Tarakan : an Australian tragedy
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Tarakan : an Australian tragedy
Allen & Unwin, 1997
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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
by "Nielsen BookData"