vm
-r. •>iM
In five years of war, Australians have fought in many lands.
The Army has served in areas stretching from the United Kingdom through North Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle East, India and the East Indies to the South-West Pacific.
Ships and men of the Royal Australian Navy have fought on every sea and every maritime-front.
Men of the Royal Australian Air Force have defended England and bombed Germany, fought in Middle East and Indian campaigns, battled against odds in the East Indies, and helped to gain mastery of the skies in the South-West Pacific.
Australian soldiers have earned nearly 4,000 decorations, awards, and citations, including I I Victoria Crosses. Number of R.A.N. personnel decorated is 544. Three Australian airmen have received the Victoria Cross and 2,167 have won other awards.
This book is a pageant of the action of those five years.
Its pictures, taken by Department of Information and other frontline photographers in all areas where Australians have fought, show our men in moments of defeat as well as in those of victory.
They show the slow, laborious action of weary marches across deserts, and through mountain jungles, as well as the swift, triumphant action of victorious assaults on land and sea and in the air.
They are offered, after five years of war as a record of threatened defeat turned into victory, and as a miniature gallery of fighting Australians,
CONTENTS
EUROPE © NAVY • R.A.A.F. • MIDDLE EAST • GREECE CRETE © SYRIA © TOBRUK • MALAYA • AUSTRALIA A.I.F. RETURNS © MILNE BAY © KOKODA • EL ALAMEIN TIMOR • NEW GUINEA • DUTCH NEW GUINEA
Pictures by Department of Information photographers : Anderson, F. Bottomley, Brown,
W. Carty, R. Driver, R. Edwards, J. Fitzpatrick, F. Hurley, E. McNeill, Damien Parer, G. Short,
G. Silk, H. Turner, W. Trerise, J. D. Band, N. E. Brown, and the late Harold Dick.
* •
Additions by Military History Section and R.A.A.F.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION AND BY AUTHORITY OF THE AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR INFORMATION, THE HON. A. A. CALWELL.
KyXv'.
■
M&m
mmm
mm
mXK
.
nra&
HB
|
v I ' Iri^i |
HF jEajwJ&& | ||
|
npM|^VU |
fr
Mr
.vN-;'.
■
Australia declared v September 3, 1939, jus British Prime Minister his Government could n aggression, and that Germany to the end.
Almost immediately sailed for the Mediterr; end of 1939, our shi Gibraltar ar Meanwhil three of th
one nour atter ine ad announced that longer tolerate Nazi Britain would fiqht
R.A.N. destroyei an and, before th had seen Malt; ad the tempestuous Atlantic, e, recruiting had begun for c e armed services. The secon A.I.F. was soon ready and scenes like thes became common at embarkation points i every State.
An advance party of Australians left fc the Middle East on Decern be the first convoy carrying a sailed on January I I, 1940.
In those days, the war European conflict, and the
looked ea that
rs Australian soldiers would serve in of territories, scattered all over the
fantastic to most
ave seem
people.
But the young, fit no illusion of isolat They knew that the while Nazi doctrine of it.
Long before Japan aligned herself wi Axis partners, when there was no direct to the Australian continent, four divisi< the A.I.F., many specialist units, thousai airmen, and powerful Navy formations, serving overseas.
In the North African campaigns, Diggers won Victoria Crosses, and two
did so in Syria. _
When these fighting Australians '
good-bye to their friends, few of imagined that they would be brought to defend their own soil from a Jap drive that was to bring the enemy ri< Australia's borders.
When they did return, it was to figh vastly different terrain. From, the sui
wou
won
men
Australia suffered the Old World, mid was in danger led in any corner
were
more
<yvX;Z:W£
Making their first great efforts at the points most distant from home, the Diggers of World War II, and their Navy and Air Force comrades, penetrated to many parts of the world.
The once-familiar slouch hats re-appeared in English lanes and villages after more than 20 years.
Aged Arabs grinned as they bargained with the sons of soldiers they had known when they were young.
In skies over Europe, Australians flew Britain's wonder-fighters, instead of the frail machines an adventurous few had handled over France in World War I.
The boys of the Royal Australian Navy went out on missions that stirred their blood after years of peace-time cruising.
And wherever there were Australian fighting men, there were Australian nurses, the gallant first few of a service that now contains 9,278 women. . ;
msm
■
SPk«3
MMBil
■tlv^v,' •
$c,. . V &£ ' '
lp*iS|^*
>. .••:• •••:•. • v.>.%••■• p.: -.•■*.■ ..
iia2
In England, an Anzac of two wars carries a German helmet he captured in World War I.
Members of an R.A.A.F. fighter squadron in Britain compare notes after a big day
light operation.
*7 -r
- . 5*»
t'<
Royal Australian Navy personnel disembark at an English port. They were
to see service in many waters before long.
This Middle East airman's jacket once belonged to a French pilot and his hat cord was part of an
enemy parachute. •
• . .y >
. ■.
mmm
Vi* ■
¥ ran
Australians start on a route-march through the pleasant English countryside.
. «v.
mm
■
A complete fighting division of the A.I.F. and various specialist units were in England when invasion across the Channel was expected. •
They'were in convoys bound for the Middle East when Mussolini declared war, on June 10, 1940, and were diverted to the United Kingdom, where the first of them arrived on June 16.
The Germans had over-run France, and, with the Tommies, the Diggers awaited Hitler s boasted assault on England, and prepared themselves to make it a costly one if it came.
Main A.I.F. troops landed in England a few days later, and went to their action stations on July 8, 1940, while fateful air battles raged over the Channel.
While in Britain, they continued the never-ending Army training in new ways of war and handling enemy tactics. But bombed and threatened English cities offered other tasks as well.
The A.I.F. helped A.R.P. officials and demolition squads, dug tank-traps and trenches, mounted guards over places made dangerous by air raids, and gave help whenever, wherever help was needed.
After comparative peace in Britain, the Australians moved on to have their full share of
battle in the Middle East.
They left behind them specialists who included timbergetters swinging axes used to Australian hardwoods among the forests of Scotland.
In English snow, Diggers parade with a stray dog which they adopted.
At a first aid lecture in England. The men's hut and tents can be seen in the background.
m-.:
ft ■' H
S/\W.vvJv 5 v'VX- ' , * v.
KW?
smmsi
w mM iHI lliiift wmm.
'
Sk
••
MM ’
ww«
>*sy«^Tx;
Australians dig a tank-trap during the days when a cross-channel invasion was thought certain.
««
wmM
' •
&'f :./ 1
'%*<•***• 9i x<
sw-s>
wi' V-!S : '•
Australians on guard over
examine
a blitzed building in the ruins.
London
Members of an Australian forestry unit in Britain sharpen axes with a care and skill learned in the Australian Bush.
#v • •**
M
#
l«
'■ ■
,
SjMM
t
Australians who thought that the drier parts of their own continent had
made them well acquainted with sand and desert discovered new significance in the words when they reached the Middle East.
On scorching dunes that became shiveringly cold when Ihe sun had gone down, they went through a "toughening process" designed to make them as resistant to every form of desert hardship as human beings could become.
They learned how to maintain maximum sustained physical effort on a minimum of water, food, warmth, and rest, and how to make Jihcmselves comfortable in places which offered no comfort to Ihe untrained eye.
On leave, they visited many places with names made familiar by Bible stories, and kept familiar by tales of ihe Diggers in World War I.
Traditionally willing to accept any man, irrespective of colour or creed, cs a good fellow until he proves himself otherwise, the Australians of World War II were as friendly wiih native populations as their falhers had been.
There were trading marathons when the wilincss of the old, Eastern countries conflicted wiih the shrewdness of Ihe New World, and sometimes battles of language when coloured labourers or traders could or would not understand instructions given in plain Australian. Occasional cunning merchants discovered that Bazaar trie ks that worked like oiled silk with wealthy peacetime tourists needed more streamlining if they were to succeed with ihe wartime visitors.
But official tact and rank-and-file friendliness ensured generally happy relations between the Australians and Ihe natives, and the curiosity of the troops encouraged fraternisation.
Japanese aggression broughf most of 1he Australians back from the Middle East, but it will be a long time before they are forgotten, and their ways and doings no longer discussed by the natives who traded for and wiih Ihem.
mm:
wiflUSSi, .•• •*. .• •///' .
aesaaas
WMt
y/z.
wm.
w%.
m
m
m
m
m
wmmm
' '
//>V »Vo »V /» • «V / ' • • y *.. / *,* '/.vy /.vy. . y '^‘ ^ ^' •
: •■::'X: :' v- . .* - • •'' x-:> • • Z&kZ'i '/Zvs.
mm%
Jpwfc
smi
PIS
Jy«*-.\. x 5ft /
mgmm
A depth-charge explodes astern of a patrolling Australian destroyer.
A smiling sailor of the Royal Australian Navy on the job in working rig.
