Karl James is a brilliant historian. If you have enjoyed this show, please don't forget to click like, leave a comment for other viewers and if you have not done so already please SUSBSCRIBE so you don't miss our next streams. You can also become a member of this channel and support me financially here ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.html. Links to any books discussed, WW2TV merchandise, our social media pages and other WW2TV shows to watch can all be found in the full UA-cam description. Lastly, my own book Angels of Mercy is always available online - more info here www.ddayhistorian.com/angels-of-mercy.html
American here and also want to add my praise and admiration to our Australian/New Zealand friends, who's courage, toughness and fighting abilities contributed so much to the allied victory in the Southwest Pacific. These vids about them on this channel are immensely valuable to make sure they're never forgotten. Bravo, mates!
Thanks for the nice comment Jeff, and if you haven't already, please make sure you subscribe to WW2TV and perhaps consider becoming a member? ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.htmljoin
My Dad was in the 2/8th Commandos. He was a scout and sniper. He was wounded, resulting in his leg being amputated. Today, Nov 8th is the Anniversary of his death in 1994. I am a very proud daughter of his bravery, and the bravery of all who served in Bouganville. RIP Trooper James Sell
My Australian friends. You are viewed in the US and the Lost Tribe of America. We have the utmost respect, concern, and understand your key efforts in all the major wars. We would actually all like to be Australians.
G'day, Yeah ? Is that right ? Well, ACTUARIALLY squeaking, "Pal"...; Here in Oz we well remember... Buna, Gona, Sanananda and Wewak too, as well as Bougainville and Tarakan and Borneo...; and then there was Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraqagain, Libya & Syriatoo, before we all ran away from Absurdistandstill after 20 consecutive years of Failing at Imperial Occupation together. In light of the way there were no US Boots on the Ground to assist Oz, when Johnny Howard chose to launch his Amphibious Invasion of Indonesia's East Timorese "Province"...; atop the fact that because Imperial Japan never intended to invade, nor occupy Oz at any stage during WW-2 - the Historical FACTS appear to indicate that From the beginning, in 1942, Unkle Spam has always Used Oz as a Convenient Rear-Area Base From which to prosecute Wars fought thousands of miles away from Mainland Oz. And, then, later on there came Pine Gap, Narrungar, & Northwest Cape - through which the Pentagonal Haemorrhoids converse with, and control, Satellites and Submarines... Every time Canberra thinks that Washington wants to fight with somebody, Oz goes into our Pet Attack-trained Chihuahua Routine..., Running out yap-Yap-YAPPING...! And offering to put Troops into the Field BEFORE Unkle Spam has even committed to going to Waaauughhh(!). As happened when Bob Hawke put the SAS-Regiments into Iraq weeks before US Special Forces went there in 1991... You might well find that, if you ever came out here and ventured beyond the Dedicated obsequious Tourist Traps...; That most Australians have ZERO Desire to see any more Yanquis - or their ignorant arrogant sanctimonious self-righteous exceptionalist, immature childish and infantile Kulture Being adopted and assimilated into Australian Society. Speaking as a 3rd/5th generation White Australian Male, born in 1961. Much more better if you-all 'MurriKans stay there Where You-all was bred and born and Raised-up, trained and Educated to Fit In...; Just(ifiably ?) like y's'll Never ever do - not Hereinat In Oz... Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
That’s a really humbling sentiment for you to express bro…. I know when you say ‘a lost tribe of America’ you mean it in a Band of Brothers way, rather than suggesting we’re damaged goods by association. I think the key for all of us is, the more we can conceive genuine connection and love and empathy for every flavour of humanity, especially Palestinians atm, (WWJD style) then the less we exist as but marionettes for the MSM and the wholesale psy-ops they love to push via Mockingbird etc
Thank you so much for keeping this history alive. My Pop was in 317 Light Aid Detachment on Bougainville and in Lae. He was a big influence in my life and the reason I joined the ADF myself.
Love this recognition of Australia’s mighty help during WW2. Not many of any at all podcasts doing this . Love it . Learning more and more each video . Thought I knew a lot because world war 2 is a huge thing to me because of my family but this is just awesome leading more and picking up book titles that to me are a must read . I could sit and talk WW2 day and night lol . Absolutely fascinated by it .
Karl gives an excellent presentation on the Australian's on Bougainville. I am glad that the Bougainville campaign is getting more exposure. Thank you WW2TV!
My Uncle was a Chindit in Wingates 3rd Column and my Grandfather served in the British Army in Burma also . . In the same way the Burma Campaign is the Forgotten War ... overlooked by Historians and the public at large, so too the Australian Campaigns of the South Pacific are Forgotten! Lest we forget ... superb presentation.
I am an Australian with my Mum being English. Her parent fought in WW2, Grandpa fought in Burma as a Platoon commander in the infantry and my Grandma was an officer in a anti air battery. On my Dads side my Grandpa was an NCO in the artillery fighting in North Africa, my Grandma was an officer in the Womens Auxiliary Army Forces. WW2 affected the world in a really big way.
