Anzac's Dirty Dozen (43 page)

47
  Cutlack,
The Australian Flying Corps
, pp. 159 & 161.

48
  D. Gillison,
Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Royal Australian Air Force
1939–1942,
Australian War Memorial, 1962, pp. 694–95.

49
  ‘Bismarck convoy smashed!', AWM (film archive), FO1442.

50
  R. Trembath,
A Different Sort of War: Australians in Korea 1950–1953,
Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2005, p. 134.

51
  Trembath,
A Different Sort of War,
p. 129

52
  P. Ham,
Vietnam: The Australian War: The Illustrated Edition,
HarperCollins, Sydney, 2010, p. 564.

53
  M. Caulfield,
The Vietnam Years: From the Jungle to the Australian Suburbs,
Hachette Australia, Sydney, 2007, pp. 203–204.

54
  Caulfield,
The Vietnam Years
, p. 204

55
  T. Burstall,
The Soldiers' Story: The Battle of Xa Long Tan, Vietnam, 18 August
1966
, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1990, p. 134.

56
  Cited in B. Buick & G. McKay,
All Guts and No Glory,
Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2000, p. 217.

57
  Buick,
All Guts and No Glory
, p. 217
.

58
  Caulfield,
The Vietnam Years
, p. 205.

  7  The unnecessary waste: Australians in the late Pacific campaigns

Karl James

  
1
  Broadcast by the Prime Minister (Mr. Curtin), 26 January 1943, Australian War Memorial (AWM), 3DRL 6643, 2/11 (3 of 3).

  
2
  
Commonwealth of Australia Parliamentary Debates
, Senate, vol. 181, pp. 129–30.

  
3
  Maj. Gen. H.H. Hammer, hand-written notes on Bougainville, AWM 93, 50/2/23/440, p. 5.

  
4
  S.E. Benson,
The Story of the 42 Aust Inf Bn
, 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion Association, Sydney, 1952, pp. 157–58.

  
5
  P. Charlton,
The Unnecessary War: Island Campaigns of the South-West Pacific
1944–1945
, Macmillan, Melbourne, 1983; M. Hastings,
Nemesis: The Battle for
Japan 1944–1945
, HarperPress, London, 2007, pp. 363–72.

  
6
  C. Lloyd & R. Hall (eds),
Backroom Briefings: John Curtin's War
, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 1997, p. 69.

  
7
  D. Day,
John Curtin: A Life
, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2000, p. 463.

  
8
  See P. Edwards, ‘Curtin, MacArthur and the “surrender of sovereignty”: A historiographical assessment',
Australian Journal Of International Affairs
, 55(2), 1 July, 2001, pp. 175–86.

  
9
  Extract in War Cabinet Agendum, 12 January 1944, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

10
  Australian Military Forces policy directive, Summer 1943–1944, 23 December 1943, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

11
  D. Horner,
High Command: Australia and Allied Strategy 1939–1945
, George Allen & Unwin/Australian War Memorial, Sydney and Canberra, 1982, p. 302.

12
  
Sydney Morning Herald
, 6 March 1945.

13
  D. Horner, ‘Strategic policy making 1943–1945', in M. McKernan & M. Brown (eds),
Australia Two Centuries of War and Peace
, Allen & Unwin/ Australian War Memorial, Sydney and Canberra, 1988, p. 279.

14
  D. Horner,
Inside the War Cabinet: Directing Australia's War Effort 1939–1945
, Allen & Unwin/Australian Archives, Sydney, 1996, p. 160.

15
  Meeting of Prime Ministers, London, May 1944, review by the Right Honourable John Curtin, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/11 (3 of 3), p. 2.

16
  For more information see P. Hasluck,
The Government and the People 1942–
1945
, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1970, pp. 550–65.

17
  Blamey to Lt Gen. Sir Leslie Morshead, 3 March 1944, AWM 3DRL 2632, 2/15.

18
  Memorandum, MacArthur to Blamey, 12 July 1944, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/23.

19
  Japanese strength in these locations was actually far greater, with between 35 000 and 40 000 in New Guinea and about the same on Bougainville making a total of nearly 70 000 Japanese army and navy personnel plus another 20 000 civilian workers in total in these locations. There were another 12 000 Japanese on nearby New Ireland. However, these figures did not emerge until after the war: see G. Long,
The Final Campaigns
, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963, pp. 22–23.

