Category Archives: New Guinea and South West Pacific

Jungle Warfare – With the Australian Army in the South Pacific

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Every now and again on of these war time publications surface Whilst they are not rare or valuable T zt over seventy years old that are sfill hard to find. I was pleased to pick this one up.


Jungle Warfare: With the Australian Army in the South West Pacific is a wartime Australian Army publication issued by the Australian War Memorial for the Australian Military Forces in 1944. It runs to about 208 pages and includes photographs, illustrations, colour plates and maps. It was part of a series intended to bring the war home to Australian readers, explaining what Australian soldiers were facing in New Guinea’s jungle, mountains, swamps and kunai country.

Its greatest strength is immediacy. This is not a detached post war academic history. It is a wartime account, written close to events and shaped by men who had either seen the fighting or were writing for an audience still living through the war. That gives the book a strong period voice. The jungle is not treated simply as background scenery. It becomes one of the central enemies: heat, rain, mud, disease, exhaustion, supply problems and visibility all shape the fighting. In that sense, the book captures something essential about the Australian experience in the South West Pacific.


The book is also valuable because it reflects how Australians wanted the campaign understood at the time. It presents the jungle war as a test of endurance, adaptation and national character. The Australian soldier is shown as tough, practical and capable of learning quickly. That broadly matches later historical arguments that the Australian Army had to transform itself between 1941 and 1945 into a force better suited to jungle warfare, though later scholarship naturally treats that process with more distance and analysis. Adrian Threlfall’s work on Australian jungle warfare doctrine and training is useful here, as it shows how large and difficult that institutional learning process really was.


Its weakness is also obvious. Because it is a wartime publication, it is not neutral. It is patriotic, selective and shaped by censorship, morale building and official purpose. The Japanese are not examined with much depth, and the wider Allied and Papuan contribution can feel underdeveloped by modern standards. It should not be read as a complete operational history of the South West Pacific campaigns. It is better read as a primary source: a record of how the Australian Army presented jungle warfare to Australians while the war was still being fought.


For the wargamer, it is particularly useful. The descriptions of terrain, movement, fatigue, patrol work, supply, ambush, small unit action and the sheer difficulty of command in close country all offer more design value than a simple order of battle. It reminds the reader that jungle warfare was not just ordinary infantry combat with trees added. Visibility, uncertainty, exhaustion and the breakdown of neat control were central to the experience.


Overall, Jungle Warfare is a valuable and evocative wartime source. It is not the final word on the Australian Army in the South West Pacific, but it is an excellent period document and a useful companion to later academic histories. Read critically, it offers both atmosphere and insight. Read uncritically, it risks becoming only a heroic narrative. Its real value lies somewhere between the two.

There were eleven in the series which includes:
Active Service: With Australia in the Middle East — 1941
Soldiering On: The Australian Army at Home and Overseas — 1942
RAAF Log — 1943
Khaki and Green: With the Australian Army at Home and Overseas — 1943
RAAF Saga — 1944
Jungle Warfare: With the Australian Army in the South West Pacific — 1944
Stand Easy: After the Defeat of Japan 1945 — 1945
As You Were — 1946
As You Were — 1947
As You Were — 1948
As You Were — 1949

The Australian reader interested in WW2 hisfory should really have as many of these as the can get in their collection. This one was picked up for AU$5.95.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Royal Australian Navy 1939–1945 – a review

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This commemorative volume Royal Australian Navy 1939–1945, part of the Australians in the Pacific War series produced by the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs, serves as an accessible introduction to the wartime experience of the Royal Australian Navy rather than a detailed operational history. As part of a broader series designed to introduce Australians to the major campaigns, services, and experiences of the Pacific War, the book succeeds in presenting the RAN’s contribution in a concise and readable format. It places the Navy within the wider context of Australia’s war against Japan and reminds readers that Australian sailors were engaged across an enormous maritime theatre stretching from the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean to the South West Pacific.

One of the book’s strengths is its balance between operational narrative and human experience. The authors avoid becoming lost in technical discussions of ships and naval administration and instead focus on the sailors themselves, their ships, and the dangers they faced. Major events such as the loss of HMAS Sydney, the fighting in the Netherlands East Indies, the sinking of HMAS Perth, convoy escort duties, amphibious support operations, and the advance through New Guinea and the Philippines are all covered in a manner accessible to general readers, albeit in a very condensed from. The volume is richly illustrated and makes effective use of photographs, maps, and contemporary images that help bring the story to life.

The book is particularly valuable in challenging the tendency of Australian popular memory to focus overwhelmingly on Kokoda, Tobruk, and the infantry experience of the war. The Pacific conflict was fundamentally a maritime war, and the survival of Australia depended upon sea communications, naval escorts, amphibious operations, and cooperation with Allied fleets. The volume reminds readers that the RAN was engaged continuously throughout the conflict and suffered significant losses. In doing so, it helps address what some naval historians have described as a broader national neglect of Australia’s naval contribution during the Pacific War.