@@filipinorutherford7818 My Grandmother was in the ATS in London during the Blitz ... she was at Liverpool Street Station when it was struck by a V1 Rocket ... she was lucky to survive and still bore the scars the rest of her life.
i Would love to see and hear about the Burma Campaign , but it is sadly pegged down the order of interest by Historians who focus on the Battle of the Bulge
Thanks for the nice comment Callum, and if you haven't already, please make sure you subscribe to WW2TV and perhaps consider becoming a member? ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.htmljoin
I am so pleased to find a military history channel of such a high standard that is covering this, in my humble opinion, shamefully overlooked aspect of the Pacific War. Thank you. PS really like your suggestion of a "Borneo Week" at some future time
@@WW2TV Indeed your back cwtalogue is impressive and would unhesitatingly commend your output to anyone who has an interest in well presented cogent talks by a fascinating range of speakers. Well worth the effort!!
Excellent presentation by Karl James on a little known campaign. A veteran of the campaign I knew who served with the 26th Battalion received the Military Medal during the campaign and his commendation states "This NCO by his cheerful gallantry, ingenuity and example, had been a source of constant inspiration to every member of his company." and "cool courage and gallantry". He accounted for at least 1 enemy soldier and 2 Naval Officers (complete with white gloves and swords) during the action. An amazing and humble man when I knew him. These were hard fought campaigns in 44-45.
Bougainville provides another good example as to why the Allies' decision to by pass many Japanese held islands was a sound strategy. The Japanese were going to fight to the end on just about any territory they occupied.
Actually the job of mopping up was left to the Australians by the Americans and lost a lot of men doing so. Blamey insisted that the stranded Japs should be taken out instead of being left to starve, resulting in unnecessary heavy casualties.
Thank you for putting this on UA-cam , it opened my peeper's as to who was involved is the Battle of the islands , I was a Part time Soldier with 4th/19th Prince Of Wales's Light Horse .. I am still involved with the Regiment through the Asocc ( R . A. A. C. ) I am Trooper P.A.Potter 3112645 , A & C Squadrons Gippsland ...
Checking on older content. It’s human nature to focus on the stories closest to you, however, one can’t forget that the global conflict was extraordinarily complex and all these separate stories happened simultaneously and influenced one another. An excellent example is, one can’t have a comprehensive understanding of Guadalcanal without understanding New Guinea. The events in one place had an enormous influence on the other.
My Waranga (Great Grand Father) is Paul Yawiga. He was a Coastwatcher and served with Jack Read from Tasmania in Bougainville in Aravia. One of the first New Guinean that was taken to Brisbane by a Submarine in Guadalcanal in Solomon Island. He was part of the Torokina landings and lead bands of guerrilla fighters in Torokina. He killed 25 Japanese in a day with Jack Reads men in Bougainville. Of the bravest in New Guinean history. Rest in Peace Bubu Yawiga, your legacy lives on.
My dad and grandfather were good friends with the now deceased Tom Hungerford, a member of the AIF who fought in the middle east and later in New Guinea and Bougainville as a member of the 2/8th Commando's. He later became an accomplished author after the war. The Ridge And The River is a great book of his based loosely on some of his experiences. His friend and fellow commando Peter Pinney also authored some books based on his personal war dairies. I have a signed original copy of his book about his time spent on Bougainville with the 2/8th. It's called The Glass Cannon and one of the best books I've ever read. I highly recommend them both if you can find any copies.
@@Cryptid_Renfri Noone in my family saw TH & my Dad together post war, but my Dad was a quiet soul, we didn't even know the real details of my Father's role as scout /sniper or how he was shot until after he died when my family got a letter from a Jack Boardman who was there with them. I've been trying for years to get Peter Pinney's & Hungerford's books , sadly to no avail. Jack Boardman, whilst not an author, spent his entire life post war, as an Activist, fighting for justice for the recognition of the Timorese and the role they played.. they were such truly brave men.
Please do cover late 45, 46, 47. To a fair degree the troops returning in those years were ignored at the time. POW coverage including former enemy combatants and the locals who were worked to death would be great too. Regarding Bougainville, aggressive campaigning by the Aussies (and the bomb of course) must have saved lives among the dispossessed locals which is important.
love to see something on the Australians on New Britain, my Husband has written about the 29th/46th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF and it time on New Britain he conducted many interviews with veterans of the Battalion and has some 500 pages recording a detailed history on that campaign conducted by the 5th (11) Australian Division
An uncle was a Coast Watcher on Bougainville. He was a tough man but would bounce me on his knee when we would visit when I was a 2YO!😊 We have to have huge respect for these men who risked everything for the defence of Australia.
