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Lara RSL Sub Branch
Book, Soldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas, 1942
This volume is like a veteran 'gong' - winner with years of tough going and breathless incidents to draw from. The service and the blokes in it have been able to dig into this pile of gen. and present some amazing stories, pictures, poems, graphics and cartoons.Personal recounts from RAAF service personnel by way of stories, poems, cartoons, illustrations and portraitsSoldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas. Red hardback front and back with light coloured text of title. The rising sun badge, with text under it - The Australian Army at home and overseas. Inside front and back cover show illustrations of RAAF personnel dressed in the uniform which depicts their job i.e. females in nurse uniforms. raaf,, wwii, new guinea, malaya, middle east, bethlehem, south west pacific, bab-el-mandeb, doughboy, royal womens army service, syria, cairo, singapore battle, jungle ambush -
Lara RSL Sub Branch
Book, Soldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas, 1942
This volume is like a veteran 'gong' - winner with years of tough going and breathless incidents to draw from. The service and the blokes in it have been able to dig into this pile of gen. and present some amazing stories, pictures, poems, graphics and cartoons.Personal recounts from RAAF service personnel by way of stories, poems, cartoons, illustrations and portraitsSoldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas. Red hardback front and back with light coloured text of title. The rising sun badge, with text under it - The Australian Army at home and overseas. Inside front and back cover show illustrations of RAAF personnel dressed in the uniform which depicts their job i.e. females in nurse uniforms. raaf,, wwii, new guinea, malaya, middle east, bethlehem, south west pacific, bab-el-mandeb, doughboy, royal womens army service, syria, cairo, singapore battle, jungle ambush -
Lara RSL Sub Branch
Book, Soldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas, 1952
This volume is like a veteran 'gong' - winner with years of tough going and breathless incidents to draw from. The service and the blokes in it have been able to dig into this pile of gen. and present some amazing stories, pictures, poems, graphics and cartoons.Personal recounts from RAAF service personnel by way of stories, poems, cartoons, illustrations and portraitsSoldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas. Green hardback front and back with light coloured text of title. The rising sun badge, with text under it - The Australian Army at home and overseas. Inside front and back cover show illustrations of RAAF personnel dressed in the uniform which depicts their job i.e. females in nurse uniforms. raaf,, wwii, new guinea, malaya, middle east, bethlehem, south west pacific, bab-el-mandeb, doughboy, royal womens army service, syria, cairo, singapore battle, jungle ambush -
Lara RSL Sub Branch
Book, Australia in the War of 1939-1945 CIVIL Volume 2 Author Paul Hasluck The Government and the People of 1942-1945, First published 1970
This book is a follow one from the first volume written by Paul Hasluck. Maps, illustrations and photographsThe development and significant events of Australian politics during 1942-1945Australia in the War of 1939-1945 - The Government and the People 1942-45Australian War Memorialfall of singapore, south west pacific command, bombs on australian soil, macarthur, macarthur takes command, industrial - coal, austerity, manpower difficulties, 1943 elections, san francisco conference, the end of hitler's war, john curtin is dead, the surrender of japan -
Lara RSL Sub Branch
Book, Soldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas, 1942
This volume is like a veteran 'gong' - winner with years of tough going and breathless incidents to draw from. The service and the blokes in it have been able to dig into this pile of gen. and present some amazing stories, pictures, poems, graphics and cartoons.Personal recounts from RAAF service personnel by way of stories, poems, cartoons, illustrations and portraitsSoldiering On - The Australian Army at Home and Overseas. Red hardback front and back with light coloured text of title. The rising sun badge, with text under it - The Australian Army at home and overseas. Inside front and back cover show illustrations of RAAF personnel dressed in the uniform which depicts their job i.e. females in nurse uniforms. raaf,, wwii, new guinea, malaya, middle east, bethlehem, south west pacific, bab-el-mandeb, doughboy, royal womens army service, syria, cairo, singapore battle, jungle ambush -
Shepparton RSL Sub Branch
Diary
A rare hand written diary in chronological order from 31/05/1917 to 21/05/1919 by Stoker Richard Arthur Stephen Collins, DOB 1/12/1899 at Beeac Victoria, later residing at Shepparton Victoria. Service Number 6129 A descriptive diary written from pre embarkment on SS Zeelandia from Melbourne (31/05/1917) to Sydney and leaving on 9/06/1917 on the Destroyer flotilla including “Yarra-79”, “Parramatta - 55” and the “Warrego-70” for Malta Station in the Mediterrainean.Details of the personal daily activities onboard Destroyer during The Great War, descriptions include ports of call, other destroyers and warships on way to and including in the Mediterrainean. The social activities with shore leave and detailed description of the vista at different ports including Singapore and via th Suez Canal to the Mediterrainean.Black bound foolscap book with frayed top and bottom edges of cover. Areas are white markings on front and back covers. Hand written daily diary in ink, italiac script, pages are of ledger appearance with faint pink lines. Pages in book discoloured yellow around edges.Donated to the Ex Naval Association to be kept at the Shepparton RSL Sub Branch royal australian navy, the great war, first world war, diary, ww1 -