The limitations of the work stem largely from the nature of the series itself. At just over a hundred pages, it cannot provide the depth found in the official histories of G. Hermon Gill (which is a volume I am yet to acquire) or more specialised naval studies. Major operations are necessarily condensed and readers seeking detailed analysis of strategy, command decisions, ship design, logistics, or fleet doctrine will need to look elsewhere. The narrative occasionally moves quickly across complex campaigns and assumes a level of prior knowledge that some general readers may not possess. These are understandable compromises in a commemorative publication intended for a broad audience rather than academic specialists.

What emerges most strongly from the book is the scale of the Navy’s wartime transformation. The RAN entered the war as a relatively small force closely tied to British naval traditions and emerged as a modern service operating alongside the United States Navy across the Pacific. The book effectively demonstrates how Australian warships, sailors, and naval aviators contributed far beyond what might be expected from a nation of Australia’s size. It also highlights the extraordinary demands placed upon crews who spent years at sea under constant threat from aircraft, submarines, mines, and surface attack.

Overall, Royal Australian Navy 1939–1945 is an excellent introductory history. It is not intended to replace the major scholarly works on the RAN in the Second World War, nor does it attempt to do so. Instead, it provides a clear, well-illustrated, and engaging overview that will be particularly useful for general readers, students, and wargamers seeking a concise understanding of the Navy’s role in the Pacific War. As a commemorative publication it succeeds admirably, while also encouraging readers to explore the much deeper and often underappreciated history of Australia’s naval war.

I worthwhile purchase if only for the photographs.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

28mm KNIL Overalwagen (3)

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The third and final Overalwagen troop transport for my KNIL army.

For al full description see my previous post on the second of these vehicles.

This current model from MarDav (centre) is slightly different and better printthan the other two from Mad Bob. Given these were constructed in workshops on Java, particularly around Surabaya and Bandung you could expect some differences in production!

History of the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade 1940-1945

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This Australian war book records the WW2 history of the militia units – 9th Battalion 25th Battalion and 61st Battalion which formed the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade. I purchased this on kindle as I have no background on the Bougainville campaign. I have extensive knowledge and a large library on the Milne Bay campaign, but this booked helped clasrify some of this campaign as well. The focus on smaller unit action with detailed maps was worht the cost alone.

After World War One, the defence of the Australian mainland lay with the part-time soldiers of the Citizens Military Force (CMF), also known as the Militia.

During the period between the wars (1919 – 1939), only the 25th, 9th, and 61st Battalions existed, with the 61st formed in 1938. These battalions were responsible for defending South East Queensland. According to the Defence Act (1903), neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force (PMF) could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered.

On 15 September 1939, Prime Minister Menzies announced the formation of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2/AIF) so that troops could be sent overseas, after World War II was declared on 3 September 1939. This resulted in two sets of the 9th and 25th Battalions: the 2/AIF 9th and 25th Battalions and the Militia or CMF 9th and 25th Battalions.

This book is the story of the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade (formed December 1941) which was made up of the 9th, 25th and 61st Battalions (Militia or CMF).

During 1940 and most of 1941, men in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF or Militia) worked regular civilian jobs while training for the Army a few nights each week, every other weekend, and at some camps each year. This was part-time military service, and the CMF was not allowed to fight overseas under Australian law.

During this time, AIF troops developed resentment towards the CMF. They started calling the CMF names like “Choco’s,” meaning they would melt under fire when the situation got tough.

In December 1941, after the Pearl Harbour attack, Australia faced a significant threat from advancing Japanese forces in 1942. With key locations, including the Philippines and Singapore, captured, Papua and New Guinea became critical for Australia’s defense. If these fell, Australia would likely be next. The Australian Imperial Force was occupied elsewhere, leaving only a few Militia units to defend New Guinea and Australia.

It was hastily agreed (not much choice) that due to Papua New Guinea being an Australian protectorate technically the CMF could be sent there to defend that country.

The 7th Australian Infantry Brigade was sent to Townsville as part of the city’s defense and departed for Milne Bay on 9 July 1942, arriving on 11 July. In August, they participated in the Battle of Milne Bay alongside the 18th Brigade, RAAF, and a small US force, delivering a significant defeat to the Japanese forces, marking their first major land loss in the war.

Is worth noting, for those who may be confused, that during the Battle of Milne Bay both the 9th Battalion CMF and the 2nd AIF 9th Battalion were fighting at the Battle of Milne Bay.

After the Battle of Milne, the Brigade maintained a garrison around Milne Bay until March 1943 when they were moved back to Port Moresby and then Donadabu, to be held in reserve to reinforce troops around Wau.

In November 1943, it returned to Australia for reorganization and training on the Atherton Tablelands. In early 1944, the Brigade was sent overseas again, first to Madang for garrison duty, then to Bougainville Island. They participated in several important battles until the war ended, including the Battles of Pearl Ridge and Slater’s Knoll.

The Author, Ron Mortensen has completed an impressive book which endeavors to record every known detail of the Brigade during WW2.

The book encapsulates a total of 521 pages.  The concise narrative history is supported by numerous photographs and detailed maps. There are a number of appendices, which includes sections on Citations and Awards, interrogation of L/Corporal Yamasaki, Poems of Milne Bay and more.

A members Nominal Roll with details is also a valuable addition..

I liked the book a lot, although the writing lacks some skill in places. despite this a worthy addition to your library.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.