In the Footsteps of Ghosts: With the 2/9th Battalion in the African Desert and the Jungles of the PacificThe soldiers of thge Australian 2/9th Battalion participated in a succession of battles from Giarabub and Tobruk in North Africa to Milne Bay, Buna, Sanananda, Shaggy Ridge and Balikpapan in the Pacific. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 6
Page 1
... never at any time , despite severe losses , failed to reach their objective in attack , never gave an inch of ground in defence , and never lost one man as a prisoner of war . So I hold my head high , because I can say I was one of them ...
... never at any time , despite severe losses , failed to reach their objective in attack , never gave an inch of ground in defence , and never lost one man as a prisoner of war . So I hold my head high , because I can say I was one of them ...
Page 10
... never refused , would be followed by a grand supper . Grandparents always had tales to tell about their younger days . My grandfather told me tales of his father , who came to South Australia in the mid - 1800s and worked for Sir Thomas ...
... never refused , would be followed by a grand supper . Grandparents always had tales to tell about their younger days . My grandfather told me tales of his father , who came to South Australia in the mid - 1800s and worked for Sir Thomas ...
Page 12
... never ask why , but respond positively to all situations . As I look back on the Depression's child and the society that nurtured him I have come to realise that the soldier is but a byproduct of the society into which he is born . That ...
... never ask why , but respond positively to all situations . As I look back on the Depression's child and the society that nurtured him I have come to realise that the soldier is but a byproduct of the society into which he is born . That ...
Page 15
... never to learn the precise reason for their incarceration . ( I was astounded to see Italian prisoners of war drinking in the country hotels while I was on leave later in the war . They were a happy lot , and some of them eventually ...
... never to learn the precise reason for their incarceration . ( I was astounded to see Italian prisoners of war drinking in the country hotels while I was on leave later in the war . They were a happy lot , and some of them eventually ...
Page 18
... never fought back , so we did not have much idea of how good we were . Marching to and from manoeuvres on or near the beach was a hazardous undertaking . On one occasion we were almost back at Cheltenham , near the cemetery , when a ...
... never fought back , so we did not have much idea of how good we were . Marching to and from manoeuvres on or near the beach was a hazardous undertaking . On one occasion we were almost back at Cheltenham , near the cemetery , when a ...
Contents
1 | |
13 | |
A change of face | 34 |
Maps and illustrations | 35 |
Like rats in a trap | 47 |
Tobruk | 50 |
Tobruk 34 May 1941 | 61 |
Sandshoes at midnight | 75 |
The buggers gone | 145 |
Sanananda | 146 |
The Junction Attack 29th and 212th Battalions | 153 |
Away in the highlands | 164 |
Shaggy Ridge | 173 |
And I was glad | 194 |
Balikpapan | 198 |
On the vigil feast | 215 |
Turning the tide | 90 |
Milne Force dispositions 31 August 1942 | 101 |
A day we will remember | 114 |
To the beachhead | 115 |
Buna | 123 |
Bibliography | 226 |
29th Battalion | 229 |
List of casualties 29th Battalion 193945 | 255 |
Index | 257 |
Common terms and phrases
18th Brigade 2/9th Battalion 7th Australian Division 7th Division action Adelaide aircraft American ammunition army artillery attack Australian Australian 6th Division Balikpapan barges barrage battle beach became bomb Buna and Sanananda bunkers camp Cape Endaiadere Captain capture casualties coast coconut command Company convoy December defences desert fighting fire forward front German Giarabub Gili Gili grenades Guinea guns harbour hospital infantry Intelligence Section Italian January Japanese Japanese forces Japs jungle killed Killerton Kokoda Trail kunai landing Lieutenant Lieutenant-Colonel Cummings maps McDonald miles Milne Bay mortars moved night officers operation Papua patrol perimeter platoon Port Moresby Queensland RAAF Regiment Riko River Sanananda Senemi Creek Sergeant Shaggy Ridge Smith sniper soldier Strip swamp tanks Tobruk track troops trucks vehicles Vickers wounded yards
Popular passages
Page 224 - To-morrow is Saint Crispian." Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day." Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, But he'll remember with advantages What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, Familiar in...
Page 65 - The Australians, who are the men our troops have had opposite them so far, are extraordinarily tough fighters. The German is more active in the attack but the enemy stakes his life in the defence and fights to the last with extreme cunning. Our men, usually...
Page 65 - Enemy snipers achieve astounding results. They shoot at anything they recognize. Several NCOs of the battalion have been shot through the head with the first bullet while making observations in the front line. Protruding sights in gun directors have been shot off, observation slits and loopholes have been fired on, and hit, as soon as they were seen to be in use (ie when the light background became dark).
Page 65 - ... fighters. The German is more active in the attack but the enemy stakes his life in the defence and fights to the last with extreme cunning. Our men, usually easy going and unsuspecting, fall easily into his traps especially as a result of their experiences in the closing stages of the Western Campaign (campaign in France).
Page 65 - In using every means of taking us by surprise. Enemy snipers achieve astounding results. They shoot at anything they recognize. Several NCOs of the battalion have been shot through the head with the first bullet while making observations in the front line. Protruding sights in gun directors have been shot off, observation slits and loopholes have been fired on, and hit, as soon as they were seen to be in use (ie when the light background became dark). For this reason loopholes must be kept plugged...
Page 73 - Samson asked who they were, where they had come from, and where they were going.
Page 65 - German soldier: i. in the use of individual weapons, especially as snipers ii. in the use of ground camouflage iii. in his gift of observation, and the drawing of the correct conclusions from his observation iv. in every means of taking us by surprise . . . The enemy allows isolated individuals to come right up to his positions, then fires on them.
Page 79 - Repulse and the Prince of Wales off the coast of Malaya that day.
Page 21 - We were chauffeured everywhere, going to a fair in the night at the racecourse and overstaying our leave. But we managed to get a ride out to the Stratheden on a native boat. We waited until a sling full of cargo was leaving the loading barge, then grabbed the net and made our journey up in the air and down into the hold.
References to this book
A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua : Kokoda, Milne Bay, Gona ... Peter Brune Limited preview - 2004 |