Tarakan : an Australian tragedy
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Tarakan : an Australian tragedy
Allen & Unwin, 1997
Available at 5 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In 1945, 240 Australians died taking the small Borneo island of Tarakan from the Japanese. The tragedy of Tarakan was that by the time they succeeded, they need not have begun.Peter Stanley explores that battle, what it was like and what it means to us over fifty years on. He traces the operation from its origins in MacArthur's GHQ, down to the rifle sections patrolling in Tarakan's rugged jungle.Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy suggests new ways of looking at Australia's experience of war. It critically appraises the view that the Borneo campaign was unnecessary, arguing that it was a justifiable operation doomed by the politics of coalition warfare and by bad planning.Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy illuminates the Australian experience of war. Through it, we can hear the men on Tarakan - scared, angry, humorous, proud, bitter and, above all, Australian - the voices of a vanished Australia.Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy is the story of people at war, how it affected them, and how we have remembered it and them.
Table of Contents
- ForewordList of mapsAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Tarakan, fifty years on1. 'We're heading for Japan': Tarakan - stepping stone to nowhere2. 'The boys who do the landing': the men and units of Oboe One Force3. 'To capture Tarakan': planning Operation Oboe One4. 'The barrage is lifting
- we're just about to land': P-Day, 1 May 19455. 'Heading for the airstrip': the first week - the airstrip, Tarakan Hill and Sykes6. 'Then push up from the beachhead': the second week - Tiger, Crazy Ridge and Helen7. 'Carry on without a frown': the third week - the patrol fight and the airstrip8. 'We've got to climb the razorback': Freda and Margy9. 'There's the fire from Nippon's pill box': the corporals' fight for Fukukaku10. 'This lousy joint': capitulation11. 'Oboe One is over': occupation and departure, 194512. 'We're sure to have the memory': looking back on TarakanAPPENDICESI Order of battle, Oboe One Force, May 1945II Casualties, Oboe One Force, May-December 1945III Roll of Honour, Australian forces on Tarakan, May-December 1945IV Note on sources and BibliographyEndnotesIndex
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