Edwin Alderson was born in 1859 and served in several campaigns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He saw service in the First Boer War in 1881 in the Transvaal. In 1896 he was sent to Mashonaland as a commander of a regiment of local troops during the Second Matabele War. In 1900 shortly after the outbreak of the Second Boer War he returned to South Africa to command the Mounted Infantry against the Boer forces. Alderson also served in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, Mounted Camel Regiment during the failed expedition to relieve Khartoum and rescue General Gordon. At the outbreak of the First World War, Alderson was in charge of the 1st Mounted Division. He retired from active service in 1920 aged 61. In 1901, as a result of Alderson's contribution to many campaigns he was rewarded with confirmation as a Brigadier General, appointment as a Companion of the Order of Bath and to receive the ceremonial post of Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria, who died the same year. He also received the Queen's South Africa Medal. He died in 1927 aged 68. Individual image from photographed poster of tobacco and cigarette cards. alderson, campaigns, first boer war, transvaal, mashonaland, south africa, second boer war, first world war, anglo-egyptian war, mounted camel regiment, second matabele war, general gordon, brigadier-general, companion of the order of bath, aide-de-camp, queen victoria, queen's south africa medal

Born 5th October 1895 in Adavoyle, United Kindom Occupation Grocer and later horticulturalist Married after WW1- Wife - Daisy Florence Barclay World War One Staff Sergeant Regimental Number 2139 Enlisted AIF in Melbourne 29th December 1914, having previously served 3 months with the Ulster Volunteers and to camp Broadmeadows, to depot Battalion 29th December 1914. Embarked from Melbourne for the middle East with 3rd reinforcement group for the 5th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 25th February 1915 per transport 'Runic'. Disembarked Alexandria and to camp Heliopolis, Egypt. Operation Gallipoli from 5th May 1915 with 5th Battalion. Sick with dental problems 2nd Field Ambulance 17th September 1915. To hospital Lemnos 20th December 1915. To Alexandria hospital with pluerisy 12th January 1916. Returned to Australia with enteric per 'Nestor' 9th February 1916.To duty Broadmeadows 4th April 1916. Wmbarked with 4th reinforcements group for the 58th Battalion, 15th Brigade per transport 'Themistocles' 1st August 1916 Returned to England 14th September 1916. Operations France and Flanders from 6th December 1916. To 59th Battalion 29th December 1916. To 5th Division Infantry School 18th February to 28th March 1917 as Lance Corporal. Corporal 7th April 1917. Sergeant 2nd May 1917. To 3rd Southern General Hospital Oxford 4th October 1917. Returned to Melbourne per Transport 'Persic' 12th February 1918. Discharged 14th March 1918. Second World War. Regimental Number V5571 Emlisted in the Australian Military Forces in Royal Park, Melbourne 22nd August 1940 and to 2nd Infantry Training Battalion, Fyansford. Staff Sergeant 24th August 1940. To 2/14th Training Battalion Wangaratta 11th October 1940. To 2/23rd Training Battalion, Wangaratta 18th October, 1940.To Southern Command Training School 26th May 1941.to Camp Bonegilla 15th May 1942. To Camp Caulfield 11th November 1942. Discharged to Reserve Occupation 19th November 1942. Remarks. Awarded 1915-15 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal 1914-1919 Awarded Distinguished Conduct Medal as Lance Corporal vide London Gazette 30111 of 31st July 1918. Citation for action on 9th July 1917 during the third Battle of Ypres reads- " For conspicous gallantry and devotion to duty. He rendered invaluable service during operation in carrying important messsages through heavy fire" Awarded War Medal and Australian Service Medal 1939-45 in 1951. Described as 71.5inches tall, medium complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He died 11th September 1962.WW1 - Distinguished Conduct Medal 1914/15 Star 1914/18 British War Medal Victory Medal WW11 - 1939/45 British War Medal Australian Service Medal 1939/45 All medals with associated coloured ribbons. These are replica medals made in the exact metals as the originals. Also in display is a record of War Service which can be found in the narrative. Noneservice, medal, 1918, citation, ww1, military, gazette, london, ww11, medals, 30111, 31st, july, ypres, distinguished