Australian destroyers in action in the Mediterranean, where they fought until Italy capitulated.
M mmw if / v ■ I W
nUMp
■
■ :-. •: x :. <,/*/ / • .*• ,% - ..
I £#plpi?«l Iwwm Ss*fs
■
MRS
' ■ ■
itea • 1iisi isi
' • . . ■
■ • . ■, • - '
« ' -1 v, ippiiip $m m -
mm? m#
P§;.i5 »ii* Hi -,. :4*<'lap pi * tl li' ' Ip - i I Pptttf
^:vXv:v^\sX::i?:':xv»:f5w
mpHIM
■ ■
VANNyA'.y
v.::-‘:r':-: -.
.
m^mmm
- ■ ■ V'-
• •: ^>.;:s,'-';>V:-: ;-x::-:-;::-^;
&Pmhhh
psmMp
inB
m§
:
Ml
There can be few, if any, of the fighting forces of the United Nations which have been more battered in action during these five years of war than the Royal Australian Navy.
It began the war with 15 ships in commission, aggregating 60,000 tons.
It has lost about 30,000 tons through
enemy action. •
But Australian industry, while facing successfully an unprecedented task in helping to keep the ships of all the Allied Nations sailing in the South-West Pacific, has more than replaced the losses.
Since the outbreak of war, in three classes of ships alone—destroyers, frigates and corvettes—Australian naval construction has almost equalled the total R.A.N. of 1939 in tonnage and exceeded it in total of ships built.
Today, the R.A.N. is. far stronger than ever before.
One of the most spectacular R.A.N. actions in World War II was that in which H.M.A.S. Sydney sank the Italian cruiser,
Bartolomeo Colleoni.
The enemy vessel was of the very latest type, much faster,, and well supported by other craft.
Only very clever handling of the Sydney, and the eager efficiency of her crew, made a clear-cut victory possible, and when it was achieved it set a standard for the R.A.N. in this war which has been maintained.
The Sydney's commander in this engagement was Captain J. A. Collins, C.B., R.A.N. After long service in European waters, followed by service in Malaya, he took command of H.M.A.S. Shropshire, operating against the Japanese in the South-West Pacific. In May, 1944, he was appointed to the operational command of the Royal Australian Naval Squadron, with the rank of Commodore First Class. Commodore Collins, a graduate of the R.A.N. College, is the first Australian naval officer to hold this position.
Australian ships have fought on every ocean, performed every sort of convoy, patrol, and assault work, landed and protected troops in major South-West Pacific battles, and shared with the British Navy the hazardous work of saving our soldiers from beaches where the enemy hoped to capture or destroy them.
The traditions of the R.A.N. are as much alive on the launches and "little ships" of miscellaneous breeds that have done such good work among the islands to our north
The crack Italian cruiser "Bartolomeo Colleoni sinking after her
engagement with H.M.A.S. "Sydney."
Men of H.M.A.S. "Sydney" grin through a hole in her funnel which was the only damage inflicted by "Bartolomeo Colleoni."
Xy. xtvv n
as they vessels.
are in
the wardrooms of the big
Italian survivors from the "Bartolomeo Colleoni picked up by
H.M.A.S. "Sydney." .
IPfpP- m m. -' ;> * >
-5 ^V', '' .. - " ..
,
*
wmSmM%m *p itti «11 i
............
aiiMI
VY///'
Wmmmm
■
& / :> -:,;-:;v'; v'Zfe'Mtz •' ': Jrv «:: :;•- v# Swm •• <-•:rp m' ■ .- f rp m
' .
. ft/,/.. '■■:■. - : liv/, /,; v.,.-.. .' m/ •:-■?■.■ -/p >; -i-;f- - %• > Py*
; :
' ,\
■ ■ • . •
.
•1*\V
‘vSR'v
Ms®
KS£S$
Australians haul round the tail of an R.A.A.F. Sunderland flying boat as they launch it off the English coast.
■H■
'
.
. • - -'v
.
:
wmmm
• . VYS'/AVV■.>,v
.••••• .-:*.• ' :::X
• lil
■
• •v.v.,/,/w.vwC^v<
Ppp
.vwwT*’ .•-■•.•. - .
Wearing wading-suits, these members of an R.A.A.F. squadron in England are hauling in gear after launching a bomber.
An English girl made this flag for an Australian Sunderland crew, from bits of other flags and a Christmas cake Union Jack.
Ever since British air strength reached the point at which an answer could be given to the flow of German bombers across the English Channel, Royal Australian Air Force formations have raided the heart of Europe with the R.A.F.
Even earlier, R.A.A.F. Sunderland squadrons were protecting Britain over the seas around her coast.
The Sunderlands had been bought for R.A.A.F. use in Australia. Crews v/ere in England to bring them south when the war began, and the Australian Government decided that there could be no better use for them anywhere than where they were.
Many of the men in these Sunderland crews have been in several years, and there can be eager for the end of the war, and none doing more to bring the struggle to a successful conclusion. . •
They come from all States, and life of planned routine, hindered by every danger the Nazis can
of for
none more
pictures
Britain
theirs is a and upset devise, as
well as the natural risks of long-distance ocean flying with heavy loads.
When Australia’s own they had to stay on the to compensate for them in their own land Britain sent to Australia the battle-trained Spitfire crews who took part in the defence of our northern coast. •
As well as Sunderlands, the R.A.A.F. mans and maintains many types of bombers and fighters in Britain including Mosquitoes, Lancasters, Halifaxes, Wellingtons, Hampdens, Spitfires and Hurricanes.
danger was great, job in England, but
nmm.
Inside an R.A.A.F. Sunderland, with air gunners at their stations and
crew members in their quarters.
other
.
i
Australians man the ropes to haul in a Sunderland bomber at an English base,
|
y. |
i | |
m Wmmmm
fimm
iipa
Wmm
'/ .“• •'{•'■. ,/.*/.■/ /VV '
MM
9HNH
.
W&WM:
—
5?
ilff
Art Australian sergeant pilot about to climb into his Spitfire for a sweep over enemy- occupied Europe.
An Australian pilot on a British aerodrome explains to his Wing-Commander how he shot down a Mecserschmitt.
>.\y
.■Wvv
wBcB
oNx*v
This R.A.A.F. tail gunner in England lost a leg with the A.I.F. in the Middle East before he joined the Air Force.
Members of an Australian Lancaster crew demonstrate^ damage to a plane which they brought home after a raid.
.. y. ..
An Australian Halifax crew in Britain gets ready to man the aircraft.
V .
' ■* "
WMmi
The Second A.I.F. fought for the first time in the actions which followed the capture of Sidi Barrani on December 9, 1940.
its first major action was at Bardia, beginning on January 3, 1941, and resulting in the fall of the town 1wo days later. The victory was accomplished by the dislodgement of some 45,000 Axis troops from positions which it was thought held only 25,000.
On January 22, Australian infantry and British tanks stormed and captured Tobruk, which had been garrisoned by 25,000 men.
In little more than a month after their first battle, the Australians travelled 360 miles in pursuit of the enemy to capture Benghazi on February 7, 1941. But their advance ended about 75 miles south of Benghazi when they were sent to a new battlefield in Greece to relieve a valiant, hard-pressed nation, and wore replaced in the Middle East by reinforcements from Australia.
Pictures on this and following pages are of the desert advance, before the building up of German and • Italian strength on Tripoli turned the tide and brought about the siege of Tobruk. '
Veterans
of the Middle East lined before the beginning of a
up in the desert just new advance.
H
•y -y n
* : ■ * • V
* ..*•
As in World War I, camels were used by the Diggers to reach their desert outposts in the Middle East.
In the desert, faces were shaved when there was water and time, and this bombadier had been busy when the picture was
taken.
On the flat, tree-less country, smoke screens created cover under which the
Australians advanced with fixed bayonets.
Diggers in
the Western Desert often had no cover, but lay flat as from shell blast, as these are doing. •.
protection
Australian troops new to desert warfare watch anti-tank gun
u;ic r\n fiprmfln armoured units.
\n enemy outpost is the objective of these Australians who are following
gun-carriers into action.
m&wmm
(hhhbmr
^8wSa»S<w
sSSKsS®?^
StsS-flSsW'Ss;?
:
wwSSMSftcKi
:■ •■.■.•- '■ .■:• :. :•■: .-
:&Ss88&s^
mm
%'v;^".-''s . n- ^v-v
.. ''fx :: :
/R;:-^^yv:v. ; :v/>::‘». v. :<<•
i(’AuuejA| uej4.dA6gn luojj. pAqrj jo lluo|.|.ej©qj|(i jiei|4 s^ejoujoujujoo o| pjQuunuow sit|4- pspsJ3 pei^ suei|e|| 9ijj_
*3acuj aij| uo ))uej upiujs0 pejqesip e |s6 04 Aj| su0{|ej|sny
UPLUJO0 'peuopupcjp pup ps6eaipg
HSl
1 jl' igf MmmM
hbhp
;fev, Mai
' ■ ‘ .
i8|S«il»
y ^ . >:wxv-v• -■ \
j?./> \ | Y^/V- / '> .. ' ||j|
■ •;•*.; -1
: ••■ - . '■ /;:•:- :■■■ : - • ;. ■ . ■ • ...... •- •
mmm ■ ' -
mm.
