Turning point : the Battle for Milne Bay 1942 : Japan's first land defeat in World War II / Michael Veitch. Battle for Milne Bay 1942 : Japan's first land defeat in World War II

Collection type	Library
Author	Veitch, Michael, 1962-, author.;
Call Number	940.5426541 V429t
Document type	Monograph
Year	2019. 2019. 019.
Pagination	xvii, 334 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, 1 map, portraits ; 20 cm.
Publisher	HACHETTE AUSTRALIA, Hachette Australia,
Note	Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-326) and index. Told for the first time, this is the epic story of the Milne Bay campaign of 1942 - which saw Japanese land forces suffer their first defeat of the war - and has properly been called the RAAF's forgotten finest hour. September 1942 marked the high-point of Axis conquest in World War II. In the Pacific, Japan's soldiers had seemed unstoppable. However, the tide was about to turn. On Sunday, 6 September 1942, Japanese land forces suffered their first conclusive defeat at the hands of the Allies. At Milne Ba y in Papua New Guinea, a predominantly Australian force - including 75 Squadron (fresh from their action in 44 DAYS) - fought for two weeks to successfully defend a vital airstrip against a determined Japanese invasion. The victorious Australian army unit s were crucially supported by two locally-based squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks. The Battle for Milne Bay and victory for the Allies was a significant turning point in the Pacific War, but while it received worldwide publicity at the time, it has since been largely forgotten... It deserves to be remembered.
Place made	[S.l.] : Sydney, NSW :

Abstract

Prologue: A jungle runway -- 1. A peculiar battle -- 2. The obscure outpost -- 3. The race for a base -- 4. The build-up -- 5. Where are the Japanese? -- 6. Field takes charge -- 7. An unexpected arrival -- 8. The Kittyhawks arrive -- 9. Problems with the camp -- 10. The pilots settle in -- 11. Silent Cyril -- 12. Japanese plans -- 13. Nippon''s Marines -- 14. Strike from the air -- 15. First blood at Goodenough Island -- 16. Battle lines -- 17. Invasion -- 18. Blood on the water -- 19. The landing -- 20. The Kittyhawks strike -- 21. To KB mission -- 22. Changing orders -- 23. The RAAF''s worst loss -- 24. The fight for KB mission -- 25. The bloody track -- 26. The Kittyhawks depart -- 27. Reinforcements -- 28. No. 3 strip -- 29. The greatest battle -- 30. The counterpunch -- 31. The end for the Japanese -- 32. The webb report -- Epilogue: Tokyo, 2018.