Letter written from (unknown) POW imprisioned by the Japanese on Morotai Island from 1942 - 1945 to (unknown) friend. Descriptive of life and treatment in POW camp. The island was captured by the Japanese in early 1942. Morotai's southern plain was taken by American forces in September 1944 during the Battle of Morotai, and used as a staging point for the Allied invasion of the Philippines in early 1945, and of Borneo in May and June of that year. Japanese soldier Teruo Nakamura was discovered in the Morotai jungle in 1974, as one of the WWII Japanese soldiers who held out subsequent to the Japanese military's surrender.Photocopy of letter, 4 pages, originally written in ink on (unofficial) Australian Red Cross form.Added to head of letter at a later date is inscription ' First letter written home for 3 1/2 years'.Top left hand- FOR SAFETY/ IN YOUR LETTERS DO NOT REFER TO:-/ The name of your ship or other ships in the convoy, or its escorts./The date of sailing, ports of call, or probable destination./ The description of troops, their loca-/tion or any other information/ which, if intercepted, would be of/ value to the enemy. In your Top right hand- Australian Red Cross Society/ (UNOFFICIAL)/ 25-8-45/ (added at later date 'Morotri Island')/ Alex, Have witten this especially/ as i don't wish our women folk to know the tougher side of life./Well Alex for the first/ 2 1/2 years as POWs we lived reasonably/ well, but the last 15 months was like /hell. Heres the worst lot of b-s/ you could find on earth, they worked /us from 7AM till 6 PM, & fed/ us on muck you wouldn't feed to/ Pigs. I'm nothing at all they would 2, pow, morotri island, morotai island, world war, prisoner of war, australian red cross society

Japanese Commanders crossing a pontoon bridge under guard by Australian soldier on the way to the official surrender of Japanese forces in Balikpapan in (Dutch East Indies) Indonesia 1945. This was a major event in the ending of World War 2. Following the japanese surrender the Local population began it push for independance. Framed photograph (copy) of Japanese Commanders surrendering at Balikpapan. Black frame and glass covered. The Japanese Command staff with a Japanese general and aid-d-camp (Captian)carring his breif case along with other staff members. In the background here are 2 American PT boats with American naval personal .Note American flag flying in the top left corner. There are several American landing craft next to a Japanese landing barge. The Japanese landing bardge has the required surrender markings which is a green square with a white cross on top right of photo. The Australian soldier following the Japanese soldiers is wearing slouch hat and gungle green uniform. Along the docks are native workers.Paper discription on lower photograph with details of item description, where photo obtained from and donated by.ww2, japanese, surrender, balikpapan, generals, americans, pt boats, japanese landing bardge, american landing craft, dutch east indies

Corporal Francis John Papworth (VX66806) served in the 2/4 Australian Commando Squadron in Timor, New Guinea and Borneo, Tarakan during World War II. His pencil drawn images of the Tarakan camp during May 1945 give an insight into the conditions at that time.Brown cardboard, spiral bound 'The Empire Sketch Book' with five pencil drawings on art paper by Corporal F. J. Papworth during his Commando service at Tarakan Hill, Borneo during World War II. Three of the drawings depict the army camp at Tarakan Hill during May 1945; the fourth drawing shows a young boy from Tarakan sitting on an army jeep and the last is a rough sketch of a baby drawn in 1947. Sketch Book of Corporal Francis John Papworth during World War IIOn front cover in handwritten in ink "PIC of Geo-Wallace/INSIDE". On first drawing handwritten in pencil on top righthand corner "TARAKAN HILL/looking NNE from machine shop section of Tarakan Oilfield/May 15 1945". On second drawing handwritten in pencil at bottom righthand corner "TARAKAN HILL looking from BANK pill box right centre -/15 May 45". On third drawing handwritten in pencil at top righthand corner "TARAKAN HILL and DUTCH/MACHINE SHOPS-Looking from KINGS CROSS/The morning of the 4th May 1945-/0745 hrs-/The Quiet before the storm". On fourth drawing handwritten in top in pencil "Salamit - Peace or Peaceful[l] Used as a Greeting/Salamit-/ORONG LAKI LAKI/TARAKAN. BORNEO/19 MAY 45." All four sketches are signed "John Papworth/Tarakan 1945".On fifth sketch handwritten in pencil "Michael/Signed by/2 Feb 1947".book, world war ii, military, sketch, tarakan, borneo, commando, papworth, may 1945, pencil drawings, wwii, world war 2