Mission to Seafarers Victoria
Book, Routledge, The Last of the Wind Ships, 1934
No dust jacketnon-fictionsea voyage, allan villiers (1903-1982), keith oliver, donation, windjammers -
Greensborough Historical Society
Article, Lieutenant Edward Carse, a Greensborough boy, 1943_
A brief explanation of Lieutenant Carse's connection to Greensborough.Hubert Edward (Ted) Carse fought against the Japanese in Singapore during World War 2.Half page, typedcarse family, operation rimau, world war 2 -
4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse Regiment Unit History Room
Book, Colonel E G Keogh M.B.E., E.D, The South West Pacific 1941-45, 1965
A book on war in New Guinea and Islands providing a detailed overview of Australian forces participation in the Battle for Australia. Concise for Kokoda and Milne Bay including copy of battle maps, but also covers Singapore, Borneo, Philippines, Wewak and Bougainville, and more.Hard covered book, 479 pages, WW11 Australian soldier on front cover bearing sub-machine gun and pistolnon-fictionA book on war in New Guinea and Islands providing a detailed overview of Australian forces participation in the Battle for Australia. Concise for Kokoda and Milne Bay including copy of battle maps, but also covers Singapore, Borneo, Philippines, Wewak and Bougainville, and more.history, world war 2, south west pacific, keogh -
Australian Commando Association - Victoria
Book, Kill The Tiger- The Truth About Operation RIMAU
WW2 Australian Special OperationsSoftcover 304 pages, Douglas Shire library serviceww2, australian commandos, singapore raid -
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Container - Tin, Kiwi Shoe Polish Manufacture, 1940s
The polish was developed in Australia by William Ramsay who named it Kiwi after the flightless bird endemic to New Zealand, the home country of his wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay. Its success in Australia expanded overseas when it was adopted by both the British and American armies in World War I. In the UK, Kiwi was for many years manufactured at its British headquarters in Ealing (Brumwell Road, London W5 1DT). From here the factory manufactured for the UK market and exported the Kiwi brand too much of Europe and the Middle East. In the mid-1970s, as part of a major streamlining, the UK factory was closed with production switched to France. The UK operation moved to Surrey at Yately becoming, effectively, a sales and marketing office, with distribution contracted to a third party. In 1980, production for the UK market moved back to the UK and was housed in a factory near Huddersfield. The UK head office was relocated to Maidstone, Kent, where Kiwi had other product interests. Following the global merger with Nicholas Laboratories, the UK head office was again relocated to Slough at the Nicholas building on Bath Road.A significant product as Kiwi is an Australian brand name of shoe polish, first launched and sold in Australia in 1906 and as of 2005 sold in almost 180 countries. Previously owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, it was sold in 2011 to S. C. Johnson. It is the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it has about two thirds of the market. In Malaysia and Singapore, Kiwi has become such a household brand for a shoe polish that the word "kiwi" has been genericized into a verb in the Malay language, meaning "to polish one's shoes".Metal cleaning outfit of Kiwi boot polish brush, scraper, & polish missingKiwi Boot Polish to front of containerflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village -
Australian Commando Association - Victoria
Book, Lenette Ramsay Silver, The Heros of RIMAU
On September 11, 1944, the British submarine "Porpoise" slipped quietly from Fremantle Harbour, bound for Indonesia. It was carrying the 23 Australian and British members of Operation Rimau who, under the leadership of the remarkable Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, intended to repeat the successful Jaywick raid of 1943 by blowing up 60 ships in Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour, 19 days later, the preliminary part of the operation successfully completed, the submarine commander bade farewell to the raiders at Pedjantan Island, promising to return to pick them up in 38 days' time. A handful of Chinese and Malays and the conquering Japanese were the only people ever to see the 23 men again. According to the scant official post-war record, the mission was an utter failure. All of the party were captured of killed - ten of them beheaded in Singapore only five weeks before the Japanese surrender in, it was claimed, a ceremonial execution. The fate of eleven of the others remains officially unknown. After a 31 year search, Major Tom Hall, with the assistance of writer Lynette Silver, has overturned the official version and uncovered the truth. Aided by thousands of Japanese and Allied documents and by the first-hand accounts of several Indonesians and Malays, sole witnesses to the events of 1944, they have established the fate of every member of the party and unravelled the story of "The Heroes of Rimau" - a story that has for 45 years been all but lost, distorted by hearsay and fantasy, by military cover-ups and conspiracy, by official bungling, ineptitude and apathy. This book not only chronicles a feat of extraordinary daring in the face