Ill, maps, p.223.non-fictionWith sixteen other POWs, author Charles McCormac broke out from his POW camp in Japanese-occupied Singapore and began a two-thousand-mile escape from Singapore, through the jungles of Indonesia to Australia. The POWs' escape took a staggering five months and only two out of the original seventeen men survived. This is McCormac's compelling true account of one of the most horrifying and amazing escapes in World War Two. It is a story of courage, endurance and compassion, and makes for a very gripping read.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, prisoner of war escapes - singapore

p.227.fictionKien's job is to search the Jungle of Screaming Souls for corpses. He knows the area well - this was where, in the dry season of 1969, his battalion was obliterated by American napalm and helicopter gunfire. Kien was one of only ten survivors. This book is his attempt to understand the eleven years of his life he gave to a senseless war.vietnam war 1961-1975 - fiction, vietnam war 1961-1975 - history

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.253.non-fictionThe controversial Battle at Xa Long Tan was not only a critical episode in Australias Vietnam involvement, it was also a textbook nightmare in the history of jungle warfare. Reconstructing this dramatic action from secret documents and the vivid recollections of many diggers who fought at Long Tan, Terry Burstall challenges the official army version. vietnam war 1961-1975 – australian involvement, vietnam war 1961-1975 – battles – long tan

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.722.non-fictionVietnam became the Western world's most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and less familiar battles such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh's warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed 2 million people. Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners' victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, Huey pilots from Arkansas.vietnam war 1961-1975 – history, vietnam war 1961-1975 – personal recollections

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.358.non-fictionIn the line of fire' explores the nature of combat from the perspective of the men doing the actual fighting. From the heights of Gallipoli to the trenches of the Western Front, from the deserts of North Africa to the jungle POW camps of the Thai-Burma Railway, from the savage cold of a Korean winter to the steamy heat of Vietnam this book details what it's really like to be in the line of fire. Also it reveals the experiences of Australian women at war and the combat photographers.military participation - australia, sustralia - history - military

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

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.275.non-fictionOn 7 March 1944 Tokyo announced that the Japanese invasion of British India had begun. By mid-month, the Japanese 31st Division had crossed the Chindwin River in northern Burma, advancing on a wide front towards Imphal and Kohima. In bitter jungle fighting from early April, the British Fourteenth Army under Field Marshal Slim held the Japanese assault on Kohima Ridge. By late June the Japanese were in headlong retreat. Kohima ranks for strategic importance with Alamein, Midway and Stalingrad. The increasing dominance of Allied airpower in the region in the aftermath of the battle was a major factor. kohima - siege - 1944, world war 1939-1945 - land operations - india

Index, ill, p.600.non-fictionWorld War II was the most intensively photographed conflict in history. Military adn press photographers, propagandists, camera-wielding soldiers and civilians - all took the opportunity to record the tumultuous events of 1939-45. World War II in Photographs features 900 clearly captioned images selected from a wide variety of sources. Every major theatre of conflict is covered, from the icy seas of the Arctic Circle to the jungles of the South Pacific, from the deserts of North Africa to the steppes of Russia.world war 1939-1945 - history, world war 1939-1945 - pictorial works

Index, ill, maps, p.740.non-fictionWorld War II Album presents a simultaneous documentary view of every theater of the war, from the steppes of Russia to the jungles of Malaysia and the Solomons; from the freezing cold of the northernmost fjords to the scorching sands of the Libyan desert; from the bunkers of the West Wall to the boundless oceans.world war 1939-1945 - pictorial works, world war 1939-1945 - history

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

Index, ill, ,maps, p.380.non-fictionIn the Second World War, thousands of Australian boys lied about their age and volunteered for a war the scale of which they could never have imagined. Like many of their fathers in the Great War, they went with their eyes wide shut: under-trained, under-equipped and under-age. Some were as young as thirteen - too young even to shave. Many did not grow old; others came back broken. A handful are still alive to tell their tales. This extraordinary book captures the bold and untold stories of forty Australian children who fought in the deadliest war in history. Follow these boys through Libya and Palestine, Greece and Crete, to the jungles of Malaya, Papua New Guinea and Borneo, fighting for their lives, their country, their mates. Many of the photographs have never been seen. Haunting images of youths in training camps and behind the lines stand beside moving portraits of old men who have not forgotten.world war 1939-1945 - australia - under age soldiers, world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives - australia

Index, bib, ill, p.241.non-fictionIn 1968, in the western jungle of Vietnam near Laos, a Special Forces Company, under the command of an Australian Army Captain, supported by a Marine artillery detachment, occupied an old French fort, on a hill known as Ngok Tavak. The circumstances of the battle that ensued, and the subsequent retreat from Ngok Tavak, left in their wake issues that cried out for resolution for decades after the event. A number of American bodies were left where they had fallen during the battle, and another American, the nephew of Katharine Hepburn, went missing. After speaking extensively to the battle survivors and loved ones of the American warriors, and searching through accounts from official reports that included Vietnamese documents, eyewitness statements and war diaries, Bruce Davies has pieced together the evidence that will bring resolution to the questions that still haunt many of those connected to the battle. A story that needed to be told for the veterans who survived and for those who did not, for their families and for the sake of history. Lieutenant Colonel Brian Cooper (Retd), Australian Infantry, South Vietnam 1971-72vietnam - history 1945-1975, vietnam - special forces

