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Peter Damian Williams is an Australian author and military historian. [1] He was born in Hobart in 1957 and educated at St Virgil's College. He taught history in the Northern Territory and Japan and now lives in Canberra. Peter Williams holds the degrees of BA, Dip. Ed, MA and PhD.
The Australian Army is the military land force of Australia. Formed in 1901, as the Commonwealth Military Forces, through the amalgamation of the Australian colonial forces following federation; it is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) commands the ADF, the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA). The CA is therefore subordinate to the CDF but is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence. Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout Australia's history, only during the Second World War has Australian territory come under direct attack.
The II ANZAC Corps was an Australian and New Zealand First World War army corps. Formed in early 1916 in Egypt in the wake of the failed Gallipoli campaign, it initially consisted of two Australian divisions, and was sent to the Western Front in mid-1916. It then took part in the fighting in France and Belgium throughout 1916 and 1917, during which time it consisted of New Zealand, Australian and British divisions. In November 1917, the corps was subsumed in to the Australian Corps, which concentrated all five Australian infantry divisions. After this, the corps was reformed as the British XXII Corps.
Maroubra Force was the name given to the ad hoc Australian infantry force that defended Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from the Japanese, and was involved in the Kokoda Track Campaign of the Pacific War, World War II. The force was established by the Allies under the codename "Maroubra", referring to the troops in the forward area, it was one of many units forming the body of the New Guinea Force, the main Allied army formation in the South West Pacific Area during 1942.
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was primarily a land battle, between the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitarō Horii and Australian and Papuan land forces under command of New Guinea Force. The Japanese objective was to seize Port Moresby by an overland advance from the north coast, following the Kokoda Track over the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range, as part of a strategy to isolate Australia from the United States.
The 25th Battalion was an infantry unit of the Australian Army. Raised in early 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, the battalion fought at Gallipoli and in the trenches along the Western Front, before being disbanded in early 1919. In mid-1921, it was re-formed as a part-time unit based in the state of Queensland. Throughout the 1930s, the battalion was merged briefly with the 49th Battalion as a result of manpower shortages, but was later re-raised in its own right. During the Second World War, the 25th deployed to New Guinea where they fought the Battle of Milne Bay in August and September 1942. Later in the war, the 25th took part in the Bougainville Campaign. During the post-war period, the 25th Battalion became part of the Royal Queensland Regiment, variously forming battalion or company-sized elements, before being merged with the 49th Battalion to form the 25th/49th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment.
The Battle for Australia is a contested historiographical term used to claim a coordinated link between a series of battles near Australia during the Pacific War of the Second World War alleged to be in preparation for a Japanese invasion of the continent. Since 2008 these battles have been commemorated by Battle for Australia Day, which falls on the first Wednesday in September.
The 16th Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Australian Army. First raised in 1912 as a Militia formation to provide training under the compulsory training scheme, the brigade was later re-raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Its existence was short lived, as it was disbanded after about six months, before it could be committed to the fighting on the Western Front. Raised again in 1939 for service during World War II, the brigade was deployed to the Middle East in early 1940 and subsequently saw action in the Western Desert and in Greece in 1941. In 1942, it returned to Australia in response to Japan's entry into the war, and later the brigade played a prominent role in the Kokoda Track campaign and at Buna–Gona in Papua. Withdrawn to Australia in early 1943, the 16th Brigade was re-organised and received many replacements from disbanding formations, but it was not recommitted to combat operations until late in the war. In 1944–1945, the brigade was committed to the Aitape–Wewak campaign in New Guinea. After the war, the brigade was disbanded in 1946. Today, its name is perpetuated by the 16th Aviation Brigade which was raised on 2 April 2002.
The 3rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I, the battalion formed part of the 1st Brigade, attached to the 1st Division. It was formed shortly after the war broke out and was among the first Australian units to be sent overseas, arriving in Egypt in December 1914. In April 1915 the battalion participated in the Landing at Anzac Cove, coming ashore in the second and third waves. In December 1915 the 3rd Battalion was evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula and withdrawn to Egypt again, where it took part in the defence of the Suez Canal before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front in March 1916. For the next two and a half years the unit would serve in the trenches in France and Belgium and would take part in many of the major battles fought during that time. In May 1919, following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded and its personnel repatriated back to Australia.
The 16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment is an Australian Army reserve infantry battalion located in Western Australia and one of the two battalions of the Royal Western Australia Regiment. The battalion was first formed during the First World War, during which it fought during the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front in France and Belgium as part of the Australian Imperial Force. It was re-formed as a part-time unit in Western Australia during the inter-war years, and served in the New Britain Campaign against the Japanese during the Second World War. In the post war years, the battalion became part of the Royal Western Australia Regiment and currently forms part of the 13th Brigade.