of overwhelming odds - a gripping tale of inspired courage, self-sacrifice and eventual tragedy - it also exposes the appalling sequence of events which has, until now, resulted in the shameful suppression of the truth about one of the most amazing stories to emerge from World War II.Self-government publication comprising 314 pages with some black-and-white photographs.non-fictionOn September 11, 1944, the British submarine "Porpoise" slipped quietly from Fremantle Harbour, bound for Indonesia. It was carrying the 23 Australian and British members of Operation Rimau who, under the leadership of the remarkable Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, intended to repeat the successful Jaywick raid of 1943 by blowing up 60 ships in Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour, 19 days later, the preliminary part of the operation successfully completed, the submarine commander bade farewell to the raiders at Pedjantan Island, promising to return to pick them up in 38 days' time. A handful of Chinese and Malays and the conquering Japanese were the only people ever to see the 23 men again. According to the scant official post-war record, the mission was an utter failure. All of the party were captured of killed - ten of them beheaded in Singapore only five weeks before the Japanese surrender in, it was claimed, a ceremonial execution. The fate of eleven of the others remains officially unknown. After a 31 year search, Major Tom Hall, with the assistance of writer Lynette Silver, has overturned the official version and uncovered the truth. Aided by thousands of Japanese and Allied documents and by the first-hand accounts of several Indonesians and Malays, sole witnesses to the events of 1944, they have established the fate of every member of the party and unravelled the story of "The Heroes of Rimau" - a story that has for 45 years been all but lost, distorted by hearsay and fantasy, by military cover-ups and conspiracy, by official bungling, ineptitude and apathy. This book not only chronicles a feat of extraordinary daring in the face of overwhelming odds - a gripping tale of inspired courage, self-sacrifice and eventual tragedy - it also exposes the appalling sequence of events which has, until now, resulted in the shameful suppression of the truth about one of the most amazing stories to emerge from World War II. -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Mark Clisby, Guilty or innocent? : the Gordon Bennett case, 1992
Many Australians, in a typically Australian fashion, recall Gordon Bennett as "the bloke who shot through and left his troops at Singapore". Whether this is a fair assessment or not, there is no doubt that General Gordon Bennett's escape from Singapore in February 1942 left an ineradicable mark on Australia's military and legal history, and that the rights and wrongs of his actions will be debated forever.Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.134.non-fictionMany Australians, in a typically Australian fashion, recall Gordon Bennett as "the bloke who shot through and left his troops at Singapore". Whether this is a fair assessment or not, there is no doubt that General Gordon Bennett's escape from Singapore in February 1942 left an ineradicable mark on Australia's military and legal history, and that the rights and wrongs of his actions will be debated forever. world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - singapore, capitulations - military -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Allen & Unwin, On our doorstep : when Australia faced the threat of invasion by the Japanese, 2020
By March 1942, the Japanese had steamrolled through Malaya, laid siege to Singapore, and bombed Darwin with the same ferocity they had dealt Pearl Harbor. Nothing could stop them. Their next step was inevitable, surely: the invasion and occupation of Australia. Meanwhile, as Australian prime minister John Curtin was battling with Winston Churchill to get troops back from overseas to defend their homeland, he was also positioning to ensure the United States would be there with us to fend off the approaching enemy. And at home, people pitched in as best they could and in any way to frustrate the invader. They all played their part, torn between 'she'll be right' and near panic. On Our Doorstep is the story of how Australia and Australians - the government, the military and the people - prepared to face this calamity, and the events that persuaded them of its probability. In the end, Japan found it had stretched itself beyond the reliability of its supply line, but had it ever intended to invade Australia?Index, bibliography, notes, ill, map, p.404.non-fictionBy March 1942, the Japanese had steamrolled through Malaya, laid siege to Singapore, and bombed Darwin with the same ferocity they had dealt Pearl Harbor. Nothing could stop them. Their next step was inevitable, surely: the invasion and occupation of Australia. Meanwhile, as Australian prime minister John Curtin was battling with Winston Churchill to get troops back from overseas to defend their homeland, he was also positioning to ensure the United States would be there with us to fend off the approaching enemy. And at home, people pitched in as best they could and in any way to frustrate the invader. They all played their part, torn between 'she'll be right' and near panic. On Our Doorstep is the story of how Australia and Australians - the government, the military and the people - prepared to face this calamity, and the events that persuaded them of its probability. In the end, Japan found it had stretched itself beyond the reliability of its supply line, but had it ever intended to invade Australia?world war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – south west pacific, australia - politics and government - 1939-1945 -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, peter Thompson, Pacific fury : how Australia and her allies defeated the Japanese scourge, 2008