20
  Long,
Final Campaigns
, p. 23.

21
  Horner,
High Command
, p. 338.

22
  J. Hetherington,
Blamey, Controversial Soldier: A Biography of Field Marshal
Sir Thomas Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED,
Australian War Memorial/ Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1973, p. 357.

23
  The war establishment of an infantry division for jungle warfare was 13 118 men; the standard infantry division's establishment was around 17 000: Basic staff table of a jungle division, 21 November 1943, AWM 54, 905/25/57.

24
  Lt Gen. Vernon Sturdee to Blamey, 31 October 1944, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/35, (2 of 3).

25
  Blamey to Sturdee, 7 November 1944, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/35, (2 of 3).

26
  Lt Colin Salmon, Australians at War film archive, 0388, <
www.australiansatwarfilmarchive.gov.au/aawfa
>, (accessed 12 August 2011).

27
  See diary entries for September and October 1944 in Berryman's diary, AWM PR 84/370, 4.

28
  Long,
Final Campaigns
, p. 28.

29
  Berryman's diary, 7 October 1944, AWM PR 84/370, 4.

30
  Berryman to Blamey, 11 January 1945 (BDO/44A), AWM PR 84/370, 12b.

31
  Berryman's diary, 4 and 11 February 1945, AWM PR 84/370, 5.

32
  Berryman to Shedden, 5 April 1945, AWM PR 84/370, 12b.

33
  Horner,
High Command
, p 387.

34
  
Sydney Morning Herald
, 28 December 1944.

35
  
Canberra Times
, 10 January 1945.

36
  Long,
Final Campaigns
, p. 38.

37
  Blamey to Berryman, 17 February 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/49.

38
  Blamey to Curtin, 13 February 1945 and Curtin to MacArthur, 15 February 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

39
  H. Gillan (ed.),
We had some Bother: Tales from the Infantry
, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1985, pp. 116–117.

40
  S. Trigellis-Smith,
The Purple Devils: A History of the 2/6 Australian Commando
Squadron formerly the 2/6 Australian Independent Company 1942–1946
, 2/6 Australian Commando Squadron Association, Melbourne, 1992, p. 221.

41
  MacArthur to Curtin, 5 March 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

42
  P.J. Dean,
The Architect of Victory: The Military Career of Lieutenant-General Sir
Frank Horton Berryman
, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2011, p. 289.

43
  Horner,
High Command
, pp. 387–88.

44
  Dean,
The Architect of Victory
, pp. 289–90.

45
  Berryman to Blamey, Signal B226, AWM PR 84/370, 14.

46
  Berryman's diary, 13 March 1945, AWM PR 84/370, 5.

47
  Curtin to MacArthur, 27 February 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

48
  
Parliamentary Debates
, Senate, vol. 181, p. 128.

49
  Curtin to Blamey, 17 April 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

50
  ‘Notes by Lt-Gen Sir Stanley Savige on Vol. VII, Chapt. 8, The floods and the cease fire', AWM 3DRL 2529, 128, p. 3.

51
  
Parliamentary Debates
, Representatives, vol. 181, pp. 1028–30. See also Reports on matters other than equipment by the Acting Minister for the Army (Senator the Hon. J.M. Fraser) on his visit to the operational areas: War Cabinet Agendum No. 190/1945, National Archives of Australia, A5954/69,
275/3. Fraser produced a second report, ‘Further Observations of Acting Minister for the Army on Operations in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands', that was particularly critical of the 6th Division's campaign in New Guinea and Blamey's negative reputation within the AMF, but this report was not tabled in Parliament: Further Observations of Acting Minister for the Army on Operations in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Island, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/22.

52
  G. Serle, ‘Curtin, John (1885–1945)', in John Ritchie (ed.),
Australian
Dictionary of Biography
, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1993, p. 557.