Wmk
k
m&m
iii:;
mm
wmmm.
HI
wm
An Australian fighter pilot who served in the Middle
East.
The Sergeant Pilot of an R.A.A.F. bomber in the
Middle East with the koala mascot he took on all raids.
» • • • • . • — * « * • •
The first R.A.A.F. squadron went into action in the Middle East in November, 1940, a few months after its arrival there.
In January, 1941, these airmen were substantially reinforced, and Australians flew and fought in this theatre -until there was no more fighting to be done.
Their original Gauntlets and Gladiators were replaced by Hurricanes, then Tomahawks, and later Kittyhawks. Australian bombers joined the fighters in the area, and stayed there until our victory
was complete. _ _
The Australian airmen iri the Middle East fought side by side with comrades from Britain,
Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand.
wmsm
■Safe
•’
aSSx
sssss
J I n
HI
>;;: • - - ^
i
f ■ •"
. v.V«N V-’. «
R.A.A.F. pilots spring to their Tomahawks at the alarm on a Western Desert aerodrome.
W
This flight ended in disaster, but headaches will pass, and the Australian aircrew will fight again,
An enemy shell lands uncomfortably close as men of an Australian salvage unit work on a damaged Bren carrier.
v,.. ' ■■
Mm.-
mmmmm
.
ihhim
glSIilllSi®
mKmm
pSlp
:v- ; '■
. y. v
■ > '
gam*
WM
SOTHKHK
mm-'.
spun
‘ .
mm
v.:-. v ' x ■
SfeXy
PHH| Si
, i •
'■•v ,. , Xvt ly .w.-. iv. lv ‘
SHOT:-..:: :•■ ::•;•>:■:■
Wm.
mmm
mm
*
sWsMnv
pppfi
-
‘
iilip
^ ;>iv:VV
.
I) ",
v.;4s': :
*4AMN|t0|£
mmm
!^pp& :-; v
§&ss>- • .
Iwm tl#ii§
Mil
•\r»;-:-vv^ j
Smoke from a direct hit on a ship in a Middle East port rises
above other damaged and wrecked hulls. •
• 4
4
i
Diggers in a desert dugout near Bardia, with the engine of a
shot-down Italian plane in the background.
4
W . .j
i(&?' .
•> •
ill .V ' • % ;
"v
pH
f§§«
- M
mm
HUH
Mmm
M|
Aussies watch the guns shelling Derna and collect ideas for the famous "bush artillery" which they formed with captured guns.
A Digger outside the. main gate of Fort Capuzzo after its '.vi ■ i ’ . capture.
. - . / **'•■:
mrnm^SmSSKmm
iiirai
Cv v/, Xy/X
fj* '*0
HHHli
& * ■ ••■.-•' v .
■>. ' .<■■■■/ j-y. ■■#■:.
le
Their tank out of action, these Nazis come into the open with their
hands raised. .
Italian prisoners grin with pleasure as Australians give them much'
needed smokes and lights.
A Digger stands guard over crack German troops who have finished their warfare in the Western Desert.
k\V>
-
■
i.. ■ ■■'■-. P ■ ■■■ >;
mmmm
M.: Mm
« %wmmm Y i
$:>zs&cvm&
S '
ill'
fr
iv--
As the Australians and their Allies swept through North Africa in the early months of 1941, Axis prisoners became embarrassingly
numerous. •
On the first day of the A.I.F. assault on Bardia, 8,000 Italians surrendered.
. Later, an Australian general had to tell 7,000 Italians who wanted to capitulate that they would have to wait until the next day, because the two or three Diggers available were not considered a strong enough guard for them.
Total of Axis troops who laid down their arms at Bardia was 40,000, and with them the Allies captured 400 guns, 130 tanks, 700 motor trucks, and vast stores of other materials.
Feeding, sheltering, and providing medical attention for such numbers was a problem. But it was solved, and the long processions of defeated men who trailed back from the fighting fronts were remarkably well cared for under the circumstances.
The vast number of prisoners taken did not mean that the campaign was an easy one. The Italian infantry lacked the morale to keep fighting past the point at which things seemed to them hopeless. But many units fought well, and the gunners, in particular, were well-trained men who kept firing until they had no alternative to surrender, and then held up their hands with a very bad grace.
Some of the Italians were ardent Fascists, and have now spent more than three years ' in Allied prison camps. Many thousands of their less stubborn comrades have been put to work on the production fronts in Britain, other Empire countries, and elsewhere.
mmm
i
.-•V V
After the battle for Bardia, most of the thousands of Italian prisoners settled down like weary, puzzled cattle.
V'-V.v’
w/W
mmsBrn.
Greek soldiers retiring before the flood of German troops, shells and bombs talk with an Australian corporal.
Not comfortable, but reasonably safe, these Greek civilians have fled to the mountains to escape German bombing and strafing.
in
The story of the A.I.F. in Greece is a tale of peaceful entry into a pleasant land, followed by a retreat for nearly 300 miles, dictated by overwhelming air superiority which the Germans used with devastating effect while they poured their troops and tanks into the country.
The Australians who went there fought their way out with regret at leaving a gallant people. They left many of their comrades to go to German prison camps, too. But there were epic escapes over land and water after the main body had been evacuated and many splendid exhibitions of loyalty and courage by the Greeks. '
Australian and New Zealand troops in Greece were welded together, as they had been in World War I, into a Corps, and the main evacuation from Greece began on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the historic Gallipoli landing of World War I which gave Anzac Day its name.
The British Navy did fine work in removing the troops from Greece, and German strategy and weight of metal were robbed of most of the spoil.
But Greece itself fell into the hands of the enemy, and Australians who escaped took with them memories of noble scenery, pleasant, smiling, people, and the classic monuments of one of the oldest surviving civilisations. . ' ‘
They hoped to return.
mIm
ISiiliBBH
' - ns§ ■:: J::' V t:V
. ' -y ..;V. • .
HI
Si*) i
Km .v / •-' ><•
jrr. •■•.*. . ■’ a v/-, <
l»S»i
w#m
• rV'iW^kt.w
i m
'
mm®
apilPiliiiip 1 -
.
J
Australians on leave in Athens visit the Acropolis and enjoy the , contrast with Middle East surroundings.
vv$«fcccv>< :»•■.
. / ■' •;
.
Brarall
■
11M:
ijUPmHk
.
m
vAVoQQai.» w>.
: :
IBM
• ■
. -
.
XXwXv\Viw ■’•••. -
fijfcSS
HIM
■Mhipip —
AjL-XOk.W.V
■■■WMHHM
$jSS®SS iAn^vN,'1' . ■ X'.wff
. . ... Sss •■■’■
»&V
Diggers and Greek civilians examine the remains of one German plane that did not raid agsin.
:»K-
...
<C~ 1 .jW.-
V'
■M&mm
VM4
•"■/// y K
aMSaa
gsS^iS»(
w
j:\- -vn«<.<
.as.'.vJja; .yt
SssSSSSsMs
III!*
Hi H
§M O'.;..:- - .. ■' g
BHgm
•• -S\VV.<•- >.■- \V. . d
P : .
Crete
0
Catastrophe
German bombs welcomed A.I.F. to Crete.
From Greece, many Australians were evacuated to Crete, and there were about 7,000 of them on the island on May 20, 1941, when the German airborne invasion began.
' Their position was hopeless, with as many as 275 German planes taking part in single attacks, while others towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped parachutists in thousands.
Thousands of Australians were captured despite the evacuation efforts of British ships which included the Australian cruiser "PERTH." Others made daring escapes with the help of the people of the country, or waged guerrilla warfare from the mountains
for as long as they could hold out.
Bill
These Australians could still raise a smile.
Greece and Crete took heavy toll of the A.I.F., and those who were saved were assembled in Egypt.
Their admiration for the Navy men, who had gone back under the Nazi bombers repeatedly to bring them out of danger, was intense. "It’s great to be able to look up into the sky and see the white ensign instead of hundreds of German planes," said one battered Digger on the deck of a British cruiser.
Those saved included a party of nursing sisters from an Australian and New Zealand hospital in Crete. While embarking, some of them were woun ded in a raid, but they carried on as uncomplainingly as the men.
Soldiers and nurses alike had not much time in Egypt to recuperate, for in 1941 the United Nations were losing the war on all fronts, and every fit, trained man and woman was needed.
‘i
mZtsm
: ■ *
. SviSJ
.
