unflagging courage, energy, and good humor.




Horrie the Wog-Dog


Book Description

'The true story of Horrie the Wog-Dog who was adopted by the Australian Signal Platoon of the M/G Battalion, in spite of all rules against keeping pets, and how Horrie not only won his stripes as a valuable addition to the group but had the further distinction of being smuggled into Australia on their return. The Wog-Dog was sneaked into Greece, went through the evacuation, carried messages as well as proving a dependable warning against air attacks. He went to Syria and Palestine, never learning to tolerate Arabs - he suffered cold and sickness, he fell in love with Ishmi, he was bombed off his ship and he never once was found during all necessary cover-up travelling. A story for all dog lovers, in spite of heavy Australian slang and style, of a dinkum Aussie who was kept, protected and loved by dinkum Aussies. Sentimentality over canines seldom misses fire.' - Kirkus Review (USA)




War at the End of the World


Book Description

A harrowing account of an epic, yet nearly forgotten, battle of World War II—General Douglas MacArthur's four-year assault on the Pacific War's most hostile battleground: the mountainous, jungle-cloaked island of New Guinea. “A meaty, engrossing narrative history… This will likely stand as the definitive account of the New Guinea campaign.”—The Christian Science Monitor One American soldier called it “a green hell on earth.” Monsoon-soaked wilderness, debilitating heat, impassable mountains, torrential rivers, and disease-infested swamps—New Guinea was a battleground far more deadly than the most fanatical of enemy troops. Japanese forces numbering some 600,000 men began landing in January 1942, determined to seize the island as a cornerstone of the Empire’s strategy to knock Australia out of the war. Allied Commander-in-Chief General Douglas MacArthur committed 340,000 Americans, as well as tens of thousands of Australian, Dutch, and New Guinea troops, to retake New Guinea at all costs. What followed was a four-year campaign that involved some of the most horrific warfare in history. At first emboldened by easy victories throughout the Pacific, the Japanese soon encountered in New Guinea a roadblock akin to the Germans’ disastrous attempt to take Moscow, a catastrophic setback to their war machine. For the Americans, victory in New Guinea was the first essential step in the long march towards the Japanese home islands and the ultimate destruction of Hirohito’s empire. Winning the war in New Guinea was of critical importance to MacArthur. His avowed “I shall return” to the Philippines could only be accomplished after taking the island. In this gripping narrative, historian James P. Duffy chronicles the most ruthless combat of the Pacific War, a fight complicated by rampant tropical disease, violent rainstorms, and unforgiving terrain that punished both Axis and Allied forces alike. Drawing on primary sources, War at the End of the World fills in a crucial gap in the history of World War II while offering readers a narrative of the first rank.




Home


Book Description

While their loved ones left to serve overseas, most New Zealanders spent the Second World War at home. This book tells the stories of those who stayed behind. Based on frank, in-depth interviews, Home reveals the reality of civilian wartime life in New Zealand during the watershed years from 1939 to 1945. Women and men remember, with disarming honesty, the experiences that unfolded for them, including chronic uncertainty, the fear of enemy invasion, the deprivations that came with rationing, and the intensity of wartime romantic relationships. Some took a pacifist stand, against the patriotic tide; others hid their embarrassment when they were excluded from military service. Most lived with the ongoing anxiety of long-distance separation from loved ones. Many endured the inevitable grief of loss. Moving, funny, heartfelt and often surprising, these are memories of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary times.