Digitised video (2.72GB). Duration: 50 minutes. Recorded April, 2019. (Video is available for viewing at Ringwood & District Historical Society Archives by appointment)Ringwood and District Historical Society were privileged to have military historian Anthony McAleer present this talk on the Monash Militia camp operating in Lilydale in February, 1914 - six months before the start of World War One - for 3000 citizen soldiers including some from Ringwood. The camp was commanded by John Monash, later General Sir John Monash.

Early 1900's. "Boiling the billy". The term billy or billycan is particularly associated with Australian usage, but is also used in the UK and Ireland. It is widely accepted that the term "billycan" is derived from the large cans used for transporting bouilli or bully beef on Australia-bound ships or during exploration of the outback, which after use were modified for boiling water over a camp fire. Postcards developed out of the complex tradition of nineteenth-century printed calling cards, beginning with the advent of the Cartes-de-Visite in France. In the 1850s, Parisian photographer Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi invented a photographic process involving egg white, albumen, and silver nitrate to create inexpensive portraits on paper cards. These photographic Cartes-de-Visites were 2 1/2 (75mm) by 4 inches (98mm) and became a popular, collectable form of "visiting cards" world-wide. Photographers would reprint portraits of famous individuals they had taken at their studios or during travel and sell them as collectable cards. Postcards as we know them now first began in 1861 as cards mailed by private post. In the 1870s picture postcards grew in popularity throughout the United States, Britain, Europe, and Japan. Cards were first permitted to have a "Divided Back," with text written on the left half of a dividing line and the address on the right half, beginning in England in 1902. Around 1900 the first postcards made of "Real Photos" rather than artwork began to circulate, aided in by advances in amateur photography equipment by companies such as Kodak. Kodak also introduced postcard paper for photographic development and photography studios began to offer portraits printed as postcards Many local town, countryside, and architectural images were captured during this period by local photographers, then printed and sold as postcards . Advances in amateur photography all contributed to a postcard craze that lasted from 1900 to the First World War. Postcards were the preferred means to send a quick note, whether across town or across a continent.Postcard with a black and white Photograph on the front and a 'Divided Back ' for the message and address. There are seven men surrounding the billy suspended over a camp fire. The ground has a lot of dead branches around. One man is bending down towards the billy. Two men on either side of the camp fire are carrying either a white bag across their shoulders or the fish in their hands. You can see, that there is some steam also coming out of the billy, which means that its hot. Court Post Card. / this space may be used for correspondence. / The address only to be written here.1900's, boiling the billy , postcards, photographers, england, hungary, america, cartes-de-visite, visiting cards, moorabbin, cheltenham, bentleigh, market gardeners, early settlers, pioneers,

Richardson Sheffield is a major supplier of kitchen knives and scissors to the United Kingdom market. Established in 1839, the company is headquartered in Sheffield, England but the products are imported from China. It is now owned by the Dutch Amefa group A penknife is a small pocketknife consisting of a small knife with a blade which folds into the hand and often incorporates other tools such as corkscrews, tweezers These penknives c 1930 were used by George Reed who was a draftsman who lived in Bentleigh , City of Moorabbin in mid 20th C These penknives are typical of the type used by residents of City of Moorabbin c19304 x Penknives and 1 hooka) MADE / RICHARDS / SHEFFIELD / ENGLANDpenknives, cuttlery, knives, camping gear, city of moorabbin, bentleigh, highett, ormond, moorabbin, cheltenham, post world war 2 estates, reed george, reed gladys,