53
  Chifley to Blamey, 7 May 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

54
  ‘Appreciation on Operations of the AMF in New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomon Islands, 18 May 1945', AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17

55
  MacArthur to Chifley, 20 May 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

56
  D. Horner,
Blamey, the Commander-in-Chief
, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1998, p. 535.

57
  Blamey did not receive the letter approving his policy until 14 August: Long,
Final Campaigns
, p. 69.

58
  Blamey to Acting Minister for the Army, 16 May 1945, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17; Horner,
Inside the War Cabinet
, p. 187; Horner,
High Command
, p. 405.

59
  Horner,
High Command
, p. 396.

60
  Shedden to Fraser and Blamey, 20 May 1945, Message 1238, AWM 3DRL 6643, 2/17.

61
  Horner,
High Command
, p. 406.

62
  Interview with Capt. Tom Kimber, 2/27th Battalion, AWM S00921.

  8  Lost at sea: Missing out on Australia's naval history

Alastair Cooper

  
1
  The exception is the legal case against Holocaust-denier David Irving. The subject is so fundamental to humanity, particularly North American and European public understanding of history, and the circumstances so compelling, that the dissection of Irving's historical work was and remains a subject of broad contemporary interest, and a cautionary tale for all historians about the absolute need to strive for objectivity and faithfulness to sources.

  
2
  P. Macksey,
The War for America 1775–1783
, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1964, pp. xiii–xvi.

  
3
  J. Grey,
A Military History of Australia
, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1999, p. 115.

  
4
  Grey,
A Military History of Australia
, p. 115; D. Stevens (ed.),
The Royal
Australian Navy
, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, 2001, n.1, p. 318.

  
5
  Grey,
A Military History of Australia
, p. 149.

  
6
  Oral History interview of Commodore A.N. Dollard, Commanding Officer of HMAS
Murchison
, Korea 1951–1952, interviewed by Lieutenant Commander T. Hughes, Australian War Memorial, item S02803.

  
7
  The good accounts of these actions do indeed take this approach: eg. T. Frame's accounts of the loss of
Sydney
and
Voyager
both deal with the
operation of the whole ship's organisation.

  
8
  These numbers were obtained from online catalogue searches in January 2011, using the search terms indicated, of the National Archives of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, and wikipedia.org.

  
9
  One way many of the difficulties of naval history could be remedied is through the use of computer simulations and the combination of current and historical visual footage. Having acknowledged the potential, the limitations of the format mean this attempt will be via the written word.

10
  This account of HMAS
Murchison
's operations is based on the following sources: R. O'Neill,
Australia in the Korean War
, vol. 2,
Combat Operations
, AGPS, Canberra, 1985, pp. 450–59; W.O.C. Roberts, ‘Gun battle on the Han',
Naval Historical Review,
1(2), September 1976; V. Fazio,
River Class
Frigates of the Royal Australian Navy: A Story of Ships Built in Australia
, Slipway Publications, Sydney, 2003; and HMAS
Murchison
, Reports of Proceeding, AWM series 228, item 1, AWM 228, 2 and AWM 228, 3.

11
  Roberts, ‘Gun battle on the Han'.

12
  P. Kennedy, ‘Winning war from the middle',
Journal of Military History
, 74(1), January 2010, p. 50.

13
  S.G. Joyce, interviewed by T. Hughes, Australian War Memorial, Oral History Recording, item S02795.

14
  Interview of Commodore Dollard.

15
  Interview of S.G Joyce.

  9  ‘Landmark' battles and the myths of Vietnam

Bob Hall and Andrew Ross

  
1
  The term ‘Viet Cong' was commonly used to describe those enemy forces recruited and trained in the Republic of Vietnam (the South). The People's Army were those recruited and trained in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (the North) and infiltrated into the South usually down the Ho Chi Minh trail. This latter force was also commonly known as the North Vietnamese Army (or NVA). By mid-1968, many Viet Cong units were increasingly reinforced with People's Army soldiers, so the distinction between the two forces became progressively moot.