The Australian army did a lot of work testing tanks later in WW2 to find out which tank would be best to replace the Matildas in the Jungle fighting of South East Asia. Shermans and some other tanks were thoroughly tested and the Churchill was shown to suit the Australians needs. Having a very good of road capability and solid armor protection for attacks on heavily built Japanese bunker systems. A large number of Churchills were ordered but the war ended before they were able to see action. So the war ended with the Matildas as the main tank supporting Australian forces. The light Stuart was not very good at pushing through thick jungle and close combat with Japanese bunker systems. The Stuart did great work despite its unsuitability and saved the lives of many Australian soldiers fighting for Buna and Gona. With brave crews manning the Stuarts. Very close infantry support was needed to prevent Japanese attacks on the Stuarts with grenades and improvised weapons including incendiaries. The Terrain at Buna and Gona was terrible and the fighting was very costly and slow. MacArthur could not relate to close fighting like this and working with experienced Australian commanders. He was very impatient. He was not very good in managing the fighting in New Guinea with its very difficult terrain. The US units committed to Buna and Gona were not properly trained and prepared and suffered badly in the jungle conditions and lacked the experience of Australian units and commanders. Most of the senior officers had lots of experience in WW1 as well as WW2. The Matilda was also very capable in the jungles and they were heavily modified for combat in the Pacific. Including hedgehog bomb-throwers and flame thrower versions. They had the power, weight and gears for the work. Some of the tanks were given 3 inch howitzer guns to fire explosive rounds. The Matilda became the only British tank to see combat from 1939 to 1945. Anyway, just writing this because you like the Churchill. During the Vietnam War the Centurion tank took on the same role very effectively. Trying to clear bunker systems with infantry is very deadly work and the Centurians saved the lives of many young Australians. They used beehive rounds to help clear the jungle and locate the bunkers. Then use the 20 pounders before crushing them under the tracks. Heavily built bunkers that were well camouflaged and having machine guns with interlocking fields of fire and cut firing lines were very dangerous. The Centurians could survive repeated RPG hits. Britain blasted one of the Centurions with a 9.1 kiloton bomb which later saw service in Vietnam. The Australian army is now getting a number of the latest model Abrams tanks. Hopefully, they will not be needed. Australia now has a small but very capable and well-equipped defense force. Australia's success with tanks started with the Battle of Hamel on the 4th July 1918 in a small but very well-planned combined arms attack with Australian and US infantry and British tanks that was won in 93 minutes. 3 minutes late in achieving all of the objectives. Australian General Sir John Monash was knighted Order of the Bath shortly after. This was the first battle with US, UK and Australia fighting together. Possibly the most significant battle in Australian Army history.
If you ever get the chance read “ those ragged bloody heroes” about the Kokoda campaign, as well as later campaigns, it will make you weep. Lest we Forget
Glad to see you exploring other countries contribution to WW2. Nearly all you hear is US involvement with the occasional mention of Battle of Britain, North Africa campaign, Battle of the Atlantic and how they were won by the US Calvary coming over the hill to save the day, or maybe a passing reference to British and commonwealth involvement in Normandy or Italy Campaigns and virtually no reference after Market Garden. As to the Pacific campaign, there seems to be very little of naval, airforce, or land involvement by any other nation but US.
My great grandfather won a bronze star at Bouganville during the touch and go days when the Japanese 6th division threw their full weight into the American perimeter. He was a sergeant in the 37th infantry division "the buckeye division". He was involved in a number of other battles and campaigns as well. The 37th Buckeyes saw almost 600 days of combat in the Pacific. He also earned a purple heart getting wounded by shrapnel from a Japanese mortar during the heavy fighting to take the city of Manila in the Philippines. Never got to meet him, he died before I was born. But I was always intrigued and proud of what he did.
The 'KOKODA TRACK -vs- KOKODA TRAIL' argument is I have now discovered to be irrelevant. I recently attended the 2024 Anzac Day march in Sydney and there saw two banners showing the battle honours of two separate units of the Australian Ground forces in PNG 1942-43. The first banner showed "Kokoda Trail" The banner of the second unit showed "Kokoda Track"
Karl placing the campaign in the context of planners then believing the war would continue into 46 is an obvious connection I hadn't made before, so it obviously isn't that obvious. 😁
28:56 Australia never forgot the lessons of the pacific campaign , that jungle warfare school still runs . And is the reason we did well in the Malayan Emergency and relatively well in Vietnam post war . Of course Vietnam was unwinnable but we controlled the province we where allocated .
Your wrong there the vietnam war was winnable,but for the Americans who forgot the lessons of ww2 south pacific campaign. Also the yanks wanted Russia to get involved and then send them broke that was their objective. Australia were brilliant in the jungle the north Vietnamese and the vc always tried to avoid them on most occasions.
As an American I wanna to salute all ANZAC & assure this guy knows and appreciates their sacrifices in WW2 Korea & Vietnam. As an aside, I was really surprised how built up Bougainville was. When you think of WW2 in the Pacific it differs than the European Theatre in that civilians were always in the background. Most don’t think of large civilians presence until Guam Saipan & Okinawa. Also used to live on Bougainville Dr. on Tarawa Terrace II 😂
There is a simple question about the necessity of the campaign. Did the Australian government knew in the summer of 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, that the atomic bomb was going to be deployed? The allied leaders knew after Potsdam that the war was going to end and soon and it would not continue into 1946.
