The Lost Battalions - A Battle That Could Not Be Won an Island That Could Not Be Defended. an Ally That Could Not Be Trusted by Tom Gilling

$32.99 AUD

Category: Military

They were thrown into a hopeless fight against an overwhelming enemy. Later, hundreds died as prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and in the freezing coal mines of Taiwan and Japan. Through it all, wrote Weary Dunlop, they showed 'fortitude beyond anything I could have believed possible'. Until n ow, the story of the 2000 diggers marooned on Java in February 1942 has been a footnote to the fall of Singapore and the bloody campaign in New Guinea. Led by an Adelaide lawyer, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC, and fighting with scrounged weapons, two Australian battalions - plus an assortment of cooks, laundrymen and deserters from Singapore - held up the might of the Imperial Japanese Army until ordered by their Dutch allies to surrender. Drawing on personal diaries, official records and interviews with two of the last living survivors, this book tells the extraordinary story of the 'lads from Java', who laid down their weapons, but refused to give in. ...Show more

The Stolen Maps by TREVOR TUCKER

$29.95 AUD

Category: Military

For Valour - Australians Awarded the Victoria Cross by Aaron Pegram; Craig Blanch

$79.99 AUD

Category: Military

For Valour tells the remarkable stories of the 100 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice in battle. From Captain Neville Howse of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps in 1900 to Corporal Cameron Baird of the 2nd Commando Regiment in 201 3, heroic actions in the Boer War appear alongside those from the First World War, North Russia, the Second World War, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Vivid descriptions of events on the battlefield are matched with biographical profiles of each of the recipients to provide insights into their lives outside wartime service.With a foreword from Daniel Keighran VC, new archival research and striking photographs and artworks from the Australian War Memorial, For Valour commemorates the servicemen who have been awarded the military's highest honour. ...Show more

Kangaroo Squadron: American Courage in the Darkest Days of World War II by Gamble Bruce

$27.99 AUD

Category: Military

In early 1942, while most of the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy. Based in Australia with poor supplies and no ground support, the pilots and c rew faced tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved remarkably resilient and successful, conducting long-range bombing raids, armed reconnaissance missions, and rescuing General MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines. Before now, the story of their courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds has largely been untold. Using eyewitness accounts based on personal diaries, letters, new interviews, and memoirs as well as Japanese sources, historian Bruce Gamble brings to vivid life this dramatic true story. But the Kangaroo Squadron's story doesn't end in World War II. One of the B-17s, crash landed on its first mission, has recently been recovered from jungle swamps. The intertwined stories of the Kangaroo Squadron and the "Swamp Ghost" are filled with thrilling accounts of aerial combat, an epic jungle survival story, and the powerful mystique of an abandoned bomber that compelled men to possess it at any cost. ...Show more

Nameless Names The by Scott Bennett

$49.99 AUD

Category: Military

Few Australians realise that of the 62,000 anzac soldiers who died in the great war, over one-third are still listed as 'missing'. With no marked graves, the only reminders of their sacrifice are the many names inscribed on ageing war memorials around the world. Bennett deftly tells the story of such m issing Anzacs through the personal experience of three sets of brothers -- the Reids, Pflaums, and Allens -- whose names he selected from the Memorials to the Missing. Bennett traces their paths from small, peaceful towns to three devastating battlefields of the Great War: Gallipoli, Fromelles, and Ypres. He reveals the carnage that led to their disappearance, and their family's subsequent grief and endless search for elusive facts. Bennett's unflinching account addresses many painful questions. What circumstances resulted in the disappearance of so many soldiers? Why did the Australian government fail in its solemn pledge to recover the missing? Why were so many families left without answers about the fate of their loved ones -- despite the dedicated efforts of Vera Deakin and her co-workers at the Australian Red Cross inquiry bureau, first in Cairo and then in London? Vera, a daughter of Australia's second prime minister, had had a privileged upbringing, and yet devoted herself tirelessly to seeking answers for the families of the missing. The Nameless Nameslays bare the emotional toll inflicted upon families, describing those caught between clinging to hope and letting go, those who felt compelled to journey to distant battlefields for answers, and those who shunned conventional religion and resorted to spiritualism for solace. This moving book delicately reveals the human faces and the devastating stories behind the names listed on the stone memorials. ...Show more