This horse-drawn, two-wheeled cart with a tank, is known as a Furphy Farm Water Cart that was made in Shepparton, northern Victoria, c. 1942. John Furphy (1842-1920) was born in Moonee Ponds, in 1842 to Irish immigrant parents and subsequently raised in the Yarra Valley before the family moved to Kyneton in central Victoria, where he completed an apprenticeship with the firm Hutcheson and Walker. Murphy began operations of his own at a site on Piper Street in Kyneton in 1864. He relocated for a business opportunity and founded the first blacksmiths and wheelwrights shop in the newly surveyed town of Shepparton in 1873. Furphy invented many farming tools and machines including a patented grain-stripper, and won awards at the 1888-89 Melbourne International Exhibition. His most famous invention is the Furphy Farm Water Cart, designed in the 1880s, at a time when water for most households and farms was carted on wagons in wooden barrels. The Furphy’s water cart is a single item that combines a water metal tank and a cart. The design of the cart was simple yet effective, and became popular very quickly and established itself as a vital piece of farming equipment. The water cart has had a number of words cast into its ends over many years. References to the foundry’s location in Shepparton, as well as advertising of other products also manufactured by J. Furphy & Sons were present on the ends. However, the most significant set of words to feature on the tank, was a poem encouraging continual improvement: ‘Good Better Best, Never Let it Rest, Until your Good is Better, And your Better Best’. During The Great War (1914-1918), the water cart was used by the Australian militarily at a large AIF (Australian Imperial Force) camp in Broadmeadows (Melbourne) where thousands of men were camped for months, before being transported aboard. Furphy Water Carts provided water to the troops, and were usually placed near the camp latrines, which was one of the few places the troops could share gossip and tall tales away from the prying eyes and ears of their officers. The water cart drivers were also notorious sources of information, despite most of their news being hearsay, or totally unreliable. By the time the men of the AIF were in engaged in combat on the Gallipoli Peninsula and the Western Front, the carts used for water supply had no markings and became simply referred to as Furphys. This owed as much to the coining of the term ‘Furphy’, Australian slang for suspect information or rumour. After a number of decades as principally a soldier’s word, 'Furphy' entered the broader Australian vernacular and was used mainly by the political class until recently when the term was taken up by a Australian brewer as a beer brand. This Furphy Water Cart was purchased by Friends of Flagstaff Hill in 2014. The support of local individuals, organisations and businesses enabled its restoration and later its installation alongside the existing late-19th century water pipe stand and 1940s hand pump The Furphy Farm Water Cart is of historical significance as it represents a famous Australian time-saving and energy-saving invention of the 1880s, replacing the labour intensive activity of collecting and dispensing water from barrels and casks on the back of carts. The water cart’s connection with manufacturing companies J. Furphy & Sons and Furphy Foundry are significant for being early Australian businesses that are still in operation today. Furphy carts are of military significance for the role they played during The Great War (1914-1918) in Australian army camps, and theatres of war in Europe and the Middle East, to supply the AIF troops with fresh water. A wooden framed, two-wheeled, horse-drawn cart, fitted with a horizontally mounted, cylindrical metal tank. The tank is made of rolled, sheet steel with a riveted seam, and cast iron ends with cast iron ends. The spoked metal wheels have fitted flat iron tyres and metal hubs. A metal pipe is joined to the outlet. The tank is silver coloured, the ends, wheels and trims are crimson, and the script lettering on tank sides is black. There are inscriptions on the tank, ends, and hubs. The water tank was made in 1942 in Shepparton, Australia, by J. Furphy & Sons and has a capacity of 180 gallons (848 litres). Hub perimeter, embossed “J. FURPHY & SONS” “KEEP THE / BOLTS TIGHT” Hub centre embossed [indecipherable] Tank, each side, painted “J. FURPHY & SONS / Makers / SHEPPARTON” Tank ends, embossed – “FURPHY’S FARM WATER CART” “BORN ABOUT 1880 – STILL ‘GOING STRONG’ 1942” “j. FURPHY & SONS / MAKERS / SHEPPARTON - VIC “ “S - - - - - L MANUFACTURERS” [SPECIAL] “SPIKE ROLLERS” “SINGLE TREES” “PLOUGH WHEELS” “IRON CASTINGS” “LAND GRADERS” “STEEL DELVERS” “CAST IRON PIG” “CHAIN YOKES” “GOOD – BETTER – BEST / NEVER LET IT REST / TILL YOUR GOOD IS BETTER / AND YOUR BETTER – BEST” Image [Stork carrying a baby] above shorthand, transcribed "Produce and populate or perish" Image [Furphy Pig Feeder] beside ‘Cast Iron Pig’ Shorthand, transcribed “"Water is the gift of God but beer and whiskey are concoctions of the Devil, come and have a drink of water"warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, water cart, furphy cart, furphy tank, furphy farm water cart, furphy, john furphy, john furphy & sons, furphy foundry, kyneton, shepparton, mobile water tank, jinker, hutchinson & walker, blacksmith, farm equipment, implement maker, tool maker, horse drawn, stork and baby, good, better, best, barrel, tank, first world war, wwi, eastern front, gallipoli, j furphy & sons

