I have this first Australian edition paperback for over 40 years and a recent re-read indicates that it still stands up despite much recent research. It is one of the “classic” books on the Papuan Campaign written by an icon of military history.
Ms. Lida S. Mayo was born in Columbus, Mississippi on March 11, 1904 and earned her undergraduate degree at Randolph-Macon Women’s College in 1924. She originally came to Washington as an employee of the Library of Congress, then joined the Military Air Transportation Command as a historian in 1947.
Between 1941 and 1950, she published several acclaimed biographies and historical studies focusing on 19th Century America. During the early 1950’s, she was a historian with the Ordnance Corps in Washington. From 1956 to 1959, she was an Ordnance Historian with the Army’s Center of Military History, and for 12 years, Chief of the Historical Branch, Center of Military History.
She retired in 1971 as a GS-14. Her writings of World War II are immortalized in the Ordnance Department book series known as “The Green Books.” Her description of complex technical issues in highly readable prose has made these texts indispensable to all Ordnance men and women.
Following her retirement, she completed her book Bloody Buna in 1974. This volume described the accomplishments of Ordnance personnel attached to the 32d Infantry Division during the New Guinea campaign in 1942. The book has become a military history classic in the U.S. and was a best seller in Australia. Ms. Mayo died in 1978.
Just released yesterday, the David Cameron Book “Gona’s Gone” with its up to date research and extensive access to Australian archives, certainly puts “Bloody Buna” into a more naive historical period of time. This does not, however, diminish it as a ground breaking seminal piece of military history.
Absolutely worth revisiting some of the older histories. For some – especially the well written ones – the way they capture and record the story is an additional layer to parse that adds to our knowledge.
Do you recommend staring with Gona’s Gone or Bloody Buna?
Hi Dave,
Depends what you are after. Although “Bloody Buna” does encompass the battle it is written from the perspective of the US Ordnance viewpoint. This is understandable as Mayo’s background is from the US Ordnance Department.
I have yet to read “Gona’s Gone” but a quick scan shows that it is like most of Cameron’s books, in that it is written from an Australian perspective.
Both are scholarly works but with Cameron having far more primary sources available and being easier to read.
Toss a coin!