Soldier by Philip Rutherford

$74.99 AUD

Category: Military

Soldier presents a magnificent collection of highly detailed illustrations depicting uniforms worn by the military forces of this nation from colonial times to the modern era. Accompanying each illustration is the history of the uniform and equipment portrayed and the men and women who wore the uniform and the circumstances of their service. This is a book rich in colour and historical narrative. Soldier is much more than simply a description of military uniforms and equipment. Phil Rutherford has spent over 20 years searching for the roots of Australia's modern army, analysing trends both in dress and in the military art itself. In doing so he has discovered that there is very little about the uniforms worn and the equipment carried by today's soldiers that can truly be called its own. Even the most iconic symbol of the Australian army, the slouch hat, was not invented by a Victorian volunteer as popular rumour suggests, but was worn by troops in seventeenth-century Europe. In fact, there are significant elements of the army's dress and equipment, such as the badges of rank worn by both soldiers and officers, which can be traced to the days of knights in shining armour. Soldier seeks to map the links between the army's modern dress and its earliest antecedents, describing the formation and history of Australia's army, from the perspective of both the regular and reserve soldiers. This book also reveals the story behind the soldiers themselves - the men and women who wore these uniforms - and the times in which they served since the first volunteers and militias were raised to protect the lives and property of the earliest settlers from adversaries both real and imagined. ...Show more

The Mighty Krait by Ian McPhedran

$35.00 AUD

Category: Military

Over many years, thousands of people have walked past a modest black timber fishing boat bobbing in the waters of Sydney's Darling Harbour, paying it little attention. But appearances can be deceptive.The humble little Japanese-built trawler called the Krait played a crucial role in one of World War II' s most audacious and successful Allied commando raids. In 1943, she carried 14 operatives from the top-secret 'Z' Special Unit from Australia to Japanese-occupied Singapore and back again. Battling deadly tides, fierce storms, hostile ships and detection from the air, this small vessel and its courageous crew made it to the heart of the enemy stronghold to conduct a daring raid that destroyed 26,000 tonnes of enemy shipping. Operation Jaywick was one of the greatest Special Forces operations of all time.But the story doesn't end there. After the war, the Krait was used by smugglers and then as a work boat before it was discovered, purchased by veterans and eventually handed to the Australian War Memorial. A mighty and concerted effort by a dedicated few has saved and restored the little boat with a big past. Now the battle is on to preserve and display it at the Australian National Maritime Museum, as a permanent memorial to our Special Forces.The Mighty Krait is a compelling, uplifting and unforgettable story of Australian military history - and a solemn reminder of the courage and sacrifice of our armed forces against incredible odds. ...Show more

War Stories by Peter Snow; Ann MacMillan

$22.99 AUD

Category: Military

'Highly readable . . . an intimate and varied account of fascinating stories of people at war' History of War War Stories is a fascinating account of ordinary men and women swept up in the turbulence of war. These are the stories - many untold until now - of thirty-four individuals who have pushed the b oundaries of love, bravery, suffering and terror beyond the imaginable. They span three centuries and five continents. There is the courage of Edward Seager who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade; the cunning of Krystyna Skarbek, quick-thinking spy and saboteur during the Second World War; the skullduggery of Benedict Arnold, who switched sides in the American War of Independence and the compassion of Magdalene de Lancey who tenderly nursed her dying husband at Waterloo. Told with vivid narrative flair and full of unexpected insights, War Stories moves effortlessly from tales of spies, escapes and innovation to uplifting acts of humanity, celebrating men and women whose wartime experiences are beyond compare. ...Show more

Rampage - MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila by James M. Scott

$46.95 AUD

Category: Military

Before World War II, Manila was a slice of America in Asia, populated with elegant neoclassical buildings, spacious parks, and home to thousands of U.S. servicemen and business executives who enjoyed the relaxed pace of the tropics. The outbreak of the war, however, brought an end to the good life. Gene ral Douglas MacArthur, hoping to protect the Pearl of the Orient, declared the Philippine capital an open city and evacuated his forces. The Japanese seized Manila on January 2, 1942, rounding up and interning thousands of Americans. MacArthur, who escaped soon after to Australia, famously vowed to return. For nearly three years, he clawed his way north, obsessed with redeeming his promise and turning his earlier defeat into victory. By early 1945, he prepared to liberate Manila, a city whose residents by then faced widespread starvation. Convinced the Japanese would abandon the city as he did, MacArthur planned a victory parade down Dewey Boulevard. But the enemy had other plans. Determined to fight to the death, Japanese marines barricaded intersections, converted buildings into fortresses, and booby-trapped stores, graveyards, and even dead bodies. The twenty-nine-day battle to liberate Manila resulted in the catastrophic destruction of the city and a rampage by Japanese forces that brutalized the civilian population. Landmarks were demolished, houses were torched, suspected resistance fighters were tortured and killed, countless women were raped, and their husbands and children were murdered. American troops had no choice but to battle the enemy, floor by floor and even room by room, through schools, hospitals, and even sports stadiums. In the end, an estimated 100,000 civilians lost their lives in a massacre as heinous as the Rape of Nanking. Based on extensive research in the United States and the Philippines, including war-crimes testimony, after-action reports, and survivor interviews, Rampage recounts one of the most heartbreaking chapters of Pacific war history. ...Show more

Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger; Michael Hoffman (Translator)

$22.99 AUD

Category: Military | Series: Penguin Modern Classics Ser.