Booklet produced by Liverpool Council, Heritage Collections Curator and Family History Officer,- 'Our Liverpool Boys ' -to commemorate Liverpool's history as a military town and the sacrifices of many of Liverpool's young men. Discusses also the rioting soldiers from the Casula Camp and the Liverpool Camp who hijacked a train and went to Sydney where the rioting continued. Anzac link to Bendigo in family names - further research required.event, war, liverpool world war 1, liverpool, anzac, world war 1

Black and white photo: large ship moored at wharf. Cranes on wharf side, people on wharf dressed in coats and hats. Handwritten on photo bottom 'Themistocles' handwritten on side of ship '304 Cape Town 1.7.19'.W. Fisher, Camp Road, Koeberg Road, Cape Townperson, robert denis kelly, world war 1, robert denis kelly, world war 1, ship, cape town. themistocles.

Six page booklet, green cover with red highlights, 'Souvenir of The Camp.' (YMCA Series) Contains photos which show different aspects of a large camp: Post and telegraph office, Entertainment at 'The Palace', General office, officers' mess, camp hospital, tennis ground, and the Salisbury cathedral. 3480.17a Front Cover 3480.17b Last Photo inside back cover Inside the back cover - 'Wishing Pa, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 1918-19.' (The signature is indistinct)military, world war 1

This photograph is held in the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute Audio Visual Collection. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries. Norma Lillian Henshall nee Sterritt biography (by son in law Rod Sharp) Norma was born on the 14th November 1912. She was a forward and independent child and always did what others would not consider appropriate at that time and you could say she was a hit of a rebel. Norma worked in Fairweather's in Pleasant Street and while she was there was taught to drive. She later drove Fairweather's Taxi being one of the first ladies to do so in Ballarat. Norma put her age up from 17 to 18 so she could get her license earlier and purchased an Austin 7 red sports car complete with a fishtail back. Norma taught herself the fundamentals of developing photographs and in 1938 rode her man's bicycle around Ballarat taking photographs of the various businesses decorated to celebrate the centenary of Ballarat. During the Second World War with her husband serving overseas in the Middle East Norma enlisted in the Army and served from 1942 through until 1945 as an Ambulance driver in the 3rd Ambulance and was stationed at Camp Pell which was located adjacent to the Melbourne Zoo. Norma transported wounded servicemen to the various hospitals around Melbourne.ballarat, sterritt, driver, ambulance, ww2