Pearl Harbour. Kokoda. The fall of Singapore. Curtin's fight with Churchill. The bombing of Darwin. The Battle of Midway. POWs. Kamikaze. Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia herself was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on one hand and British apathy on the other. Until now the history of the Pacific War has largely been written from the American perspective. Now, for the first time, Peter Thompson places Australian voices and action at the heart of a struggle that took an unimaginable number of lives and only ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen. Pearl Harbor; The fall of Singapore; Curtin's fights with Churchill; The bombing of Darwin; POW camps; The battle of Midway; Kokoda; Buna; Kamikaze pilots; Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on the one hand and British deception on the other. After a conflict that took an unimaginable number of lives and ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen, the Allies emerged victorious. Australia, however, was criticised by Churchill and his generals for showing cowardice in the face of the enemy and for not caring about the fate of other nations. The endorsement of these claims by several military historians today shows that the smear has not gone away. Until nowIndex, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.548.non-fictionPearl Harbour. Kokoda. The fall of Singapore. Curtin's fight with Churchill. The bombing of Darwin. The Battle of Midway. POWs. Kamikaze. Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia herself was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on one hand and British apathy on the other. Until now the history of the Pacific War has largely been written from the American perspective. Now, for the first time, Peter Thompson places Australian voices and action at the heart of a struggle that took an unimaginable number of lives and only ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen. Pearl Harbor; The fall of Singapore; Curtin's fights with Churchill; The bombing of Darwin; POW camps; The battle of Midway; Kokoda; Buna; Kamikaze pilots; Hiroshima. These words alone are enough to convey the terror, courage and drama of the Pacific War, when the balance of power stood on a knife-edge and when the future of Australia was on the brink - threatened by Japanese aggression on the one hand and British deception on the other. After a conflict that took an unimaginable number of lives and ended with the unleashing of the most powerful weapon the world had ever seen, the Allies emerged victorious. Australia, however, was criticised by Churchill and his generals for showing cowardice in the face of the enemy and for not caring about the fate of other nations. The endorsement of these claims by several military historians today shows that the smear has not gone away. Until nowworld war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – pacific, world war 1939 – 1945 – australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, The time of the soldier, 1991
An account of the author's experiences in two World Wars, as a Sergeant Major in a machine gun battalion and as a prisoner of the Japanese in Java, Singapore and Thailand.Ill, p.210.non-fictionAn account of the author's experiences in two World Wars, as a Sergeant Major in a machine gun battalion and as a prisoner of the Japanese in Java, Singapore and Thailand. world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia, prisoners of war - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, McMillan, Black Jack : The Life and Times of Brigadier Sir Frederick Galleghan, 1983
The biography of Brigadier Sir Frederick GalleghanIndex, ill, p.166.non-fictionThe biography of Brigadier Sir Frederick Galleghanprisoners of war - biography - australia, changi prison - singapore -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Pan Macmillan, One fourteenth of an elephant : a memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand railway, 2003
Four and a half days after being transported out of Singapore in a steel goods train in October 1942, prisoner of war Denys Peek found himself in Siam, and a part of the labor force destined for the project that was later to be known as the Thai-Burma Death Railway.Maps, p.520.non-fictionFour and a half days after being transported out of Singapore in a steel goods train in October 1942, prisoner of war Denys Peek found himself in Siam, and a part of the labor force destined for the project that was later to be known as the Thai-Burma Death Railway.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hachette, The Changi Brownlow, 2010
After Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, 70000 prisoners, including 15000 Australians, were held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison. To amuse themselves, a group of sportsmen created an Aussie Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches, a final game, and a Brownlow Medal.Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.376.non-fictionAfter Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, 70000 prisoners, including 15000 Australians, were held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison. To amuse themselves, a group of sportsmen created an Aussie Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches, a final game, and a Brownlow Medal.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, changi prison - singapore -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Penguin, Behind bamboo, 1991