Hello folks. A tremendous presentation on the Australians in the Pacific War. Fighting the Japanese was never easy and Bougainville was one of the worst terrains ever. Great insight.
Did the Aussies operate Slim's 'defensive-box system' in Bougainville (Or else in New Guinea or the Dutch East Indies?), as the British were then also using in Burma while similarly fighting the Japanese, in order to resupply their infantry & artillery units on the ground by available RAAF & RNZAF air transport units, in very comparative conditions, terrains & climate etc.?
Great stuff, lots of great information about the Australian operations. I just picked upGreg Blake’s book Jungle Cavalry Australian independent companies and commandos
At the 1:23:00 mark the hosts comments about indigenous peoples efforts in WW2 is quite interesting. If there is a book on this, particularly in relation to the Australian's and US forces I would be interested to read this. Good point.
I would argue, at about 6:00 that while the battles of New Guinea and Bougainville were not large (compared with China, Europe and Russia), the victories were very important because the Allies did learn to better their opponent. Lessons they carried through to later campaigns.
40:13 again with a reference to my pa who was an Australian militia man who took over twice from the Americal Division , first at Gona-Buna and then on Bougainville . He called them the and I'm quoting 'the masters of inactivity' ......... judging by this map and talk of icecream factories and coca cola bottling facilities he wasn't far off .
How can you debate whether it's trail/track when Americans will debate whether it's stroke or slash? I say trail - slash - track and you say trail - stroke - track and we have to get past Slash versus stroke before we can even think about trail versus track. Lol. Keep up the good work. Your videos are making it easier for me to deal with all of that mess and tragedy in the Ukraine.
@@WW2TV I'm sure it does. I was just pointing out that in that debate there's another debate about how you actually say slash or stroke. It's pretty crazy how people will get into big debates like whether it was track or trail. I mean getting angry about it. I'm sure the answer is that it was both. Another video of yours that makes me think that MacArthur was the biggest a -,hole in the allied side. Worse even than Patton because Patton wasn't as much of a backstabber as MacArthur was. I think I said it in another video but I'm extremely grateful we never had a MacArthur presidency.
24:17 Billy Hughes said that to Woodrow Wilson , when Wilson suggested that Japan should get New Guinea . Thank goodness he did . Footnote Japan lost less than 1000 dead .
My grandfather was in new guinea and Bouganville during the war what a pointless waste of men invading Bouganville it could have just been left isolated and just bombed into uselessness a waste of good men for no gain
I'm very pleased to see our Aussie cousins getting the credit they rightfully deserve for all of their hard work and dedication to freedom and democracy during WWI, WWII and all of the conflicts they've sent their troops into harms way. One thing I've heard from Aussies is that Winston Churchill had little regard for them and often considered them cannon fodder. Is there any truth to this?
it felt that way sometimes i think. when the troops from the middle east were returning home to re train and fight the japanese the british ordered the ships to change course for burma, i think it was burma. the Aus govt countered that command and odered them back on course for Aus. the british/churchill diverted the ships again to burma but this time when ordered back on course for Aus they were told to ignore anymore orders to the contrary. had they landed there instead of Aus it would have been just in time to be over run. they just had their small arms, dont think they had any heavy weapons or the supplies needed to take on the japs ad hoc. we knew it wouldnt work and supposed the british did as well.
What would have happened if Robert Menzies' Government would have still been in power, instead of John Curtin's ALP Government? How would Australian war effort in the WW2 then differed in terms of its prosecution & outcome, especially in their New Guinea & Soloman Island's campaigns? Another super show Woody!! 👍😊👏
Menzies would have been a complete disaster he would never have stood up to Churchill he was never an Australian he always wanted to be a pom he was even buried in England
I find myself actually in agreement somehow with MacArthur's Philippine argument, as was Nimitz upon hearing his pitch. Traumatic as it was for Manila, I think the postwar Pacific political environment would have been in the balance. I'll grudgingly give MacArthur his due creds as somewhat a diplomat with some sense of statesmanship in the countries where he was in charge of our interests there, Australia being the exception.. And of course his faults were too numerous to list here.
Papua-New Guinea doesn't seem like something just "on the fringe" of the war, to me. I'd bet nobody would think that, had the Japanese been allowed to take Port Moresby. New Guinea, just like Guadalcanal, Burma, North Africa, Italy, Kursk, or Normandy, was the front line of the war at an important time. It WAS big war, a global war, obviously, but all the places where the Axis Powers were stopped, and then turned back, were important to the outcome of the whole thing.
@@anthonyeaton5153 that doesn't accord with my reading about Operation Cartwheel, isolating the Japanese base at Rabaul, or the 220,000 Japanese soldiers killed on Papua-New Guinea... all of which set the stage for the liberation of the Philippines, and the island-hopping campaign toward Japan.
Your initial comments are seen everywhere. Until Allied armies got trained, steeled themselves to battle, learned workable tactics, and simply learned they CAN win, they lost everywhere they fought.
