Quote:
Originally posted by Jon Skagfeld
Despite the incompetent buffoonery of an Australian General, the disdain of a womanizing Prime Minister and the interference of an American five star General, the 39th Battalion (plus Regular Australian troops) succeeded in overcoming the bulk of Japanese troops at Buna on the north coast of the eastern tip of New Guinea after fighting up the Kokoda Track from Port Moresby.
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The descriptions of some of the major characters is a little mixed about.
Prime Minister John Curtin, despite being a union leader and pacifist who strongly opposed conscription in WW1, found the times required Australia to muster every man possible and he allowed conscription and Militia forces to fight overseas. The 39th Bn were one such militia Battalion who were able, through excellent team spirit and a leavening of experienced AIF officers, to perform magnificently despite savage losses. PM Curtin was devoted to his wife Elsie and could not be said to be a womaniser by any stretch. John Curtin was never military minded and had to rely on advice from US Gen D Macarthur and Aust Gen Blamey on such matters.
Gen Macarthur was a vain egoist who was more interested in his political ambitions rather that his military responsibilities. He insisted on total censorship of all Australian media and was the only source of "News" from the front. The Australian military was required to pass all reports through him, and from him to the Govt and the media. Despite never seeing the front lines during the Japanese advance (His HQ was in Brisbane, 2000km south of New Guinea), he continued to denounce the fighting by Australians while demonstrating little understanding of the conditions or the fighting going on.
The Aust General Blamey was your womaniser. Before the war, Thomas Blamey was Victoria's Police Commissioner and was reputed to have been caught in a Police raid on a (illegal) Brothel. He used his influence to have his identity hidden in the Police report. In North Africa, he was the only soldier of any rank to be allowed to have his wife accompany him to a theatre of war, while still actively "contributing to" the brothels of Cairo. He was immensly disliked by the troops in New Guinea who regarded him as comtemptous of lower ranks, while he was seen to be grovelling to Macarthur and Curtin. His "Koitaki" address ( in the foothills of the mountains) to the returned weary, sick and emaciated troops of the Kokoda campaign could have ended very differently had the Aussies heard of the term "Fragging", a concept made popular 20 odd years later by the US in Vietnam.