Author : Michael McKernan
Publisher : Allen & Unwin
Page : 529 pages
File Size : 48,56 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Australia
ISBN : 1741765188
A compelling and passionate account of Australians in World War II, both on the home front and on the battle fronts.
Author : Peter FitzSimons
Publisher : Hachette Australia
Page : 470 pages
File Size : 29,23 MB
Release : 2010-12-16
Category : History
ISBN : 0733626068
‘an engrossing narrative, beautifully controlled by a master storyteller' Michael McKernan, Sydney Morning Herald The bestselling, acclaimed, authoritative account of one of the most famous battles in Australian military history – now established as a classic. For Australians, Kokoda is the iconic battle of World War II, yet few people know just what happened – and just what our troops achieved. In his bestselling book, Peter FitzSimons tells the Kokoda story in his distinctive gripping style. Conditions on the track were hellish – rain was constant, the terrain close to inhospitable, food and ammunition supplies were practically non-existent and the men constantly battled malaria and dysentery, as well as the Japanese. Kokoda was a defining battle for Australia – a small force of young, ill-equipped Australians engaged a highly experienced and hitherto unstoppable Japanese force on a narrow, precarious jungle track – and defeated them.
Author : Peter Brune
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 590 pages
File Size : 40,28 MB
Release : 2011-03-29
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1459616146
The definitive account of the Australians on the Kokoda Trail - a story told through the eyes of the Australians who fought there, many of whom have now passed away....
Author : Paul Byrnes
Publisher : Affirm Press
Page : 510 pages
File Size : 24,33 MB
Release : 2022-10-25
Category : History
ISBN : 1922930512
In the Second World War, thousands of Australian boys lied about their age and volunteered for a war the scale of which they could never have imagined. Like many of their fathers in the Great War, they went with their eyes wide shut: under-trained, under-equipped and under-age. Some were as young as thirteen - too young even to shave. Many did not grow old; others came back broken. A handful are still alive to tell their tales. This extraordinary book captures the bold and untold stories of forty Australian children who fought in the deadliest war in history. Follow these boys through Libya and Palestine, Greece and Crete to the jungles of Malaya, Papua New Guinea and Borneo, fighting for their lives, their country, their mates. Many of the photographs have never been seen. Haunting images of youths in training camps and behind the lines stand beside moving portraits of old men who have not forgotten. Sons of War is a deeply personal military history: an homage to youthful bravery, a eulogy for those who fell, a tribute to those still standing.
Author : Neil McDonald
Publisher : Hachette Australia
Page : 424 pages
File Size : 25,13 MB
Release : 2012-08-28
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0733629512
Damien Parer was without doubt Australia?s greatest war photographer. He helped create the Anzac legend ? and many, many of our iconic war images are his photographs. He served his apprenticeship as a stills photographer on the famous Chauvel film, 'Forty Thousand Horsemen', and was appointed Official Photographer covering the Australian fighting in the early days of World War II in Greece and Syria, and Tobruk. His most famous documentary is 'Kokoda Front Line!' , made during the darkest days of the campaign in mid-1942 (it went on to win Australia?s first Academy Award). His photographs and films brought the war home to Australians ? and are now an integral part of our military history. He died in action ? shot by Japanese machine gun fire, as he filmed an American advance on Peleliu. Originally published as WAR CAMERAMAN: THE STORY OF DAMIEN PARER, and later in an expanded form as DAMIEN PARER'S WAR, this colourful and authoritative story of a great Australian includes many of his most iconic photographs.
Author : Great Britain. Army. Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Publisher :
Page : 410 pages
File Size : 36,8 MB
Release : 1952
Category :
ISBN :
Author : JFK Miller
Publisher : Hybrid Publishers
Page : 155 pages
File Size : 31,7 MB
Release : 2022-08-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1922768073
‘To walk the Kokoda Track is to undertake two journeys. The first starts at Owers’ Corner and undulates through 96 kilometres of primary jungle over the Owen Stanley Range until you reach the village of Kokoda on the other side. This journey is ordinarily taken in the company of others and with a backpack, which you may hire a porter to carry for you if you wish. The second journey began the moment you were born. It brings to the track baggage of a different kind. This you must carry yourself, and the journey you must make alone.’ So begins JFK Miller’s account of his ten-day jungle trek along Papua New Guinea’s Kokoda Track. The journey was effectively two journeys. The external journey was the physical ten-day trek over the track. The internal journey was the emotional aspect, including what Miller brought to the experience — the mental illness of depression — and what he gained from it.