)ww
PIP#
WmMm
UBi
K
■
3B8SB
£$S§&£
v’vKW v>.1
S8&S& •• •« -:;:
V- V,: MmmMm
mi&M
iMnM
■ '«vt:
iSSC&S
' < # .£; • .. *£
’ '• • -: -1
'' P •' - , /
H m p i
wMzM
:. V5;:: ^.,. . %:.V5:p;|^::-y.... :
&$.y
|
5«3jr.
••
ImJM-JK' .•’. • .w.
Digger from Crete rolls the first cigarette he has been able to
smoke quietly for many days.
These Australians are being taken by the British Navy from Greece
to further action in Crete.
■yXyy
/ ■;
The next
in w
hich the A.I.F.
campaign
fought was more successful than most had been for the Allies at that stage of the war.
The Australians moved into Syria during the night of June 7-8, 1941, to fight Vichy French forces made up of the battle-hardened French Foreign Legion, coloured colonial troops, and other well-trained frontline fighters. •
They faced a difficult terrain, and at least in the early stages of the campaign, the enemy was better equipped, with a great many more tanks than we had.
One Australian formation moved from Metulla to Merdjayoun. A column of Australian, British, Free and Indian troops moved wide eastern flank. They reached and, %
21, captured, Damascus.
But the decisive battle of the campaign was fought at Damour, the last main defence position on the coastal road to Beirut.
The Australians on the coast road had advanced through Tyre, 12 miles beyond the frontier, without meeting serious opposition. From this point, however, the coastal ranges close in a nd command the road at many points, so that our advance was made under the muzzles of French guns.
' On June 30, the Vichy commander, General Dentz, was offered an armistice. Ffe refused and on July 6 the Australians launched their main attack. On July 9, General Dentz reconsidered the offer and on July 12 the armistice was signed.
British tanks and planes played an important part in the Syrian campaign. And once again the Royal and Royal Australian Navies did fine work along the coastline.
In the mountains, the Australians used captured horses to replace their unsuitable vehicles as personal transport, and dragged supplies and guns up the slopes with mule and donkey trains.
on
on
inland mixed French the June
-V %
®IP^S 1SS11I H WmwSMm
WtS;
SWS»
Diggers awaiting orders near Beirut are little disturbed by shellbursts from Vichy guns.
£
^ Cjkr,
P.Xj##
!\\s‘X\X>Nv
Free French soldier shares a Second A.I.F., who has to
joke with a member of the use a pencil to explain.
An Australian vantage point
looks over the Syrian city of Sidon in the tower of the old crusaders'
from a castle.
a»i»
tips
'
Wifi
y>* -i-r *•,■•*'■
vavx:Av.:<>
*11
ii
*
i
■'-» Hsj Sji |
>S<" •• ■'
iliil
"■ ■x •
■I
Members of fhe A.I.F. ski unit for reconnaissance work in
were suitably clothed the mountain snow.
«
At right the Australians showed their adaptability in Syria where they soon accustomed themselves to unfamiliar conditions.
Diggers set out on a sort never worn
a recce patrol in uniforms of by Australian soldiers before.
Hal
IBB
WMVASVAI
5:^sksssss
mm
wmM
m
Wm §ggfi
i:"
an
••
SpHB
v'-v
ilii
:f\vs
When Germany's "Lord Haw-Haw" called the Digger defenders of Tobruk "rats," they adopted the title, and our five years of war have produced no finer one.
The British withdrawal in Africa began on March 31, 1941, and the Australians withdrew for some 270 miles with remarkably light losses. They retired to Tobruk, where they held out against every kind of assault for 220 days before they were relieved.
During that time, the enemy bombers blew the already shattered town into even smaller fragments. In one 52-day period, there were 1,431 enemy raids on Tobruk, and among the German efforts to capture it was a great drive made by 60 tanks supported by victorious troops from France. The garrison stood, and the port remained open.
The Diggers augmented their guns by creating their famous "bush artillery," using captured Italian weapons manned by anybody and everybody available.
At night, they prowled out on guerrilla raids, designed to keep the enemy ring as far away as possible.
MM
;
The Navy ran the gauntlet thousands of times to keep them supplied with food and ammunition. R.A.N. destroyers were ever-willing "ferries" and one of them, "Vendetta," carried more than 4,000 men and 650 tons of supplies to and from Tobruk in one seven weeks' period.
Many of the Diggers who were taken out of Tobruk by lie Navy in November, 1941, were bitterly disappointed that ihey had not been permitted to fight their way out. One battalion stayed on and helped break the siege.
An Australian explodes an enemy bomb left in Tobruk by the Italians. Its crater will make a pit to hide a tank.
Australians "shopping" in Tobruk for the few comforts that could come into them when there were so many
essentials to be brought.
Diggers advance upon an Italian gun position along the
inner circle of the Tobruk defences.
\
Wmm
lip
!
I
!
1
1
IpMPP
l
l
* V/
1
"Germans and
Italians captured by the Australians at Tobruk share quarters.
"Tobruk Truth" office, from which an issue of the Diggers' paper came on every day of the long siege,
aiBiiWM
■■■Ml
Iki
;
■ :
'
:>• ■:
■ M ^
-A •. V.V.W. •
IPtllili
'rvvv.w:.. v^>v-
mBSSIIBSHB
W^mm
•: •■; ::e ■ ' ■
The San Giorgio blazes and sinks in Tobruk harbour while the hammered defences are bolstered up by the Australians.
Tobruk was in ruins, but there were still shelter-holes where the Diggers could dig in.
> V v/a>V>Vv-.V7
• .'•• • ,• * *,• " * '•*. * ‘Wy.vVyv. a V *. V-v. _>v ‘ *» •' *lv •, ,s ■ . .
• >a . . :
■ ■' ■ '■ ; •• : ! . .
aBMjBlii
. . '
wmm
ism
<:. >>>v .v». v;
«tfw
mm mu
vs> m- >!$>&, * m
V' '' v'v|- ' *1 '
Iglte Spiral
■ . ;
: a- -• • •
mKm i ■ aw—mm
■ '
*'•'••• • % v •. N '. *• '■ :.** a*j
•■ •>: .• '•< \ •• 'V *. *. :• •:• ..•>:• .•■.••*> •• :• • . ,.l *
• . , . ■ v . • • /• :* * .'*»•; ;• - y* •. >.v.X$ •. i . / * * '
. ' ' ■ • *>*?
• • • . ■' ■.. • -
• •• • • . s • • ■ # • • ,• #v
- ■ •: ‘ •
. . '
... . < . • .v ; . - :.!: ' ■ •' ' ■ •
'
m
A-^S&iK&SS
I W&mM
' v
««s?
<y
mWm
... ... •■.■■■■.
.
»
mm
Ruin is made more complete by yet another German raid.
or.
the
111
No disaster in our five years of war has hit Australians as hard as the loss of an A.I.F. Division in the catastrophic attempt to hold Malaya.
The Australians went into action early in January, 1942. At Gemas, 150 miles north-west of Singapore, they trapped and killed 1,000 Japs and destroyed 10 enemy tanks. .
An A.I.F. battalion was rushed 100 miles to hold the invaders at the Muar River. It went into action without rest, did great slaughter, and destroyed another ten tanks.
Australians and Indian troops numbering less than 1,000 fought their way out with the bayonet when surrounded . by 15,000 of the enemy.
But such deeds could only temporarily halt the vast tide of Japanese which swept down the Malayan Peninsula, and Singapore fell, with Australians still grimly holding a perimeter around it, on February 16 1942. X
_ Before that happened, full mobilisation in Australia had been announced January 25. ' '
Since it happened, the rescue of ____
A.I.F. Division which is in Japanese hands has been a major Australian war aim.
yvmmm IWMMMimk
'•'v,
•//.•.vA/.v.'/.v.v.
• - '
wmm. ?
v HWB
Wmz
mm
i
■mM
:-VXvV::
Members of a doomed division march cheerfully along a Malayan road in their early training days. At right: Australians at. the 1941
Anzac Day ceremony in Malaya.
lisSS©
P«£wk5*v«:
- y.-
SggSS^v .*
| \c*\ :-.y
:'MW:
PP§li
Ms
iHM
f
I §gf|p ' i*i
Igiit i
• *y>m<
mm
Ml
HI
IfHI
jSf.w viW,
Neither these caitlo nor their attendant were perturbed by the nearby blaze caused by an early Jap raid.
Singapore firefighters did fine work which preceded the invasion
during Jap air of the fortress.
/y/////^'////Vs;
attacks
Total warfare—a scene in bombed Singapore.
■
Xs, V.-
mmmM
•• S ---V;
’•ip- ■■;?£
mg
«hou;h» ,
|il§i&
£
■
>N?v V
S»Sv|
|
i-X |
K v s |
|
I: f . 9 |
The pall of smoke that hangs over doomed Singapore comes from fhe Naval Base.
