Bücher der Reihe Australian Army History Series

In this new work, Thomas Richardson explores the 1st Australian Task Force's (1ATF) implementation of pacification in Phuoc Tuy between 1966 and 1972. He argues that pacification, and Australian military history at large, remains a subject discussed only in the context of its impact on the Australian force rather than on its own merits.

The Battle for Wau brings together for the first time the full story of the early World War II conflicts in New Guinea, from the landing of the Japanese at Salamaua in March 1942 to their defeat at Wau in February 1943. Phillip Bradley draws on the recollections of over 70 veterans from the campaign and on his own first-hand knowledge of the region. Beginning with the early commando operations in Salamaua, the story unfolds with the burning of Wau, the clashes around Mubo, the Japanese convoy to Lae and the United States air operation to Wau. The book climaxes with the fortitude of Captain Sherlock's outnumbered company. Desperately fighting an enemy regiment debouching from the rugged unguarded ranges to the east, Sherlock's men fought to hold Wau airfield open for the arrival of vital reinforcements.

Following on from his acclaimed book, The Battle for Wau, Phillip Bradley turns his attention to the Salamaua campaign - the first of the New Guinea offensives by the Australian Army in the Second World War. Opening with the pivotal air-sea battle of the Bismarck Sea, this important title recounts the fierce land campaign that was fought for the ridges that guarded the Japanese base at Salamaua. From Mount Tambu to Old Vickers and across the Francisco River, the Australians and their American allies fought a desperate struggle to keep the Imperial Japanese Army diverted from the strategic prize of Lae. To Salamaua covers the entire campaign in one volume for the first time. From the strategic background of the campaign and the heated conflicts, to the mud and blood of the front lines, this is the extraordinary story.

Following Mark Johnston's acclaimed illustrated histories of the 7th and 9th Australian Divisions, this is his long-awaited history of the 6th Australian Division: the first such history ever published. The 6th was a household name during World War II. It was the first division raised in the Second Australian Imperial Force, the first division to go overseas and the first to fight. Its success in that fight, in Libya in 1941, indicated that the standard established in the Great War would be continued. General Blamey and nearly every other officer who became wartime army, corps and divisional commanders were once members of the 6th Division. Through photographs and an authoritative text, this book tells their story and the story of the proud, independent and tough troops they commanded.

The mounted soldier is one of the most evocative symbols in Australian military history. Now a celebrated part of Australia's army heritage, the role and very existence of mounted troops in modern warfare was being called into question at the time of its most crowning military moments. Light horse regiments, particularly those that served in South Africa, Palestine and the trenches of Gallipoli, played a vital role in Australia's early military campaigns. Based on extensive research from both Australia and Britain, this book is a comprehensive history of the Australian Light Horse in war and peace. Historian Jean Bou examines the place of the light horse in Australia's military history throughout its existence, from its antecedents in the middle of the nineteenth century, until the last regiment was disbanded in 1944.

From 1966 to 1971 the First Australian Task Force was part of the counterinsurgency campaign in South Vietnam. Though considered a small component of the Free World effort in the war, these troops from Australia and New Zealand were in fact the best trained and prepared for counterinsurgency warfare. However, until now, their achievements have been largely overlooked by military historians. The Search for Tactical Success in Vietnam sheds new light on this campaign by examining the thousands of small-scale battles that the First Australian Task Force was engaged in. The book draws on statistical, spatial and temporal analysis, as well as primary data, to present a unique study of the tactics and achievements of the First Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Further, original maps throughout the text help to illustrate how the Task Force's tactics were employed.

From July to September 1916, some 23,000 Australians were killed or wounded in the Battle of Pozieres. It was the first strategically important engagement by Australian soldiers on the Western Front and its casualties exceeded those of any other battle of the First World War, including Gallipoli. In this important book, Christopher Wray explores the influence of Pozieres on Australian society and history, and how it is remembered today. In the opening chapters he revisits the battle and considers its aftermath, including shell shock and the psychological effects experienced by surviving soldiers. The concluding chapters examine the way in which the battle has been commemorated in literature and art, and the extent to which it has been overlooked in contemporary remembrance of the war. Generously illustrated with photographs, maps and paintings, Pozieres: Echoes of a Distant Battle is essential reading for anyone interested in the First World War and Australia's post-war society.

This book is the first major study since 1963 of the historic Australian military campaign of 1944-1945 on the island of Bougainville in the South Pacific. Drawing on archival resources, Karl James argues that this often-overlooked part of military history played an important part in Australia's Second World War victory.

The Kokoda Campaign of 1942 has taken on mythical status in Australian military history. Using extensive research and Japanese sources, Peter Williams seeks to dispel the myth. Unlike most other books written from an Australian perspective, the book focuses on the strategies, tactics and battle plans of the Japanese.

Despite his reputedly caustic personality and his noted fallouts with senior officials, Lieutenant General Sir Frank Berryman was critical to Australia's success during World War II. Peter Dean charts Berryman's special relationships with senior US and Australian officers and explains why the man poised to become the next Chief of General Staff would never fulfil his ambition.

From British colonial conflicts in Africa and Egypt to the turn-of-the century war on the South African veldt and its complicated aftermath, Craig Stockings presents a vivid portrayal of imperial land defence prior to 1914 through a biographical study of Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Hutton.

Armies of Empire uniquely reflects upon the experience of two divisions from different armies facing similar challenges in the Second World War. The 9th Australian Division and the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division both saw long service and suffered heavy casualties, and both encountered morale, discipline and battlefield effectiveness problems.

Australian Battalion Commanders in the Second World War explores, for the first time, the background, role and conduct of the commanding officers of Australian infantry battalions in World War II, who, despite their vital role as the lynchpins of the battlefield, have previously received scant attention in contemporary military history.

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Daly was one of the most influential figures in Australia's military history. As Chief of the General Staff during the Vietnam War, he oversaw a significant re-organisation of the Army. The book examines Daly's career and covers key issues in the development of the Australian Army.