Table of Contents

SERIES INTRODUCTION; MAPS; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; TABLES; CONVERSION TABLE; MILITARY SYMBOLS USED ON THE MAPS; INTRODUCTION; PART 1; THE COLONIAL ERA; CHRONOLOGY; 1 FRONTIER CONFLICT; 2 EARLY DEFENCE AND EXPEDITIONARY FORCES; 3 BOER WAR; PART 2; WORLD WAR I; CHRONOLOGY; 4 THE BEGINNING; 5 GALLIPOLI; 6 THE WESTERN FRONT; 7 THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN; 8 MINOR CAMPAIGNS OF WORLD WAR 1; PART 3; AUSTRALIAN FORCES IN EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN IN WORLD WAR II; CHRONOLOGY; 9 AUSTRALIA AND WORLD WAR II; 10 WAR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN; 11 THE FIRST LIBYAN OFFENSIVE; 12 THE GREEK CAMPAIGN; 13 CRETE; 14 SYRIA; 15 THE RAN IN THE INDIAN OCEAN; 16 GAZALA AND EL ALAMEIN; 17 THE RAAF IN NORTH AFRICA AND EUROPE; 18 CORVETTES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN; PART 4; AUSTRALIAN FORCES IN THE PACIFIC IN WORLD WAR II; CHRONOLOGY; 19 THE JAPANESE THRUST: JAPANESE FORCES; 20 THE MALAYAN CAMPAIGN; 21 BREAKING THE MALAY BARRIER; 22 THE NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN; 23 THE ANTI-SUBMARINE AND ANTI-RAIDER WAR; 24 OPERATIONS JAYWICK AND RIMAU; 25 ADVANCE TO THE PHILIPPINES; 26 THE ALLIED AIR OFFENSIVE IN THE NORTH; 27 MOPPING UP IN NEW GUINEA AND THE ISLANDS; 28 THE BORNEO CAMPAIGN; 29 FINAL OPERATIONS AGAINST JAPAN; PART 5; THE POST-WORLD WAR II PERIOD; CHRONOLOGY; 30 THE KOREAN WAR: BACKGROUND; 31 THE MALAYAN EMERGENCY AND CONFRONTATION; 32 THE VIETNAM WAR; PART 6; SINCE THE COLD WAR; 33 PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS; APPENDIX I: PRISONERS OF WAR; APPENDIX II: VICTORIA CROSS WINNERS; INDEX

About the Author

Lieutenant-General John Coates served in the Australian Army for forty years, retiring as Chief of the General Staff in 1992. He commanded a Calvary (Armoured Personnel Carrier) Squadron in South Vietnam in 1970 -1971, for which service he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) IN 1992. He has a post-graduate degree in history from the Australian National University.