Kctreat In Malaya
„
A sniper and a fellow Digger with a tommy-gun in one of the rubber-plantations.
Wounded are brought- out.
WwilBi
mrnvmm.
■.$%
IB
B1
When the Australian Division tured at Singapore individuals parties escaped.
From the peninsula, they were to be swept right south to their own country, as the Japanese swarmed over the adjacent islands. New Guinea and New Britain had already been attacked, and the Australians who reached Java to join the force which had been sent there to aid the Netherlands Army were soon forced to move on again.
The Japanese attacked Java on night of February 28-March I, 1942, claimed that resistance ceased on March 9, though they were harried by guerrilla fighters for some time after that date.
Movement of the Australians and others who escaped first from Malaya and then Java was carried out in every size and kind of craft. Long sea journeys were made in frail, open native vessels, as well as in overcrowded ships hurriedly marshalled for the emergency. •
There was hardly any corner of the East Indies that was not filled with danger for the Australians, and they had breathless moments as they threaded their way south between the islands. But they preferred the risks they ran to the prospect of Japanese prison camps.
was
and
■§p«fi
ftfli
. :/•• .. ■ . a:.:-; ':a • -x ' '
V I® v . " , \ A ^
'
1 Ammi-
Mm it* in
i I m » a isss • sat * -t$?
rntBrnm
.
ItiMS
PH
'.sv/v.wv.'
A A '
■l 11
SHw
RmH
'\vww.v
...
-vSS
..a -
k
F: '■..' :
-
.Ass
The United States destroyer ’’Peary" burns near an Australian hospital ship in Darwin Harbour on February 19, 1942.
War kills Australian civilians in their own country when the Japs score a direct hit on the Darwin Post Office.
' • >r>S<SeSN
^^‘^^.•^^SJSv»^KwTOSo«S«^S5^
K
Sgs|gg$s
K$$g$£g
This was a bedroom in Darwin before a Jap bomb hit it in one of the later raids on the town.
War hit Australia on February 19, 1942. For the first time in its 154 years of peaceful development,
consoled themselves w ith the of their own continent had the
Australians were killed, on their own soil, by an enemy from overseas.
Australian mandated territory has been bombed before, but those who still belief that the enemy's territorial ambitions had limits somewhere north r complacency shocked out of them when the Japanese first struck at Darwin.
Australian civilians, manning vital services, were killed at their posts.
A peaceful Australian harbour was dotted with Allied ships burning, damaged, and sunk. An Australian town had been half wrecked. Australia was threatened with invasion as Britain was after Dunkirk.
Early in March, 1942, the Jap bombers attacked Broome and Wyndham on the West Australian coast. Later in the month, they raided Derby, and ventured inland to attack Katharine, 200 miles from Darwin.
The Battle for Australia had begun. •
An Allied ship burns at Darwin, smoke from it joining that of other bombed vessels and the town.
■B
Mi
Anti-Invasion Measures .
Obstacle training toughens up the troops.
slash their way through a mangrove swamp in the course of preparing defensive positions against the threat of invasion.
. ■
ill
Coastal batteries get ready to defend Australian soil.
Spitfires in Australia. Manned by R.A.F. and R.A.A.F. crews, they took heavy toll of Zeros in North Australia.
R.A.A.F. SpHfire pilots race to their Darwin-based planes to intercept
Jap raiders.
Bodies of nine Japs were found near this enemy plane shot down in a
night raid on Darwin.
// V V.
Mlli
£pll
- .
>
WS
llili
.v/,
These Japs were destroyed while bringing destruction to quiet Northern Australian towns.
aw:
)
p|ipp|w^ i
feHmiiigi
ipi§®|llf8t«§§
Mot*
■, A’.v. ,v.v.
v: m
Mats
Hi
,:. : ’ %&.
Iw.v.va'-,
8wy j y.\ •■;
t-* ’»»v...
SSSeESSSS.vSSv >)&'.
-ewe
. \sv.v.tM%Vxv\
Threatened by the Japanese, Australia sent fighting men in thousands to sparsely-populated Northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and the North-West. .
Supply problems immediately became acute. Ships had to dodge submarines round the coast, while camels, bullocks and horses toiled through the bush. Safer and speedier supply routes were essential.
In September, 1940, a military roadway from Tennant's Creek, in Central Australia, to Larrimah had been begun. The Civil Construction Corps, a militarily disciplined body of workers over-age or otherwise unfit for military service, was sent to -complete and
extend it. •
They ran the highway to Darwin in record.time, and an endless stream of heavy trucks replaced the slower, riskier methods of bringing up supplies.
In the meantime, old tracks and stock routes were opened and the effectiveness of the northern garrisons improved rapidly.
The Army in the north-west has its own herds and slaughter yards. Aboriginal stockmen are used.
cgraRgg
t iv.
iiMl 111
S- .
:# * i • . • • ' >>' •$>•:
■ .8
'+**%*/**'• vs/ks* '/Akv+j. .-.
One of the miniature submarines which raided Sydney Harbour is brought to the • : surface, badly battered.
?V»X v‘AAv.vv..
Mpn|
i%:-'r v
•Xvvi " • /.v'/ IvwKi .
mm.
■ ' '
Iff* m W; *
■ • :
v>’ /. sV w • •VvXw.*‘ Xvy.’ .'v^ s',' .■
• V- y : ■
inmrw
in one of Sydney's eastern suburbs.
At the beginning of June, 1942, the Japanese made two experiments which failed.
They raided Sydney Harbour, and shelled Sydney and Newcastle, with insignificant results.
In Sydney Harbour, Jap miniature two-man submarines sank a former ferry which was in use as quarters for naval ratings. Nineteen sailors were killed, but three of the enemy submarines were destroyed, and samples later dredged from the harbour bottom were used to stimulate response to war loan campaigns.
In both cities, the shelling did little more than cause the air-raid sirens to go into action, and knock a few holes in the walls of private dwellings.
The experiments were not repeated by the Japs, who were soon fully occupied far north of Sydney by our armed forces.
The two-man submarines made headlines, and there was some con-ecture on how they had been Drought close enough to come into the harbour.
But the raids had no practical value to the enemy, either through the destruction they did or any effect on morale.
iw®
When their own country was threatened the A.I.F. was brought home as fast as
. . . ' i f la ■ a • If* II ll
e
e
exigencies of war allowed. One rest, but they too landed in the
famous division Commonwealth
remained for much longer than as soon as their movement was
ossible without upsetting carefully worked out plans.
Most of the A.I.F. arrived home in the first quarter of 1942.
Transports arrived in Australian ports regularly, rith the farewells of the earlier war years.
But for most of the Diggers home was merely a ew kind of fighting in the New Guinea jungles.
and scenes like this contrasted staging-camp on the way to a
The battle of the Coral Sea, one of the first and hardest blows against Japanese sea power, rail iffe ate was an Allied victory which cost the enemy 15 ships, and the United States only three. The
Ji H Ms a 09 w R.A.N. and R.A.A.F. participated, and did good work in the series of fights which lasted for
five days. . ' '
Land-based bombers operating from airfields which had been built in record time by the Allied Works Council struck repeated blows at the Jap convoy, which was first attacked on May 4, 1942, and was completely dispersed and broken by May 9. .
On August 7, the Battle of the Solomon Islands began at dawn, when Australian heavy cruisers led attacks on Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
Forces were landed successfully, but in the early hours of the morning of August 9, the Royal Australian Navy lost H.M.A.S. Canberra.
.... wj1jc|1 Australian ships took part played a major part in
i lie
These and later naval battles
in
keeping the Japanese superiority in the air, organised.
off Australian soil. They were fought at a time when the enemy had and the defences on the Australian mainland were by no means fully
.v.'.yX'* vjCsSRSXnsS
JvX'XvC
WA,.\ A,.V.*,y.V,V.V. .»>.•.
‘ • ''
.v/.y
:
ill'.
A. .v>X*
& mm
WSm
R.A.N. guns ablaze in a night action in the South-West Pacific area.
ywMmm
' •
#?v<
5gv»;
:%*•
mm
■f* s« •» w w
m J• > • v:; -ia
R.A.A.F. on
In this war of many fighting fronts, the Royal Australian Air Force has spread its wings everywhere. In areas in which its role has not been a major one, it has generally at least been represented, and its men have flown many types of Allied fighters and bombers, as well as the Australian-built Wirraways, Beauforts, Beaufighters and Boomerangs.
Australian fliers many of them have Australian service.
During its short but active cherishes. It trains its men as with the common good.
