This volume describes the fighting on land in the South–West Pacific from mid–1942 to March 1943, including the critical operations in the Owen Stanley mountains, at Milne Bay and round Buna, Gona and Sanananda. It tells how Australian troops stemmed the advance of the hitherto–victorious Japanese, and, with American help, destroyed two–thirds of their force and drove the remainder out ot Papua. The Japanese story is told side by side with the Allied one, and it is now shown that the Japanese forces involved were considerably larger (but their losses somewhat lighter) than was thought at the time.
AUSTRALIA IN THE WAR OF 1939-1945 VOL. V: SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC AREA- FIRST YEAR Kokada To Wau
£28.00
Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War. They fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific. The Australian mainland came under direct attack for the first time, as Japanese aircraft bombed towns in north-west Australia and Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbour.The official history of Australia’s involvement in the Second World War represents one of the longest and largest historical endeavours that Australia has ever seen. The enterprise began in January 1943 with the appointment of Gavin Long as General Editor.