Index, bib, ill, p.602.non-fictionFor the first time ever, the compelling story of the infamous Kokoda Track campaign has been told from both sides of the conflict. In a unique and balanced portrayal, renowned journalist Paul Ham recounts both the Australian and Japanese perspectives of the events on the hellish Papuan jungle trail where thousands fought and died during World War II. Based on extensive research in Australia and Japan, and including previously unpublished documents, Kokoda intimately relates the stories of ordinary soldiers in 'the world's worst killing field', and examines the role of commanders in sending ill-equipped, unqualified Australian troops into battles that resulted in near 100 per cent casualty rates. It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90 miles (145 km) of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in a bid to conquer 'Greater East Asiaworld war 1939 – 1945 – campaigns – kokoda, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - south west pacific

They fought on the African Veldt. They fought in the mud-choked trenches of France. they fought in the searing heat of the Western Desert and the tropocal jungles of the pacific and Vietnam...australia's soldiers.australia. army - history, australia. dept of defense - history

In May 1968, in the western jungle of Vietnam near Laos, a Special Force Company under the command of an Australian army captain, supported by a U.S. Marine Marine artillery detachedment, occupied an old French Fort on a hill known as Ngok Tavak.australia. army training team, vietnam., united states. marine corps -- history -- vietnam war, 1961-1975, battle of ngok tavak

Indebted is not your usual military autobiography. 'Sketchy's' easy-to-read memoir is both humorous and thought-provoking. It gives a unique insight into jungle warfare during the Vietnam conflict and training and culture in the Australian Army, particularly the Special Air Service. It is a powerful book that will be of interest to both service and non-service personnel.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - personal narratives, australian, australia. army. special air service regiment -- biography, soldiers -- training of -- australia

The Phamtoms of Bridie is a highly readable blend of an engaging yarn and a fascinating portrayal of operational service in Vietnam as an infantry company commander leading some 100 fine young national service and regular soldiers in cloase quarter jungle fighting.vietnam, national service, sas, bravo company 6 rar, operation bribie

The Vietnam War was like no other the Australias and New Sealanders had fought. There was no front line, no safe zone, no glory. In the jungles the Vietcong seemed to be everywhere and nowhere - and winning. To fond the Vietcong, a country was torn apart, In questioning why they were there, Australia and New Zealand almost tore themselves apart.vietnamese conflict, new zealand troops, australian troops, vietcong

The book captures the life and the mood of the troops better than anything else that has been written.vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975 -- fiction, australian soldiers, jungles of vietnam, viet cong

And so we are introduced the New Zealand infantrymen who make up Three Platoon as they embark on the twentieth day of Operation Field Gold deep in the jungle of Vietnamvietnam, kiwis, new zealand, operation field gold, three platoon

Pentagon theorists had decreed that Vietnam was no place for armor. but the policymakers were wrong. One remarkable vehicle the M-113 armoured personnel carrier proved so adaptable to the jungles and rice paddies of South Vietnam that it completely altered the way the war was fought.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - artillery operations

fictionthe author served in the Vietnam conflict and has drawn on his knowledge and experience to present this powerful story of two young men, one militant and aggressive, the other basically a pacifist, who are conscripted and sent to fight on the jungle.vietnam war, 1961-1975 -- fiction, conscription

During his tour in vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Lee Lanning walked the booby-trapped rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, searching for elusive Viet Cong, and later macheted his way through the triple-canopy jungle fighting North Vietnamese Army regulars.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - personal narratives, american, mekong delta, 199th light infantry brigade, lieutenant lee lanning

During his tour in vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Lee Lanning walked the booby-trapped rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, searching for elusive Viet Cong, and later macheted his way through the triple-canopy jungle fighting North Vietnamese Army regulars.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - personal narratives, american, 199th light infantry brigade, mekong delta, lieutenant lee lanning

These are the stories Vietnam vets tell over beers at Legion halls and VFW posts - stories of young men tangled up in the chaos of landing zones and nameless jungle hill, in the boredom of base camps, in the confusion of a controversial war.vietnam war, 1961 - 1975, personal narratives, american, soldiers - united states - biography - ancedotes

Ted Serong was on of the most original and influential of the Australian Army's planners in the post-war period. He re-established the jungle training centre at Canungra in the 1950s and developed the Australian Army's doctrine of counter-insurgency warfare.serong, ted, australia. australian army - officers - biography, vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975

The Phamtoms of Bridie is a highly readable blend of an engaging yarn and a fascinating portrayal of operational service in Vietnam as an infantry company commander leading some 100 fine young national service and regular soldiers in cloase quarter jungle fighting.operation bribie, 7 rar, 4 rar, 6 rar, special air service regiment (australian army), vietnam war, 1961-1975 - personal narratives - australian

In the green hell that was Vietnam, men grew up quickly. And the young lieutenants, if they survived, grew up quicker than most.united states. army - officers - biography, vietnam war, 1961-1975- personal narratives, american, jungle combat