Its fliers have written their own story over convulsed earth and lonely seas. Its ground’ crews have a high standard of efficiency and a scorn for danger that wholly fits them for their important place in the war scene.
have
been
co-operated away from
with those of all home longer than
the Allied members
Nations of any
and
other
ife, the R.A.A.F. has established traditions which it a team which allows no individual need to interfere
These Australian fighter pilots in South-East
down two Japs each in
Asia are comparing a six-minute attack.
notes after shooting
Stationed in Burma, these Australians belong to a Spitfire squadron which bagged 15 Japs in one day.
R.A.A.F. personnel are checked aboard their ship to take part in the invasion of Europe.
-
f
¥
r-..-. • V.
>
iMP*
• ■ .. ■
» dial 8§l S
• v •' --C '
' .'*v?
4j^ * >*
*
I
i
mmmw
SI* «
W&i&M
Mmm
/sy- tet/rtsY..
i|gWpWi
■•■ ^ ... ^ •...:....x::^....:r^
Australians inflicted upon the Japanese their first clear-cut land defeat of the war in the Pacific.
This followed an enemy landing at Milne Bay on August 26, 1942.
The area had been garrisoned by one Australian brigade only a few weeks before the Japs attempted to invade it, and a second brigade arrived little more than a week before the fighting began.
Two R.A.A.F. squadrons were at Milne Bay, and, when the enemy arrived, they did splendid work in co-operation with the ground forces.
During part of the fighting the on y anti-tank weapons the Australians had were hand grenades, and in the early stages they were driven back. However, the Japs never captured the airstrip, and from this the R.A.A.F. Kittyhawks swept at low levels to blast enemy positions in the thick coconut plantations, and repeatedly raked the decks of the Japanese cruisers that came in to support their land forces.
Jap resistance ceased by September 7, and the battle cost the enemy at least 1,000 of his best troops.
It was a clear-cut victory, and for weeks afterwards Japs who had been left behind in the night evacuations roamed in the hills, living on what they could find and trying to avoid Australian patrols. Some got across the ranges and were killed further up the coast, and others died of starvation or exposure.
C.M.F. forces fought at Milne Bay, and acquitted themselves excellently alongside the Western Desert veterans.
As well as troop losses, the enemy sacrificed much equio-ment which he had brought ashore optimistically, to ensure another of the victories to which he had become too accustomed during previous months.
0w/r//-
When the Japanese drove down from northern New Guinea, their plan to capture Port Moresby included a drive across ihe Owen Stanley Range from Buna and Gona.
They carried this plan through until Australian troops stopped their advance at loribaiwa Ridge, only 35 air miles from their objective.
. From then on, the Australians took the offensive, striking back along the Kokoda trail over which they had been forced to retreat.
The Japanese were driven out of their loribaiwa Ridge positions on September 28, and the Australians were in Nauro two days later. Instead of the wounded they had carried out of the Owen Stanleys they carried back 25-pounder guns. These had to be dismantled and dragged by sheer force up the precipitous slopes, but as the first artillery used in the mountains their effect was tremendous.
First major objective in the re-conquest of New Guinea was Kokoda, with its strategica ly important drome. After a fierce battle at Templeton's Crossing, the Australians occupied Kokoda without opposition on November 2. They pushed straight on, and the airport was ready for transport planes within 24 hours.
No man who travelled the Kokoda Trail either way will ever forget it.
At an Australian outpost in the New Guinea jungle as the Japs were
being pushed back.
New Guinea natives in a
they can
mountain village line up help expel the Japs.
to hear how
B——I
. . .w .
mm
Eglpifg
Wm.
.wSlJSkv :
-
This is the sort of country through which men and beasts had to drag the guns over the Owen Stanley ranges.
Diggers' "Pony Express" scrambles through mud and up mountains to take supplies to forward areas.
This hill is only one of many to be overcome before the gun can be brought to bear on Japanese positions.
|
BHMMgagW |
rs • |
;> >»■ | ||
|
'' ■ |
" vC |
■ KKwX& | ||
|
mmmrm .. - ; | ||||
Sam
••
Artillery blazed away through the night as the Allies launched the assault at El Alamein on October 24, 1942
Desert Victory
w
at I A la i nr in
• •
. V. •
iWmb
ms™
.
When most of the A.I.F. came back to Australia, the "Rats ot Tobruk" stayed in the Middle East, and while their mates were fighting the Japanese at Milne Bay and on the Kokoda Trail the division to which they belonged was taking part in the great British break-through at El Alamein. The battle lasted till November 4.
The British official report said the Australians "fought themselves and the enemy to a standstill—and then went on fighting."
Australians at a blockhouse after one of the tank battles near El Alamein.
mmmm
pp:-; P-p • ■. ■ v m S
■ I I
m&m
IPIf? #TV«
Wj’ «•
it
x-^aSSSSoo^oSaSS
WM
The Commander-In-Chief in the Middle East told the Australians:—
. "The battle of El Alamein will make history and you are in the
proud position of having taken a major part in that great victory.
"Your reputation as fighters has always been famous, but I do not . • believe that you have ever fought with greater bravery or distinction
than you did during that battle, when you broke the German and Italian armies in the Western Desert.
"Now you have added fresh lustre to your already illustrious name."
Infantry Diggers prepare in the dawn to move on to positions which the enemy has vacated during the night. 1
mfm
W«:
j-
< AVW
Timor Guerillas
■
IBi-> w^JSir,^SvvyJ .• .v1. . .•//,•.' • \v.-,/.v
® 1 HI Ippf
WmSm
mmm
BM -; V: nflnf
• v: :-x >1»»£?
Mg
hB
'
■%S
One of the most remarkable stories of the war is that of the Australian commandos in Portuguese Timor who were considered lost for 59 days. . '
During that time, and for almost 12 months altogether, this force of less than 400 men defied the efforts of some 15,000 Japs, and maintained aggressive action against them.
Without weapons heavier than tommy-guns, rifles, bayonets, grenades and fire-sticks, their tactics were to kill and run. Even so, they could not have survived without the support they received from natives who were not attracted by Jap promises.
These men were on patrol and other duty in Portuguese Timor when the Jap invasion force of 25,000 men landed on February 19, 1942. They were completely isolated, out of touch with friends, and presumed to have been killed or captured until April 19, when Darwin radio operators were amazed to receive messages from them.
The messages came from a radio transmitter the men had built up out of odds and ends, and their authenticity was doubted until personal details proving them genuine had been given.
Soon after radio communication with Australia had been established, vitally needed supplies were sent into Timor, and wounded men were taken off the island by sea. The temporary hospital which the commandos had built was moved 15 times to avoid the enemy. The R.A.N., which had succoured the Rats of Tobruk, did not fail the Timor guerillas.
In August, 1942, the enemy made his biggest attempt to dislodge the Australians, with 2,500 men and heavy bombing. By means of repeated ambushes, the guerrillas defeated the effort, and in September they were reinforced from Australia. They were evacuated in January, 1943.
Their story is one of the proudest in our five years of war.
A Timor Guerilla. The photos on these pages were taken by a cameraman who landed on the island and shared the hardships of the commandos to record their activities.
pep
■>, v ■ V*--' I ^ -
1 • 1
SSgSSgggg
•/.• .■anVX'
V.'.-.V'.-.VAV.V. “>.’.• V* VSVyk-^v
’
The Timor natives were on Australia's side. Among other things, they helped with packtrains of the tiny mountain ponies of Timor.
Australian guerilla band moves out from one of the ocky hiding-places from which they harassed the Japs for
so long.
ihe Gona area, less than 100 yards from Japanese positions.
Walking wounded stop
station
for a meal on their way to a dressing after fighting at Oivi.
rv H ■1
mm
■ •: ■'
KasssaaraBBsaiB
fmtMkm
From Kokoda, the New Guinea Diggers fought on to Oivi and Gorari, against fierce resistance from Japanese machine guns, mortars, and mountain guns.
At Oivi, repeated attacks achieved their objective, and at Gorari, where the Japanese rear defences were located, Australian bayonets proved too much for the enemy on November 6, 1942. Five hundred and eighty Japanese were killed in the latter fight, and the area became known as "Death Valley." Our losses were eighty men.
Then came Wairope, where the swift-flowing Kumusi River, from 200 to 400 feet wide and too deep to wade, had to be crossed. Strong swimmers reached the other side and established a patrol, to which material for bridge and flying-fox building was dropped from aircraft. ' •
By November 16, a whole brigade had crossed the river and begun its advance towards Gona, and within 24 hours another brigade was on the western bank, ready to move on to Sanananda.
While these troops came over the Owen Stanleys, Australians from Milne Bay and Americans brought in by air fought their way towards the vital beach-heads of Gona, Buna and Sanananda, and Australian troops entered Gona on November 20. However, the speed of their advance, and bad flying weather, left them short of supplies,., and they had to retire.
They resumed the fight three days later, and reinforcements which arrived on December I ensured their success.
Gona fell after hand to hand fighting on December 9, and later the bodies of 800 Japs were counted. •
‘n;
mm
jBaMyWBfcMfe '-m
mmamm
/.; I'^:--. :*H# •• '• '- >
mm
'x-Sv*.