This photograph is held in the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute Audio Visual Collection. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries. Norma Lillian Henshall nee Sterritt biography (by son in law Rod Sharp) Norma was born on the 14th November 1912. She was a forward and independent child and always did what others would not consider appropriate at that time and you could say she was a hit of a rebel. Norma worked in Fairweather's in Pleasant Street and while she was there was taught to drive. She later drove Fairweather's Taxi being one of the first ladies to do so in Ballarat. Norma put her age up from 17 to 18 so she could get her license earlier and purchased an Austin 7 red sports car complete with a fishtail back. Norma taught herself the fundamentals of developing photographs and in 1938 rode her man's bicycle around Ballarat taking photographs of the various businesses decorated to celebrate the centenary of Ballarat. During the Second World War with her husband serving overseas in the Middle East Norma enlisted in the Army and served from 1942 through until 1945 as an Ambulance driver in the 3rd Ambulance and was stationed at Camp Pell which was located adjacent to the Melbourne Zoo. Norma transported wounded servicemen to the various hospitals around Melbourne.ballarat, centenary, floral festival, 1938, sterritt, sturt st, unicorn hotel

This photograph is held in the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute Audio Visual Collection. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries. Norma Lillian Henshall nee Sterritt biography (by son in law Rod Sharp) Norma was born on the 14th November 1912. She was a forward and independent child and always did what others would not consider appropriate at that time and you could say she was a hit of a rebel. Norma worked in Fairweather's in Pleasant Street and while she was there was taught to drive. She later drove Fairweather's Taxi being one of the first ladies to do so in Ballarat. Norma put her age up from 17 to 18 so she could get her license earlier and purchased an Austin 7 red sports car complete with a fishtail back. Norma taught herself the fundamentals of developing photographs and in 1938 rode her man's bicycle around Ballarat taking photographs of the various businesses decorated to celebrate the centenary of Ballarat. During the Second World War with her husband serving overseas in the Middle East Norma enlisted in the Army and served from 1942 through until 1945 as an Ambulance driver in the 3rd Ambulance and was stationed at Camp Pell which was located adjacent to the Melbourne Zoo. Norma transported wounded servicemen to the various hospitals around Melbourne.ballarat, centenary, floral festival, 1938, sterritt, fire station, sturt st

This photograph is held in the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute Audio Visual Collection. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries. Norma Lillian Henshall nee Sterritt biography (by son in law Rod Sharp) Norma was born on the 14th November 1912. She was a forward and independent child and always did what others would not consider appropriate at that time and you could say she was a hit of a rebel. Norma worked in Fairweather's in Pleasant Street and while she was there was taught to drive. She later drove Fairweather's Taxi being one of the first ladies to do so in Ballarat. Norma put her age up from 17 to 18 so she could get her license earlier and purchased an Austin 7 red sports car complete with a fishtail back. Norma taught herself the fundamentals of developing photographs and in 1938 rode her man's bicycle around Ballarat taking photographs of the various businesses decorated to celebrate the centenary of Ballarat. During the Second World War with her husband serving overseas in the Middle East Norma enlisted in the Army and served from 1942 through until 1945 as an Ambulance driver in the 3rd Ambulance and was stationed at Camp Pell which was located adjacent to the Melbourne Zoo. Norma transported wounded servicemen to the various hospitals around Melbourne.ballarat, norma sterritt, pipe band, labor day, 1954