The Australians get so little credit and publicity. They were first to fight in New Guinea. They are also the USAs most faithful ally over the last 100 years . This American says thank you.
I'm just curious whether Australia gained any new territory after the end of the war? There's a lot of islands there and I know some of them were under different amounts of control by the imperial powers of Europe and the United States. Did Australia acquire any new territories?
Australia actually handed New Guinea its independence after the war . The Queen & Price Phillip attended the ceremony . Prince Phillip was introduced to the assembled VIP's and tribal people as " ..Number one master belong Queen .." Pigeon English .After WW2 Australia actually lost territory.@@WW2TV
@@paulobrien3241 Australia gained NO NEW Territory as a result of the war. (Cocos and Christmas Islands came in the 1950's.) Australia resumed her control of Papua and accepted the United Nations (succeeding League of Nations) mandates of North-East New Guinea and Nauru - granted independence in 1975 (Papua-New Guinea) and 1968 respectively.
Worthy of note is the problem that Japan has refused to apologise for waging aggressive war and for the atrocities perpetrated on both civilians and allied militaries in WWII. The Yasukuni Shrine reveres Japanese war criminals to this day.
No mention of the fuzzy wuzzy angels (local indigenous peoples) who helped and saved thousands of lives, even fighting the Japanese with outstanding jungle skills.
Crazy to think that had the Japanese kept fighting they could've been stuck in those Jungles for at least another 6 months just on Bougainville. I wonder if other Dominion troope with Jungle experience might have been brought in to help occupy and mop up these islands, considering Australia was gonna help invade Japan.
Churchill wanted Australian soldiers to fight the Germans in Europe , after the middle east campaign, outraged labor prime Minister curtain said no, the seventh Australian division come home to fight the Japanese in new Guinea.
Karl James is a brilliant historian. If you have enjoyed this show, please don't forget to click like, leave a comment for other viewers and if you have not done so already please SUSBSCRIBE so you don't miss our next streams. You can also become a member of this channel and support me financially here ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.html.
Links to any books discussed, WW2TV merchandise, our social media pages and other WW2TV shows to watch can all be found in the full UA-cam description. Lastly, my own book Angels of Mercy is always available online - more info here www.ddayhistorian.com/angels-of-mercy.html
American here and also want to add my praise and admiration to our Australian/New Zealand friends, who's courage, toughness and fighting abilities contributed so much to the allied victory in the Southwest Pacific. These vids about them on this channel are immensely valuable to make sure they're never forgotten. Bravo, mates!
Thanks for the nice comment Jeff, and if you haven't already, please make sure you subscribe to WW2TV and perhaps consider becoming a member? ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.htmljoin
My Dad was in the 2/8th Commandos. He was a scout and sniper. He was wounded, resulting in his leg being amputated. Today, Nov 8th is the Anniversary of his death in 1994. I am a very proud daughter of his bravery, and the bravery of all who served in Bouganville.
RIP Trooper James Sell
Thanks for sharing
My Australian friends. You are viewed in the US and the Lost Tribe of America. We have the utmost respect, concern, and understand your key efforts in all the major wars. We would actually all like to be Australians.
This actually sounds like an Aussie taking the piss 😂
Been drinking again?
G'day,
Yeah ?
Is that right ?
Well, ACTUARIALLY squeaking, "Pal"...;
Here in Oz we well remember...
Buna, Gona,
Sanananda and Wewak too, as well as Bougainville and Tarakan and Borneo...; and then there was Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraqagain, Libya & Syriatoo, before we all ran away from Absurdistandstill after 20 consecutive years of
Failing at
Imperial Occupation together.
In light of the way there were no US Boots on the Ground to assist Oz, when Johnny Howard chose to launch his Amphibious Invasion of Indonesia's East Timorese "Province"...; atop the fact that because Imperial Japan never intended to invade, nor occupy Oz at any stage during WW-2 - the Historical FACTS appear to indicate that
From the beginning, in 1942, Unkle Spam has always
Used Oz as a
Convenient Rear-Area Base
From which to prosecute Wars fought thousands of miles away from Mainland Oz.
And, then, later on there came
Pine Gap, Narrungar, & Northwest Cape - through which the Pentagonal Haemorrhoids converse with, and control, Satellites and Submarines...
Every time Canberra thinks that Washington wants to fight with somebody, Oz goes into our
Pet Attack-trained Chihuahua
Routine...,
Running out yap-Yap-YAPPING...!
And offering to put
Troops into the Field
BEFORE
Unkle Spam has even committed to going to
Waaauughhh(!).
As happened when
Bob Hawke put the
SAS-Regiments into Iraq weeks before
US Special Forces went there in
1991...
You might well find that, if you ever came out here and ventured beyond the
Dedicated obsequious
Tourist Traps...;
That most Australians have
ZERO Desire to see any more
Yanquis - or their ignorant arrogant sanctimonious self-righteous exceptionalist, immature childish and infantile
Kulture
Being adopted and assimilated into
Australian
Society.