The bestselling memoir of life as an Australian POW on the notorious Thai-Burma railway. Rohan Rivett was a journalist in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942. He escaped south - across the treacherous Bangka Strait - to Indonesia, but was soon captured and became just one of thousands of POWs struggling for existence in a Japanese camp. The struggle was to last for more than three years. Behind Bamboo is unflinching in its honesty and haunting in its realism. It is a vivid, compelling testament to the Australians' will to survive and their unassailable spirit in the face of the most callous inhumanity.Ill, p.400.non-fiction The bestselling memoir of life as an Australian POW on the notorious Thai-Burma railway. Rohan Rivett was a journalist in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942. He escaped south - across the treacherous Bangka Strait - to Indonesia, but was soon captured and became just one of thousands of POWs struggling for existence in a Japanese camp. The struggle was to last for more than three years. Behind Bamboo is unflinching in its honesty and haunting in its realism. It is a vivid, compelling testament to the Australians' will to survive and their unassailable spirit in the face of the most callous inhumanity.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Alistair MacLean, South by Java head, 1958
A Singapore falls to the Japanese a small group of men and women set sail on desperate journey. One of them carries a cargo without price, the complete plans for the Japanese invasion of Australia. In order to get at there is nothing the Japanese will not do. They will stop at nothing.p.286.non-fictionA Singapore falls to the Japanese a small group of men and women set sail on desperate journey. One of them carries a cargo without price, the complete plans for the Japanese invasion of Australia. In order to get at there is nothing the Japanese will not do. They will stop at nothing. world war 1939-1945 - fiction, war stories -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, William Heinemann, Sandakan : the untold story of the Sandakan Death Marches, 2013
The untold story of the Sandakan death marches of World War II. After the fall of Singapore, in February 1942, the Japanese conquerors rounded up tens of thousands of British and Australian soldiers and shipped them to prison camps scattered throughout Hirohito's newly won Empire. The fall of Britain's 'impregnable fortress' was the greatest humiliation in British military history, for which Churchill never forgave the Japanese. But nothing would surpass the wretched fate of some 2,700 British and Australian prisoners who were shipped to British North Borneo later that year. They landed in Sandakan, on the east coast of the island, after a 10-day voyage on a Japanese 'hell' ship, and were herded into a jungle camp some eight miles inland. Thus began the three-year ordeal of the Sandakan prisoners of war - a barely known story of unimaginable horror.Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.688.non-fictionThe untold story of the Sandakan death marches of World War II. After the fall of Singapore, in February 1942, the Japanese conquerors rounded up tens of thousands of British and Australian soldiers and shipped them to prison camps scattered throughout Hirohito's newly won Empire. The fall of Britain's 'impregnable fortress' was the greatest humiliation in British military history, for which Churchill never forgave the Japanese. But nothing would surpass the wretched fate of some 2,700 British and Australian prisoners who were shipped to British North Borneo later that year. They landed in Sandakan, on the east coast of the island, after a 10-day voyage on a Japanese 'hell' ship, and were herded into a jungle camp some eight miles inland. Thus began the three-year ordeal of the Sandakan prisoners of war - a barely known story of unimaginable horror.world war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - sandakan, japan - prisons and prisoners of war -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, P.O.W. : prisoners of war, 1985
Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.Index, bib, ill, maps, p.224.Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, world war 1939-1945 - personal narrativies - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hesperian Press, Borneo surgeon : a reluctant hero : the life and times of Dr. James Patrick Taylor, OBE, MB, CH.M, 1995
Peter Firkins has produced a heroic figure comparable in courage and selflessness to that of the legendary 'Weary' Dunlop, and whose story should be known by all Australians in the same way. What a wonderful epitaph to a man born into a humble Yass family at the end of the nineteenth century who, by his own determination and intellect, won a scholarship for his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn and an Exhibition to study medicine at Sydney University. Almost by pure chance he pursued his medical career in an outpost of the British Empire then known as British North Borneo to become Principal Medical Officer at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II. The Japanese allowed the civilian medical staff to remain at their posts with the status of 'simple confinement' while at the same time the bewildered local people looked to someone for leadership in their new and unaccustomed circumstances.Aided by his wonderful wife Celia he was imperceptibly drawn into the key role of organising the underground movement among