Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[vegetarian]

Noticed a new book in the local bookshop on the weekend Darwin Spitfires - The Real Battle For Australia. Had a quick flick through it and it looks like a pretty good presentation about a little known aspect of the Pacific War. Its on my shopping list.
The author also has a web page at http://www.darwinspitfires.com/with information on the book and on the NWA (North West Australia) theatre, including some notes on:

The Vokes air filter controversy
The Spitfire VC’s Faulty Armament
Spitfire VC versus the Zero
Shortages of drop tanks, spares and Spitfires

 
Looks like it would be a good companion to An Awkward Truth - The Bombing of Darwin February 1942, (Peter Grose, 2009). That book was a very good read, and not very flattering to the Aus armed forces in respect of lack of preparedness, the famous Adelaide River Stakes, and a spot of looting. Highlights the fact that during the 19/2/1942 raid more bombs fell on Darwin, more civilians were killed and more ships sunk than at Pearl Harbour. Hushed up by the government at the time - a bit too embarrassing.

Anyway, time to dust off Neil Lowe's great Darwin map!

[SAS~Anto]

In all fairness, Australia was not prepared for war all and had misplaced it's faith in being rescued by the the 'Great' British Empire. So when war did break out and the Japanese rapidly shot through South East Asia, Australia was left without most of its airplanes, lost part of its Navy and most of its troops were now fighting in Egypt, prisoners of war or soon to be prisoners of war (huge amounts of soldiers were capture returning to Australia and many were sent to Java's defence, only to be taken prisoner days later). It really wasn't until after the New Guinea campaign that Australian industry had caught up and we became self-sufficient. But by 1944, the USA had moved in and there wasn't much left for the Aussies to do (except mop up the islands they couldn't be bothered taking!)

I've been reading a book called 'Hurricane vs Zeroes' which tells the story of the RAF/RAAF air campaign in Malaya and Java in 1942. It outlines many of the problems with the Commonwealth campaigns in the early part of the Pacific War. Despite incompetent British commanders, there was no shortage of brave men (who unfortunately, many died as POWs in horrid conditions). Still a fascinating story and really makes you think how thankful we are for the world we live in today, despite its problems.

Anyway, thanks for the link Seems like an interesting read.

[vegetarian]

I agree, Australia was in a very poor strategic position in early 1942 due to the legacy of PM Bob 'British to his bootstraps' Menzies' wholehearted commitment to the Commonwealth war effort. When the new Curtain government wanted to bring AIF troops home to face the very real threat from the Japanese he was bitterly opposed by Churchill who wanted to keep them in ETO/MTO.  Churchill even at one point unilaterally ordered troopships carrying returning diggers to divert to Burma to protect British interests, bugger Australia! By that stage we had already lost the entire 8th Division and supporting forces due to Brit incompetence in Malaya and everyone's misplaced confidence in 'Fortress Singapore' and the Royal Navy. 

It was only after El Alamein that the last major AIF units returned home to fight the Japanese, who by then had been stopped anyway and were on the strategic defensive as a result of Midway, and the New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns.

My late father fought at Tobruk, El Alamein, New Guinea and Borneo (the latter a useless campaign, akin to the wasteful 'mopping up' operations designed to keep Australian forces occupied), and like most Aus veterans didn't talk about it much (too horrible to remember really, especially New Guinea and Borneo; and no debriefing or counseling in those days), but I remember him saying how they were pissed off (not his words!) cooling their heels in Palestine in 1942 when they wanted to get back home and fight the Japanese!

Anyway, for a very good overview of the air warfare of the crucial 1942-43 period, an excellent read is Fire in the Sky - The Air War in the South Pacific by Eric M Bergerud (2000). Well written, tells the story from both sides, good info on tactics etc, and really is essential reading for anybody interested in the Pacific war. I purchased my copy from Amazon, but apparently you can download a free copy from here http://ebookee.org/Fire-In-The-Sky-The-Air-War-In-The-South-Pacific_592891.html. (I haven't checked out the site). Meanwhile 'Hurricanes vs Zeroes' sounds like a worthwhile read.

[SAS~Anto]

The book is called "Hurricanes Versus Zeros - Air Battles Over Singapore, Sumatra & Java" by Terence Kelly.

[vegetarian]

Thanks for that. I'll chase it up.

[Thunda]

The 'Fire in the Sky' link unfortunatley gives this response: "This file is either removed due to copyright claim or is deleted by the uploader."

Shame.......