■<VM§000;
wwMm
mtmm
wpm,
mm
y-y-y:-. ;■+ >*y.ffly,s?ZyAy/&yy,‘>
-
'
-
■ 35
''/zV/y'yyy, V/'A'twy/j/fflwn
&&&!
psfegfawg
■mzffiyA
■Z'/2wk
L
MM M *W$.|8B£|ifS
P|§ifi
' '*:L'
i
At Buna, many U.S. troops saw their first action in New Guinea, Yanks and Aussies co-operated with fine results.
25-pounder guns were delivered to the attackers ian Bren carriers supported the Americans in assaults which coincided with Australian efforts to take Gona.
In the middle of December, an Australian brigade supported by a squadron of light tanks was taken by R.A.N. corvettes from Milne Bay to Buna, which fell on December 28, 1942.
The cleaning out of Sanananda proved the most difficult job in the area, as the enemy was strong and well supplied, and during the early stages our +^oops could not be spared from the Gona
and by
Jeeps and air, and Austra
and Buna fights.
Eventually, Australian troops who had done such at Buna were brought in, and they launched an attack w prised and demoralised the enemy on January 12, 1943. the Americans kept the Japs engaged, the Australians came through swamp and jungle that had previously been considered impassable.
By January 23, all organised resistance by the Japs had ceased, but the Australians had suffered heavily.
One Australian brigade, in five weeks of continuous fighting at Sanananda, lost 96 per cent, of its original strength, and such losses were not unusual in the Buna-Sanananda area.
The Allied air forces played an important part in the battles, protecting our installations and destroying enemy convoys.
good hich
work
sur-While
When the north-eastern was set for operations which Dutch New Guinea.
beachheads were cleared, the stage have since taken our forces as far as
VinS v
• ■ ■
''
mm
>
»»»>¥*•
■• - ■ <-.vi ,
«Ww.
•rt^iXx-xV
Diggers cross an improvised bridge over a swift river on the way to Buna.
mm
Xy/*.' ' y-’y ivl'Xv.v.v.Y^W' ••*» ' v-,av!.//.sv ■/•'•'• •■'''•'•Iv.,.'‘.'! ./•.%■.■ • • ; , ... ■
wm
mmm
■
.. .
.
A wounded Digger is carried out by his mates as the Buna assault proceeds.
These Australians are opening tire on 25 Japs who have fled from a pillbox just wrecked by the tank in the picture.
■
■fv ... : X •!j v. .
i4,r,Cr;
..... ii■... : •
Diggers on their
way to Sanononda lord one of Guinea's wide rivers.
New
Stretcher-bearing as they carry a
natives keep their eyes on the track wounded Australian out of danger.
■p |; i »t 11 i
HP
Naii ive
• • • • • • -
*
Infantry
Not only as stretcher bearers and human supply’chain, but in the actual fighting, the New Guinea and Papuan natives were of great help to the Australians. . . ■ .
To a head-hunting tradition, many of the best and most intelligent natives had added years of police experience under Australian control.
They were eager and-crafty fighters, particularly useful as patrols because they knew the country and moved swiftly and silently through it.
■ The Australians came to like and respect their coloured comrades.
Papuan Infantry scouts ready to go on patrol wait while their Australian lieutenant checks maps.
. .
'
mWM;
Cvr 1
vX-v
moM
6_W.wav\v.
MMfc
V
piii
•i V>;v>'
mm
% V, -W?
Not all Japs refused to surrender, as their commanders required. • This pair put their hands up at Oivi.
In the Huon Peninsula campaign, nearly 14,000 Japs were destroyed, but here is one who was too wise to keep on fighting.
n«
'
-•
mm
rM'Sx a» •
SB®
,\Vy.\y
fHi
^l|iw|
an
M
NH
■
p«
iliSi
Wounded Japs receive medical attention while the final attack on Gona is launched.
'
•> A dUHNA
WmmMM
.WASW.'.V
c|y
• >>■ .■
gfiSSSroS
^SSxXS.::
jwaaS
<y.> <
^ vjrjK
: v* x-XsV^ v •/ •■ v
Mi1
wtm. ?
■ *¥& ■ •'■ >A y :<:’/>/ v- ■ y:y-i
mu
■ l i
■Hi
*§§#«
yyyyy
wmmm. WmM. v
IpSp /;V-f .
Burning Japanese vessel out of control after strafing by R.A.A.F. Beaufighters during Battle of Bismarck Sea.
r p
After their spectacular land campaign in Malaya and their successful island-hopping programme in the Dutch East Indies, the Japs discovered Allied sea and air power as forces to be reckoned with in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. . '
A vast enemy convoy was sighted on March 2, 1943, and two days later the entire convoy of 22 ships had been sunk.
. The first attack was launched north of Cape Gloucester, in New Britain, and six Japanese vessels were sent to the bottom. Final smashing of the convoy, and the sinking of 16 more ships, was accomplished further south, when the Japs had made their perilous way between New ^ ’ J New Britain, and were near the New Guinea coast at
Guinea and Morobe.
The R.A.A.F. contributed considerably to this most important vie-' tory, co-operating with the American forces to destroy huge Japanese reinforcements and supplies, as well as the ships and the R.A.N. was also
active. . •
Had the great Japanese convoy got through, the whole course of
the campaign in New Guinea would have been altered, and there is no
doubt that our five years of war would have ended much less satisfactorily.
' *
R.A.A.F. Beaufighter strafs burning Japanese ship.
m y.
■ I
mm
: ■
a—
zmmm * %
lllti : i mm
y;yy.
jn
One of the briefest but bitterest New Guinea battles was the battle for Wau, which began with a Japanese attack on this commercial centre and air strip on January 27, 1943.
A very small Australian force defended Wau at great cost against repeated attacks until reinforcements, 25-pounder guns brought in by air, and systematic straTing by Australian-manned planes altered the situation.
By February 4, the Japanese had been beaten, and were withdrawing, and the series of brilliant combined operations which led to the capture of Lae and Sala-maua, and the clearing of the enemy from the Huon Peninsula, had begun.
First, however, the Japs had to be cleared from heights round the Mubo Valley where they dug in strongly. Australian and American troops were busy on this job until July 15, when the Mubo area was finally cleared. -
over some supplies.
A pack train, which has travelled thousands of miles worst country in New Guinea, sets out with
anywhere after the Mubo fighting._
Mi.
In September, 1943, fierce fighting at Mt. Tambu completed careful preparations for the capture of Salamaua, and on September I I the Australians entered the town while their comrades attacked Lae.
*4'
To reach Salamaua, the Francisco River had to be crossed, and it was running strongly enough to make a passage on ropes very hazardous. However, the Australians fought their way over, and many Japanese were caught in a mile-square trap from which they could not be extricated.
• Hundreds of the enemy were cut down in running fights as our forces approached Salamaua. Allied losses were small. .
Air attacks on enemy supply barges and troopujconcen-trations were continuous, and contributed to the demoralisation and eventual destruction of the defenders.
When those who could get away had fled, there were hundreds of dead left in the area, and the vast quantities of equipment abandoned included field guns.
Meanwhile, combined operations at Lae were proceeding according to plan. ■
mm
Diggers rest and
smoke on the way to Salamaua and more desperate fighting.
These foxholes, well camouflaged and connected by trenche$( were captured by Australians near Salamaua.
Allied Headquarters in the Battle of Mount Tambu were only 75 yards from the Japs and received attention from mortars and snipers.
mm
f. f wm4
Wmmrn
m
All services co-operated perfectly to achieve swift victory at Lae.
The assault began when Australians landed on the shores of the Huon Gulf on September
4, 1943.
Later, Australian artillerymen and their weapons were parachuted into action for the first time.
The town was reduced to wreckage by air attacks before it was taken, 12 days after the first landing, and it was found that the Japs had been successfully trapped into placing their major troop concentrations at Salamaua, from which there was no escape for them.
mm3
HI II .
'mimm
wmmimMk
foMn
SORONG
MANOKWARI
HOLLANDIA
AITAIPE
WEWAK
MERAUKE
MADANG
GULF Ol PAPUA
SIO
FINSCHHAFEN . UON GULF
SALAMAUA
GONA
SANANANDA BUNA
PORT MORESB
MILNE BAY
At Finschhafen, the Japs were more aggressive than they had been at Lae, and naval bombardment of their positions forewarned them of Allied intentions.
There was fierce fighting on the spurs above the mission, but on October 2, ten days after the battle had begun, enemy resistance ceased. .
It was resumed again in an attack on the beach on which the Australians had landed, and the Japs were able to harass the area until the Satelberg and Wareo actions in November.
Matilda tanks arrive to support the Diggers in the
Finschhafen area. ,
A'
- to Lae. • ..
|
mi | |
|
i | |
|
& | |
|
pi |
1P$ |
British "Matilda' important factors berg.