Author : David W. Cameron
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 460 pages
File Size : 25,3 MB
Release : 2022-09-21
Category : History
ISBN : 1922765627
Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Battles in New Guinea David W. Cameron one of Australia's leading military historians new Kokoda Campaign series will take you from the Battle for Isurava to Port Morseby and finally the retaking of Kokoda. For the first time, these significant battles of Australian troops are comprehensively explored. After taking Kokoda Plateau in late July 1942, Japanese forces entered the Owen Stanley Range, their mission was to capture Port Moresby. After the battles for Deniki and Isurava, the Japanese pushed south through the mountains. The Australians were in a determined fighting withdrawal. After a delaying action at Templeton’s Crossing, they took up a position along Mission Ridge, south of Efogi Village. After two days of bloody hand-to-hand fighting, in a battle known as ‘Butcher’s Corner’, the Australians were again forced to withdraw. After further delaying actions, fewer than 300 Australians took up a position on Ioribaiwa Ridge, just 50-kilometres north of Port Moresby. They were reinforced by the 25th Brigade. After a week of fighting, the Japanese cut through the 25th, forcing the Australians to fall back to Imita Ridge, the last defensible ridge in the Owen Stanleys – immediately behind lay Port Moresby.
Author : David W. Cameron
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 411 pages
File Size : 30,66 MB
Release : 2022-03-01
Category : History
ISBN : 1922615684
Within 24 hours of the Japanese invasion of northern New Guinea at Gona in July 1942, the Australian militiamen of ‘B’ Company, 39th Battalion, spent four weeks fighting a delaying action against a crack Japanese force outnumbered by three to one. By mid-August, the rest of the battalion had arrived, and these men took up a position at Isurava, in the heart of the cloud covered mountains and jungles of the Owen Stanley Range. At Isurava, this small militia force of the 39th Battalion now numbering around 300 men was determined to make a stand against a crack Japanese force of the 144th Regiment and supporting elements, numbering at least 1500. Then on the day the Japanese launched their attack, to the great relief of these militiamen, reinforcements from the 2nd AIF who had fought with great distinction in the Middle East began to arrive in the afternoon having spent days struggling up the track from Port Moresby. Even so, the Australians were still outnumbered, as the Japanese also received reinforcements, and unlike the Japanese, the Australians had no supporting artillery or medium machineguns. The battle for Isurava would be the defining battle of the Kokoda Campaign and has rightfully been described as Australia’s Thermopylae. It was here that Australia’s first Victoria Cross in the Pacific war was awarded when the Japanese conducted several ferocious attacks against the Australian perimetre. Private Bruce Kingsbury led an Australian counterattack, rushing forward sweeping the Japanese positions with his Bren gun, saving he situation when all seemed lost — he was killed leading the charge. Another two men were also nominated for the VC during the fighting at Isurava. The outnumbered and poorly equipped Australians managed to hold back the Japanese advance for almost a week; only then did these battle scared and weary men begin a month long fighting withdraw towards Ioribaiwa Ridge just north of Port Morsby. However, their sacrifice provided time for the Australian 25th Brigade to be brought forward — finally forcing the Japanese to withdrawal just as they glimpsed the lights of Port Morseby.
Author : Peter Williams
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 323 pages
File Size : 39,17 MB
Release : 2012-04-23
Category : History
ISBN : 1107495741
The fighting on the Kokoda Track in World War II is second only to Gallipoli in the Australian national consciousness. The Kokoda campaign of 1942 has taken on mythical status in Australian military history. According to the legend, Australian soldiers were vastly outnumbered by the Japanese, who suffered great losses in battle and as a result of the harsh conditions of the Kokoda Track. In this important book, Peter Williams seeks to dispel the Kokoda myth. Using extensive research and Japanese sources, he explains what really happened on the Kokoda Track in 1942. Unlike most other books written from an Australian perspective, The Kokoda Campaign 1942: Myth and reality focuses on the strategies, tactics and battle plans of the Japanese and shows that the Australians were in fact rarely outnumbered. For the first time, this book combines narrative with careful analysis to present an undistorted picture of the events of the campaign. It is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the truth of the Kokoda campaign of 1942.