Phillip Bradley is an Australian military historian who has written six books as well as numerous articles for Wartime and After the Battle magazine. He has been described as "One of the finest chroniclers of the Australian Army's role in the New Guinea campaign".
The 24th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised in 1915 for service during World War I as part of the 1st Australian Imperial Force, it was attached to the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division and served during the Gallipoli campaign and in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium. Following the end of the war the battalion was disbanded in 1919, however, in 1921 it was re-raised as a unit of the part-time Citizens Forces in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1927, when the part-time forces adopted territorial titles, the battalion adopted the designation of 24th Battalion . In 1939, the 24th Battalion was merged with the 39th Battalion, however, they were split up in 1941 and in 1943, after being allocated to the 15th Brigade, the 24th Battalion was deployed to New Guinea before later taking part in the Bougainville campaign. Following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded in 1946.
The Invasion of Buna–Gona, called Operation RI by the Japanese, was a military operation by Imperial Japanese forces to occupy the Buna–Gona area in the Territory of Papua during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. The initial landings and advance on Kokoda occurred between 21 and 27 July 1942. The Japanese invaded and occupied the location in preparation for an overland attack on Port Moresby along the Kokoda Track. The landing marked the start of the Kokoda Track campaign. The landings were not directly opposed by land forces but were engaged by elements of Maroubra Force as they advanced on Kokoda. This initially included B Company of the 39th Battalion, patrols of the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) operating in the area and a small number of the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) that became attached to the force. The Australians were initially repulsed near Oivi but subsequently regrouped to defend Kokoda in an initial battle there from 28–29 July.
The Battle of Isurava took place over the period 26 to 31 August 1942. Forming part of the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War, the battle involved military forces from Australia, supported by the United States, fighting against Japanese troops from Major General Tomitaro Horii's South Seas Detachment who had landed around Buna and Gona in Papua mid-July 1942, with the intent of capturing Port Moresby to the south via the overland route.
Peter Stanley is a prominent Australian military historian, who specialises in the military-social experience of war in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. In a career spanning over three decades, Stanley has worked as an Historian and later Head of the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial (1980–2007), Head of the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia (2007–13) and, since 2013, as Research Professor at the University of New South Wales in the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society. Starting in 1977—and as at 2019—Stanley has written 27 books and edited eight others, published two novels and co-authored a booklet, and composed at least 46 chapters in books and anthologies, 59 journal articles, seven encyclopaedia entries and numerous papers. In 2011, his book Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Mutiny, Murder and the Australian Imperial Force (2010) was the joint winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History.
The Battle of Mission Ridge – Brigade Hill took place between 6 and 9 September 1942, during the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States, and Japan, the fighting centred on a high feature south of the village of Efogi on the Kokoda Track.
The Battle of Oivi–Gorari was the final major battle of the Kokoda Track campaign before the Battle of Buna–Gona. Following the capture of Kokoda by Australian forces on 2 November, the Allies began flying in fresh supplies of ammunition and food to ease the supply problems that had slowed their advance north after the climactic battle around Ioribaiwa, which coupled with reverses elsewhere, had stopped the Japanese advance on Port Moresby.
The Battle of Ioribaiwa took place between 14 and 16 September 1942, during the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States, and Japan, the fighting centred on a high feature known as Ioribaiwa Ridge, south of Ofi Creek on the Kokoda Track, in the Territory of Papua. It was the last of three defensive battles fought by the Australians along the Kokoda Track to halt the Japanese advance from the north coast of Papua towards Port Moresby.
The Battle of Kokoda consisted of two engagements fought in late July – early August 1942. Forming part of the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War, the battle involved military forces from Australia, supported by the United States, fighting against Japanese troops from Major General Tomitaro Horii's South Seas Detachment who had landed around Buna and Gona in Papua mid-July 1942, with the intent of capturing Port Moresby to the south via the overland route.
The First Battle of Eora Creek – Templeton's Crossing was fought from 31 August 1942 to 5 September 1942. Forming part of the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War, the battle involved military forces from Australia, supported by the United States, fighting against Japanese troops from Major General Tomitaro Horii's South Seas Detachment who had landed in Papua in mid-1942, with the intent of capturing Port Moresby. The battle was one of three defensive actions fought by the Australians along the Kokoda Track. The fighting resulted in the delay of the Japanese advance south, which allowed the Australians to withdraw to Efogi. Eora Creek village and Templeton's Crossing was subsequently the site of a battle in late October 1942 as the Australian forces pursued the Japanese forces retiring back toward the north coast of Papua.
The Second Battle of Eora Creek – Templeton's Crossing was fought from 11 to 28 October 1942. Forming part of the Kokoda Track campaign of the Second World War, the battle involved military forces from Australia, supported by the United States, fighting against Japanese troops from Major General Tomitaro Horii's South Seas Detachment who had landed in Papua in mid-1942, with the intent of capturing Port Moresby.
