Those Ragged Bloody Heroes: From the Kokoda Trail to Gona Beach 1942Those Ragged Bloody Heroes tells the story of the Australian soldiers who fought on the Kokoda trail. From July to September 1942 the Japanese set about the capture of Port Moresby by an overland crossing of the Owen Stanley Range in conjunction with a landing at Milne Bay. Against a force of 10,000 crack Japanese troops on the Kokoda trail, the Allies committed one undertrained and poorly equipped unit, the 39th Battalion, the chocolate soldiers. Amidst ever-mounting enemy strength and ferocious fighting, the young militiamen were reinforced at Isurava by veterans of the 21st Brigade, 7th Division AIF . |
Contents
Full of fight but utterly weary | 133 |
A question of momentum | 148 |
The rabbit that runs | 182 |
To the beachhead | 209 |
Embarrassed to be alive | 247 |
Silent | 267 |
Notes | 282 |
Bibliography | 296 |
Other editions - View all
Those Ragged Bloody Heroes: From the Kokoda Trail to Gona Beach 1942 Peter Brune Limited preview - 2011 |
Those Ragged Bloody Heroes: From the Kokoda Trail to Gona Beach 1942 Peter Brune Limited preview - 2005 |
Those Ragged Bloody Heroes: From the Kokoda Trail to Gona Beach 1942 Peter Brune Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
2/14th Battalion 21st Brigade 25th Brigade 39th Battalion 53rd Battalion 7th Division Abuari Adelaide Alola ambush army arrived attack August Aust Australian battle beach-head Bisset Blamey bloody Born Brigade Hill Brigadier Potts Cameron Captain Katekar casualties command Company Cooper Corporal December defence Deniki Dougherty Dudley McCarthy east Eather Efogi enemy Eora Creek fighting fire forward Gona grenades ground Guinea Force Horii interview Ioribaiwa Isurava Japanese Japs July jungle Kagi Koitaki Kokoda Trail Kumusi kunai Lieutenant Lieutenant-Colonel MacArthur machine-gun Magarey Major Major-General March Maroubra Force Menari military militia Missima morning mortar move Myola Naro native Nauro night November officers Oivi ordered Owen Stanley Campaign Owen Stanley Range patrol platoon Port Moresby posts Potts's Rabaul Ralph Honner reinforcement right flank Rowell Sanananda September Sergeant soldier South-West Pacific stretcher Sublet supply Symington Templeton Templeton's Crossing track troops Vasey village withdrawal wounded yards