Speaking as a
3rd/5th generation White Australian Male, born in 1961.
Much more better if you-all
'MurriKans stay there
Where
You-all was bred and born and
Raised-up, trained and
Educated to
Fit
In...;
Just(ifiably ?) like y's'll
Never ever do - not
Hereinat
In
Oz...
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
Wow! Thankful for our Australian Allies; but I'm very proud and thankful to be an American!❤️🇺🇸
That’s a really humbling sentiment for you to express bro…. I know when you say ‘a lost tribe of America’ you mean it in a Band of Brothers way, rather than suggesting we’re damaged goods by association.
I think the key for all of us is, the more we can conceive genuine connection and love and empathy for every flavour of humanity, especially Palestinians atm, (WWJD style) then the less we exist as but marionettes for the MSM and the wholesale psy-ops they love to push via Mockingbird etc
Thank you so much for keeping this history alive. My Pop was in 317 Light Aid Detachment on Bougainville and in Lae. He was a big influence in my life and the reason I joined the ADF myself.
Love this recognition of Australia’s mighty help during WW2. Not many of any at all podcasts doing this . Love it . Learning more and more each video . Thought I knew a lot because world war 2 is a huge thing to me because of my family but this is just awesome leading more and picking up book titles that to me are a must read . I could sit and talk WW2 day and night lol . Absolutely fascinated by it .
Karl gives an excellent presentation on the Australian's on Bougainville. I am glad that the Bougainville campaign is getting more exposure. Thank you WW2TV!
Another terrific episode Paul, and very well presented Karl. Thank you 👍
Thanks for another outstanding show! I learned a lot today
Really interesting episode full of images , maps and detailed information most of which was new to me !
My Uncle was a Chindit in Wingates 3rd Column and my Grandfather served in the British Army in Burma also . . In the same way the Burma Campaign is the Forgotten War ... overlooked by Historians and the public at large, so too the Australian Campaigns of the South Pacific are Forgotten! Lest we forget ... superb presentation.
I am an Australian with my Mum being English. Her parent fought in WW2, Grandpa fought in Burma as a Platoon commander in the infantry and my Grandma was an officer in a anti air battery. On my Dads side my Grandpa was an NCO in the artillery fighting in North Africa, my Grandma was an officer in the Womens Auxiliary Army Forces. WW2 affected the world in a really big way.
@@filipinorutherford7818 My Grandmother was in the ATS in London during the Blitz ... she was at Liverpool Street Station when it was struck by a V1 Rocket ... she was lucky to survive and still bore the scars the rest of her life.
i Would love to see and hear about the Burma Campaign , but it is sadly pegged down the order of interest by Historians who focus on the Battle of the Bulge
Thanks Paul and Karl. I had a grand uncle killed in fighting on Bougainville in 1945, so the campaign has always held a fascination for me.
Thanks for the nice comment Callum, and if you haven't already, please make sure you subscribe to WW2TV and perhaps consider becoming a member? ua-cam.com/channels/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeA.htmljoin
I am so pleased to find a military history channel of such a high standard that is covering this, in my humble opinion, shamefully overlooked aspect of the Pacific War. Thank you.
PS really like your suggestion of a "Borneo Week" at some future time
Thank you, and please check our back catalogue
@@WW2TV Indeed your back cwtalogue is impressive and would unhesitatingly commend your output to anyone who has an interest in well presented cogent talks by a fascinating range of speakers. Well worth the effort!!
@@sage2308 thanks and do please consider becoming a patron to help me continue
@@WW2TV just this minute joined ;)
Another wonderful, informative presentation. Many thanks
Great show. Excellent presentation and information!
Great show, very informative, Karl knowledge is unmatched.
As a Papua New Guinean, my sincere and heart felt appreciation to all the Australian service men who lost their lives in PNG during WW2.
Thank you.
Great presentation. Please, please get Karl back to do a show about the Borneo campaign.
Excellent presentation by Karl James on a little known campaign. A veteran of the campaign I knew who served with the 26th Battalion received the Military Medal during the campaign and his commendation states "This NCO by his cheerful gallantry, ingenuity and example, had been a source of constant inspiration to every member of his company." and "cool courage and gallantry". He accounted for at least 1 enemy soldier and 2 Naval Officers (complete with white gloves and swords) during the action. An amazing and humble man when I knew him. These were hard fought campaigns in 44-45.
A great episode from Karl, covering a campaign I knew virtually nothing about.
Bougainville provides another good example as to why the Allies' decision to by pass many Japanese held islands was a sound strategy. The Japanese were going to fight to the end on just about any territory they occupied.
Actually the job of mopping up was left to the Australians by the Americans and lost a lot of men doing so. Blamey insisted that the stranded Japs should be taken out instead of being left to starve, resulting in unnecessary heavy casualties.
My great grandfather saw combat at Bougainville, he only passed in April this year at the rightful old age of 100 years, 2 months and six days.