The experiment of using these 26-ton tanks in such country was a bold one, but it succeeded. They reached the area over a rough mountain road that had been made in peacetime
ery were at Satel-
isp
V
were carefully niodei until the hour at which they were to aston ish and terrify the Japanese.
Satelberg had to be approached ove ridges that were full of natural defensive positions, and our intantry had to cleai these out one by one before the mail attack could begin. They did so, anc after e*ight days of fighting Satelberg fe on November 25, 1943.
In such country the tanks could not b< used for spectacular break-throughs or wid< encirclinq movements. Thev were virtu
Tire, and altering battle progressed
Matilda tank, followed by infantr to the attack at Satelberg, while d Diqqer is carried out.
Centre: rest in Coconut
a well-earned
Australians enjoy a gunpit after the captu Ridqe. near Satelberg.
Opposite: Australia the Kunai grass f Satelberg.
>w a tank through dawn attack on
The wounded in New Guinea were shifted from the battle areas by two means which could not have been in greater contrast.
In most cases, only patient, skilful native carriers could take them to the dressing stations behind the lines. After that, those so badly hurt that.they had to go to base hospitals generally travelled there by plane.
pain.
means of transport had
There was little use for the ordinary motor ambulance in New Guinea, for even if such vehicles could have travelled through the muddy mountains they would have been too rough for men in So the most ancient and the most modern
to be adopted.
aw
mm
After the capture of Lae, Australian troops turned up the Ramu and Markham Valleys towards Madang. ,
They encountered aggressive and more numerous enemies, and the fight through the valleys was a long and grim one.
Transported, equipped and maintained entirely by air, these men drove the Japs back to the Fin-isterre Range by the end of 1943, but their victories were not easy ones.
Ridges captured had to be held, often against numerically superior forces, and movement had to be made cautiously through country in which the enemy swarmed.
Air force aid was invaluable. Without airborne supplies, the whole campaign would have been impossible, but our planes did aggressive as well as transport work. They located, strafed and bombed the Japs' positions, destroyed his supply lines, and convinced him that his days of air superiority were
over.
When an enemy position on a peak was located, it was rarely long before Allied bombers arrived to blast the hilltop soft for an infantry assault. What the eyes in the air saw was swiftly communicated to the Army, and mistakes were avoided and lives saved.
Already well established, Army and Air Force admiration for each other grew during this fighting, which made them so inter-dependent. The flier eased the troubles of the jungle patrol, and if he had any of his own that brought him down in hostile country, it was his hope that such a patrol would find him.
The Ramu and Markham Valley campaigns showed co-operation between air and ground forces at its best.
■
mS^m
mFW
MB
*
This line of Australians
mm
Wm
advancing up the Ramu Valley stretched for nearly three miles.
The mountain battle areas around the Ramu Valley made Cooks at work preparing hot meals for patrols which passed through
the handling of wounded men even more difficult than usual. a forward area in the Ramu Valley.
Ha
In their 70-mile advance the Australians forded creeks and often passed through Kunai grass 12 feet high.
Two Diggers look along the Uria Valley from their observation . post during the Ramu Valley advance. -
mmmm
MS
mmmm
wMmrn.
mm
Wmm,
S
,>;: :v:X‘
I»^i
iWm
/// %/.• .V , v
Wmm
WW4V//X.
1
Shaggy Kidge and “The Pimple”
Two Australian feats in New Guinea stand out—not because they involved the capture of powerful enemy bases, but because they consisted of storming heights so steep and so well defended that their conquest seemed impossible. These were the storming of "The Pimple" and then the capture of Shaggy Ridge itself.
Air bombing and strafing could soften defences on such mountain peaks to some extent, but complete destruction of deeply entrenched enemies had to be carried out by infantrymen clinging to precipitous slopes far below their opponents.
The positions were of strategical importance, and had to be taken. They became ours, after repeated attempts.
Apparently impregnable natural fortresses fell, less to new weapons or new tactics than to the determination of men who took amazing risks to get at the enemy in his foxholes.
At left: Diggers on top of "The Pimple" get ready to face any counter-attacks the enemy may try.
■■ Hi ill®
Mils
v ■
MM
;/>>>•
lip
WIMP
I 8 |
MW
. v>X
KP
gin
igzyyitwsaww ••• - -•■ -■•• -•■ •- •>. •• ;
t .-. ;;x ••-•;•••'
If H *
Fighting on the Huon Peninsula continued for three months after Finschhafen, at its tip, had been captured.
The Australians held the initiative, but the strong bands of Japanese in the hills were often aggressive, and locating and dislodging them took time.
On January 2, 1944, United
States troops operating from Finschhafen landed at Saidor. Forward Australian troops reached Sio mission by January 14, and drove on towards the Americans.
The Allies met at Saidor on February 10. The Peninsula was reckoned to be clear of effective Jap fighting units, and a firm flank had been established for the Allied move into Western New Britain, which had begun with a landing at Arawe on December 15, 1943.
The whole aspect of the war in the South-West Pacific had been changed, and though much remained to be done the Japanese threat to Australia itself had been destroyed.
#
campaign,
WW
MH
: 'Vv •■••■■■': ::•*:'INVy
8§§*V.:. • • v •••
Miito
■
pH Mhb
wmm
Hwl
On March 15, 1944, American forces landed on the Admiralty Islands.
Allied Naval and Air forces supported them, and the part played by the R.A.A.F. in the action was considerable.
The Americans quickly captured an aerodrome at Lorengau, and pushed on to other landing strips, and air and ground crews of the R.A.A.F. Kittyhawk formations
were close behind the ground fighters.
All vital areas in the Admiralties were occupied by March 18, and new bases were available for the Allies to carry their attacks a little closer to Japan.
1
■MaMi
mBM
■MB
-'
Site .'
vyrf'jD'/'s ■*//'
WW.™
through
Australians stand aside for natives to bring
mountain path in the Finistern
Hi!!
were
needed for this stiff 200-foot stretch of the
Finisterres.
The men shown resting here had
Knoll during the F
3,000-foot climb to Cameron ferre fighting.
mmmm
Unpublishable thoughts about New Guinea and the enemy occupied brief rests on the way up.
On top of Cameron's Knoll was this "house," formerly tenanted by
Japs but soon taken over by the Diggers.
War in the Finisterre Ranges has been typical of war in most parts of New Guinea, in that the fight against natural obstacles has been at least as exhausting as that against the human enemy.
As has been the case throughout the re-conquest of the island, the Japanese have been entrenched on all the heights of strategical value, and the Australians and their Allies have been fighting literally "uphill all the way."
Climbs of thousands of feet, cn mountains that were somehow just as muddy on top as at their lower levels, were necessary before the Diggers could advance down the northern slopes of the range towards Bogadjim and Madang.
sp
They made the grade, and have captured both towns, leaving Wewak as the only Jap base of importance in Papua or the Mandated Territory of New Guinea.
When the patrols in the Finisterres reached the top of the range, they had surmounted the last major obstacle between the main Allied forces and the little corner of British New Guinea that had not been regained from the Japs.
on the lower slopes.
'
mmm
mm.
WMMMzm
WMWM.
UK
I I
^ InVS
. ■
w.-‘:
Madang and Alexishafen
The notice in this picture warned Japs to which is now being "debused” by an
When Shaggy Ridge was captured, on January 23, 1944, the way to Bogadjim was open, and the Australians took that town with large amounts of equipment, and pushed on to Madang, one time capital of German New Guinea, and a major Japanese base since the end of 1942.
Madang fell on April 24, and the Australians took possession of Alexishafen without serious opposition.
Kisses*
■ ■ .■ £ ^ xjm
. •
w msm
11 :fe| I v-'"‘ ■>
utvh
R.A.N. personnel get torpedo tubes ready as an Australian destroyer approaches shore during a Dutch New Guinea landing.
An Australian built and manned destroyer shells Jap supply vessels during the Hollandia-Dutch New Guinea operations.
After f ive years of war, the Aliies in New Guinea have now begun the dislodgment of the Japs from the areas that were formerly Dutch possessions. ,
In every battle fought in the campaign, the air support has been invaluable, and in every coastal attack or landing the Allied Navies have done everything asked of-them, with quiet efficiency.
During this new phase of the New Guinea war, both arms have been outstandingly effective at the Hollandia and Aitope landings. The R.A.A.F. and the R.A.N. have had their full share of the fighting, as well as the vital job of placing
men and supplies where they are needed. .
When we can look back not upon five years of war, but upon a war that has been successfully concluded, we will owe, gratitude to our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen and our Allies in equal measure.
A private on patrol in one of the swamps of which there are 60,000 square miles in Dutch
New Guinea.
Men completely covered with mud after having been right "down to it
in Dutch New Guinea swamps.
iS: ‘