Presenting the desperate conflict of the First World War through the eyes of an ordinary German soldier, Ernst Junger's Storm of Steel is translated by Michael Hofmann in Penguin Modern Classics. 'As though walking through a deep dream, I saw steel helmets approaching through the craters. They seemed to sprout from the fire-harrowed soil like some iron harvest.' A memoir of astonishing power, savagery and ashen lyricism, Storm of Steel depicts Ernst Junger's experience of combat on the front line - leading raiding parties, defending trenches against murderous British incursions, and simply enduring as shells tore his comrades apart. One of the greatest books to emerge from the catastrophe of the First World War, it illuminates like no other book not only the horrors but also the fascination of a war that made men keep fighting for four long years. Ernst Junger (1895-1998) the son of a wealthy chemist, ran away from home to join the Foreign Legion. His father dragged him back, but he returned to military service when he joined the German army on the outbreak of the First World War. Storm of Steel (Stahlgewittern) was Junger's first book, published in 1920. Greatly admired by the Nazis, Junger remained at a distance from the regime, with books such as his allegorical work On the Marble Cliffs (1939) functioning as a covert criticism of Nazi ideology and methods. If you enjoyed Storm of Steel, you might like Edward Blunden's Undertones of War, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'To read this extraordinary book is to gain a unique insight into the compelling nature of organized, industrialized violence' Niall Ferguson, author of War of the World 'Hofmann's interpretation is superb' The Times 'Unique in the literature of this or any other war is its brilliantly vivid conjuration of the immediacy and intensity of battle' Telegraph 'Storm of Steel is what so many books claim to be but are not: a classic account of war' Evening Standard" ...Show more

The Violent American Century by John Dower

$26.99 AUD

Category: Military

World War II marked the apogee of industrialized "total war." Great powers savaged one another. Hostilities engulfed the globe. Mobilization extended to virtually every sector of every nation. Air war, including the terror bombing of civilians, emerged as a central strategy of the victorious Anglo-Ameri can powers. The devastation was catastrophic almost everywhere, with the notable exception of the United States, which exited the strife unscathed and unmatched in power and influence. The death toll of fighting forces plus civilians worldwide was staggering. The Violent "American Century" addresses the U.S.-led transformations in war conduct and strategizing that followed 1945--beginning with brutal localized hostilities, proxy wars, and the nuclear terror of the Cold War, and ending with the asymmetrical conflicts of the present day. The military playbook now meshes brute force with a focus on non-state terrorism, counterinsurgency, clandestine operations, a vast web of overseas American military bases, and--most touted of all--a revolutionary new era of computerized "precision" warfare. By contrast to World War II, postwar death and destruction has been comparatively small. By any other measure, it has been appalling--and shows no sign of abating. The winner of numerous national prizes for his historical writings, including the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, Dower draws heavily on hard data and internal U.S. planning and pronouncements in this concise analysis of war and terror in our time. In doing so, he places U.S. policy and practice firmly within the broader context of global mayhem, havoc, and slaughter since World War II--always with bottom-line attentiveness to the human costs of this legacy of unceasing violence.   ...Show more

Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson

$59.99 AUD

Category: Military

On 7 December 1941, an armada of 354 Japanese warplanes supported by aircraft carriers, destroyers and midget submarines launched a surprise attack on the United States, killing 2,403 people and forcing America's entry into the Second World War. Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness follows the sailors , soldiers, pilots, diplomats, admirals, generals, emperor and president as they engineer, fight and react to this stunningly dramatic moment in world history. In vivid prose Craig Nelson maps the road to war, beginning in 1914 with a young Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man who would become president, attending the laying of the keel of the USS Arizona at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He also traces Japan's leaders as they lurch into ultranationalist fascism, culminating in their insanely daring yet militarily brilliant scheme to terrify America with one of the boldest attacks ever waged. The result is a thrilling historical drama on the grandest scale. Nelson delivers all the terror, chaos, violence, tragedy and heroism of the attack in stunning detail, and offers surprising conclusions about the tragedy's unforeseen consequences that resonate even today. ...Show more