Thank you for putting this on UA-cam , it opened my peeper's as to who was involved is the Battle of the islands , I was a Part time Soldier with 4th/19th Prince Of Wales's Light Horse .. I am still involved with the Regiment through the Asocc ( R . A. A. C. ) I am Trooper P.A.Potter 3112645 , A & C Squadrons Gippsland ...
Checking on older content. It’s human nature to focus on the stories closest to you, however, one can’t forget that the global conflict was extraordinarily complex and all these separate stories happened simultaneously and influenced one another. An excellent example is, one can’t have a comprehensive understanding of Guadalcanal without understanding New Guinea. The events in one place had an enormous influence on the other.
My Waranga (Great Grand Father) is Paul Yawiga. He was a Coastwatcher and served with Jack Read from Tasmania in Bougainville in Aravia. One of the first New Guinean that was taken to Brisbane by a Submarine in Guadalcanal in Solomon Island. He was part of the Torokina landings and lead bands of guerrilla fighters in Torokina. He killed 25 Japanese in a day with Jack Reads men in Bougainville. Of the bravest in New Guinean history. Rest in Peace Bubu Yawiga, your legacy lives on.
Impressive episode with lots of solid info. Great maps. Learned a lot. Well done.
My dad and grandfather were good friends with the now deceased Tom Hungerford, a member of the AIF who fought in the middle east and later in New Guinea and Bougainville as a member of the 2/8th Commando's. He later became an accomplished author after the war. The Ridge And The River is a great book of his based loosely on some of his experiences.
His friend and fellow commando Peter Pinney also authored some books based on his personal war dairies. I have a signed original copy of his book about his time spent on Bougainville with the 2/8th. It's called The Glass Cannon and one of the best books I've ever read. I highly recommend them both if you can find any copies.
My Dad was too!
@@blossomd3476 that's awesome! Unfortunately I never got to meet him as he passed before I was born, but apparently he was a top bloke.
@@Cryptid_Renfri Noone in my family saw TH & my Dad together post war, but my Dad was a quiet soul, we didn't even know the real details of my Father's role as scout /sniper or how he was shot until after he died when my family got a letter from a Jack Boardman who was there with them. I've been trying for years to get Peter Pinney's & Hungerford's books , sadly to no avail. Jack Boardman, whilst not an author, spent his entire life post war, as an Activist, fighting for justice for the recognition of the Timorese and the role they played.. they were such truly brave men.
Please do cover late 45, 46, 47. To a fair degree the troops returning in those years were ignored at the time.
POW coverage including former enemy combatants and the locals who were worked to death would be great too.
Regarding Bougainville, aggressive campaigning by the Aussies (and the bomb of course) must have saved lives among the dispossessed locals which is important.
love to see something on the Australians on New Britain, my Husband has written about the 29th/46th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF and it time on New Britain he conducted many interviews with veterans of the Battalion and has some 500 pages recording a detailed history on that campaign conducted by the 5th (11) Australian Division
An uncle was a Coast Watcher on Bougainville. He was a tough man but would bounce me on his knee when we would visit when I was a 2YO!😊 We have to have huge respect for these men who risked everything for the defence of Australia.
I believe a ‘trail’ is the main route and ‘tracks’ leave off /away from this . Best description of have heard so far.
Never underestimate the Aussie digger, thankyou for this brilliant episode.
The Australian army did a lot of work testing tanks later in WW2 to find out which tank would be best to replace the Matildas in the Jungle fighting of South East Asia. Shermans and some other tanks were thoroughly tested and the Churchill was shown to suit the Australians needs. Having a very good of road capability and solid armor protection for attacks on heavily built Japanese bunker systems. A large number of Churchills were ordered but the war ended before they were able to see action. So the war ended with the Matildas as the main tank supporting Australian forces. The light Stuart was not very good at pushing through thick jungle and close combat with Japanese bunker systems. The Stuart did great work despite its unsuitability and saved the lives of many Australian soldiers fighting for Buna and Gona. With brave crews manning the Stuarts. Very close infantry support was needed to prevent Japanese attacks on the Stuarts with grenades and improvised weapons including incendiaries. The Terrain at Buna and Gona was terrible and the fighting was very costly and slow. MacArthur could not relate to close fighting like this and working with experienced Australian commanders. He was very impatient. He was not very good in managing the fighting in New Guinea with its very difficult terrain. The US units committed to Buna and Gona were not properly trained and prepared and suffered badly in the jungle conditions and lacked the experience of Australian units and commanders. Most of the senior officers had lots of experience in WW1 as well as WW2. The Matilda was also very capable in the jungles and they were heavily modified for combat in the Pacific. Including hedgehog bomb-throwers and flame thrower versions. They had the power, weight and gears for the work. Some of the tanks were given 3 inch howitzer guns to fire explosive rounds. The Matilda became the only British tank to see combat from 1939 to 1945. Anyway, just writing this because you like the Churchill. During the Vietnam War the Centurion tank took on the same role very effectively. Trying to clear bunker systems with infantry is very deadly work and the Centurians saved the lives of many young Australians. They used beehive rounds to help clear the jungle and locate the bunkers. Then use the 20 pounders before crushing them under the tracks. Heavily built bunkers that were well camouflaged and having machine guns with interlocking fields of fire and cut firing lines were very dangerous. The Centurians could survive repeated RPG hits. Britain blasted one of the Centurions with a 9.1 kiloton bomb which later saw service in Vietnam. The Australian army is now getting a number of the latest model Abrams tanks. Hopefully, they will not be needed. Australia now has a small but very capable and well-equipped defense force. Australia's success with tanks started with the Battle of Hamel on the 4th July 1918 in a small but very well-planned combined arms attack with Australian and US infantry and British tanks that was won in 93 minutes. 3 minutes late in achieving all of the objectives. Australian General Sir John Monash was knighted Order of the Bath shortly after. This was the first battle with US, UK and Australia fighting together. Possibly the most significant battle in Australian Army history.