This photograph is held in the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute Audio Visual Collection. Please contact BMI for all print and usage inquiries. Norma Lillian Henshall nee Sterritt biography (by son in law Rod Sharp) Norma was born on the 14th November 1912. She was a forward and independent child and always did what others would not consider appropriate at that time and you could say she was a hit of a rebel. Norma worked in Fairweather's in Pleasant Street and while she was there was taught to drive. She later drove Fairweather's Taxi being one of the first ladies to do so in Ballarat. Norma put her age up from 17 to 18 so she could get her license earlier and purchased an Austin 7 red sports car complete with a fishtail back. Norma taught herself the fundamentals of developing photographs and in 1938 rode her man's bicycle around Ballarat taking photographs of the various businesses decorated to celebrate the centenary of Ballarat. During the Second World War with her husband serving overseas in the Middle East Norma enlisted in the Army and served from 1942 through until 1945 as an Ambulance driver in the 3rd Ambulance and was stationed at Camp Pell which was located adjacent to the Melbourne Zoo. Norma transported wounded servicemen to the various hospitals around Melbourne.ballarat, norma sterritt, begonia, festival, 1954

Young Greek born men who had migrated to Australia were recruited to the defence forces during World War 2. Pictured is a group belonging to Civilian Military Forces. Standing, second from the right, is Nakis (Nick) Raftopoulos.During the period of the second world war, Ithacans who were unnaturalised were recruited into the Civilian Military Forces as 'Allied Aliens' and served the war effort on the home front. Naturalised Ithacans saw active service.A black and white photograph of nine men in army uniform at a camp. Five men are standing behind the other four who are sitting in front.

Ill, p.320.non-fictionA first hand account by an Australian airman of his escape from a Turkish prison camp during the first world war - only to land in the middle of the violence of the Russian revolutionworld war 1914-1918 - prisoners of war - turkey, escapes - turkey

Index, 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

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.250.non-fictionTwenty-two U-boat veterans tell their stories in this collection of their experiences, recorded by the author during several years of travel throughout Germany. While many books have been written about the U-boat war, this is one of the few that focuses on the lives of the submariners, and rarer still is its concentration on the crewmen rather than the officers. Melanie Wiggins interviewed seventeen men of the enlisted ranks, along with five commanders, to take readers into the terrifying world of underwater warfare, where every single crewman made a crucial difference in the fate of his boat. As she searched for and interviewed U-boat men, Wiggins also collected photographs from scrapbooks and archives, and consulted war-era personnel records and secret diaries. Her attendance at a reunion of the crew of U-682 netted a wealth of information as did her interviews with submarine veterans in Gؤrlitz, former East Germany. Her interviews with Admiral Otto Kretschmer just two months before his death and ninety-four-year-old Commander Jѓrgen Wattenberg in Hamburg add important dimensions to the work. Among the individual sagas included are Radioman Hans Bѓrck's description of his 1942 patrol to Aruba and the visit of Japanese submarine I-30 at Lorient; Fireman 2nd Class Josef Erben's explanation of how his boat, U-128, got stuck on a large rock and had to be hauled free; POW Ernst Gؤ:thling's memories of being wounded in a British prison camp when German planes mistakenly dropped bombs in the area.world war 1939 – 1945 –naval operations - germany, germany - u-boats

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

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

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.179.non-fictionOver 60,000 Australians and Americans captured by the Japanese during World War II toiled and died to build the Bridge over the River Kwai. Respected military historian Linda Goetz Holmes tells the story of one man's survival in Japanese labor camps during WWII. Amazing photographs, taken secretly by other prisoners, chronicle this dark history of Allied troops in the Pacific theatre of war.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia, burma thailand railway

Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.523.non-fictionAustralians from every field of conflict in World War II found themselves as prisoners in Hitler's notorious Stalags, or prisoner of war camps. Most were forced to labour in factories, down mines or on the land - often in conditions of enormous privation and hardship. All suffered from shortages, overcrowding and the mental strain of imprisonment. Peter Monteath's fascinating narrative history is exhaustively researched, and compelling in its detailed evocation.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – germany, prisoners of war - australia

Index, ill, maps, plans, p.738.Here for the first time is the definitive history of the internment of Allied civilians ib Chinaworld war 1939-1945 - prisoners and prisons - japan, internment camps - china

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