loyal native and giving support to the Australian Prisoners of War transferred to Borneo from Singapore. In 1943 he was exposed to the Japanese, arrested and terribly tortured. Donated by Major General M.P.J. O'Brien, July 2018. Signed by authorIll, p.151non-fictionPeter Firkins has produced a heroic figure comparable in courage and selflessness to that of the legendary 'Weary' Dunlop, and whose story should be known by all Australians in the same way. What a wonderful epitaph to a man born into a humble Yass family at the end of the nineteenth century who, by his own determination and intellect, won a scholarship for his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn and an Exhibition to study medicine at Sydney University. Almost by pure chance he pursued his medical career in an outpost of the British Empire then known as British North Borneo to become Principal Medical Officer at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II. The Japanese allowed the civilian medical staff to remain at their posts with the status of 'simple confinement' while at the same time the bewildered local people looked to someone for leadership in their new and unaccustomed circumstances.Aided by his wonderful wife Celia he was imperceptibly drawn into the key role of organising the underground movement among loyal native and giving support to the Australian Prisoners of War transferred to Borneo from Singapore. In 1943 he was exposed to the Japanese, arrested and terribly tortured. Donated by Major General M.P.J. O'Brien, July 2018. Signed by authorworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Corgi Books, The jungle is neutral, 1961
The fall of Singapore and Malaya in 1941Maps, p.381.non-fictionThe fall of Singapore and Malaya in 1941world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - singapore, world war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – malaya -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Angus & Robertson, The heroes, 1994
The story of two secret raids on Singapore during World War TwpMaps, p.327.non-fictionThe story of two secret raids on Singapore during World War Twpoperation jatwick, clandestine operations - australia - operation rimau -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Cameron Forbes, Hellfire : The Story of Australia, Japan and the Prisoners of War, 2005
For months during 1943 there was no night in Hellfire Pass. By the light of flares, carbide lamps and bamboo fires, men near-naked and skeletal cut a passage through stone to make way for a railway. Among these men were some of the 22,000 Australian soldiers taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. In camps across Asia and the Pacific, they struggled, died, and survived with a little help from their mates. 'Hellfire' was researched in Australia, Japan and across South-East Asia. It draws on 50 first-person interviews, ranging from former prisoners to an old Mon villager deep in the Burmese jungle, and from Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew to veterans of the Imperial Japanese Army. The result is a tour de force, a powerful and searing history of the prisoners of the Japanese.Index, ill, bib, p.559.non-fictionFor months during 1943 there was no night in Hellfire Pass. By the light of flares, carbide lamps and bamboo fires, men near-naked and skeletal cut a passage through stone to make way for a railway. Among these men were some of the 22,000 Australian soldiers taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. In camps across Asia and the Pacific, they struggled, died, and survived with a little help from their mates. 'Hellfire' was researched in Australia, Japan and across South-East Asia. It draws on 50 first-person interviews, ranging from former prisoners to an old Mon villager deep in the Burmese jungle, and from Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew to veterans of the Imperial Japanese Army. The result is a tour de force, a powerful and searing history of the prisoners of the Japanese. world war 1939-1945 - prisoners and prisons - japan, burma - siam railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Oldhams Press, Destined meeting, 1959
An account of a husband and wife interned in Singapore during Wprld War Two.Index, ill, p.253.non-fictionAn account of a husband and wife interned in Singapore during Wprld War Two.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, changi prison - singapore -
Moorabbin Air Museum
Document (item) - CAC History Correspondence with Singapore Airlines re charges for carrying out work. Plus correspondence Rolls Royce
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National Vietnam Veterans Museum (NVVM)
Book, Pfennigwerth, Ian, Tiger territory: the untold story of the Royal Australian Navy in Southeast Asia from 1948 - 1971
Between 1948, when Australia assumed strategic responsibility for British Commonwealth sea lines of communication to and from Southeast Asia and 1971, when the Five Power Defence Arrangements came into effect, ships and men of the Royal Australian Navy served with almost unnoticed distinction in defending the newly emerging nations of Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore.Between 1948, when Australia assumed strategic responsibility for British Commonwealth sea lines of communication to and from Southeast Asia and 1971, when the Five Power Defence Arrangements came into effect, ships and men of the Royal Australian Navy served with almost unnoticed distinction in defending the newly emerging nations of Malaya, Malaysia and Singapore.australia. royal australian navy - history - 20th century, australia - military relations - southeast asia