If you ever get the chance read “ those ragged bloody heroes” about the Kokoda campaign, as well as later campaigns, it will make you weep. Lest we Forget
Glad to see you exploring other countries contribution to WW2. Nearly all you hear is US involvement with the occasional mention of Battle of Britain, North Africa campaign, Battle of the Atlantic and how they were won by the US Calvary coming over the hill to save the day, or maybe a passing reference to British and commonwealth involvement in Normandy or Italy Campaigns and virtually no reference after Market Garden. As to the Pacific campaign, there seems to be very little of naval, airforce, or land involvement by any other nation but US.
My great grandfather won a bronze star at Bouganville during the touch and go days when the Japanese 6th division threw their full weight into the American perimeter. He was a sergeant in the 37th infantry division "the buckeye division". He was involved in a number of other battles and campaigns as well. The 37th Buckeyes saw almost 600 days of combat in the Pacific. He also earned a purple heart getting wounded by shrapnel from a Japanese mortar during the heavy fighting to take the city of Manila in the Philippines. Never got to meet him, he died before I was born. But I was always intrigued and proud of what he did.
Brilliant!!
The 'KOKODA TRACK -vs- KOKODA TRAIL' argument is I have now discovered to be irrelevant. I recently attended the 2024 Anzac Day march in Sydney and there saw two banners showing the battle honours of two separate units of the Australian Ground forces in PNG 1942-43. The first banner showed "Kokoda Trail" The banner of the second unit showed "Kokoda Track"
Exactly, it takes attention away from the actual campaign
Karl placing the campaign in the context of planners then believing the war would continue into 46 is an obvious connection I hadn't made before, so it obviously isn't that obvious. 😁
Even the Marines of 3rd Division were there from Nov to Dec of '43.
28:56 Australia never forgot the lessons of the pacific campaign , that jungle warfare school still runs . And is the reason we did well in the Malayan Emergency and relatively well in Vietnam post war . Of course Vietnam was unwinnable but we controlled the province we where allocated .
Your wrong there the vietnam war was winnable,but for the Americans who forgot the lessons of ww2 south pacific campaign. Also the yanks wanted Russia to get involved and then send them broke that was their objective. Australia were brilliant in the jungle the north Vietnamese and the vc always tried to avoid them on most occasions.
As an American I wanna to salute all ANZAC & assure this guy knows and appreciates their sacrifices in WW2 Korea & Vietnam.
As an aside, I was really surprised how built up Bougainville was. When you think of WW2 in the Pacific it differs than the European Theatre in that civilians were always in the background. Most don’t think of large civilians presence until Guam Saipan & Okinawa. Also used to live on Bougainville Dr. on Tarawa Terrace II 😂
Greetings to my British limey friend.Great video about our Australian friends fighting the good fight.
We need that Borneo '45 episode of WW2 TV!
We will get to Borneo in 1945 at some point
There is a simple question about the necessity of the campaign. Did the Australian government knew in the summer of 1945, at the Potsdam Conference, that the atomic bomb was going to be deployed? The allied leaders knew after Potsdam that the war was going to end and soon and it would not continue into 1946.
Australia was not represented at Potsdam…
The Potsdam conference ended three days before Hiroshima was bombed…
Hello folks. A tremendous presentation on the Australians in the Pacific War. Fighting the Japanese was never easy and Bougainville was one of the worst terrains ever. Great insight.
Did the Aussies operate Slim's 'defensive-box system' in Bougainville (Or else in New Guinea or the Dutch East Indies?), as the British were then also using in Burma while similarly fighting the Japanese, in order to resupply their infantry & artillery units on the ground by available RAAF & RNZAF air transport units, in very comparative conditions, terrains & climate etc.?
I'm not really sure sorry
Great stuff, lots of great information about the Australian operations. I just picked upGreg Blake’s book Jungle Cavalry Australian independent companies and commandos
At the 1:23:00 mark the hosts comments about indigenous peoples efforts in WW2 is quite interesting. If there is a book on this, particularly in relation to the Australian's and US forces I would be interested to read this. Good point.
Re Kokoda Track / Trail … my uncle Ralph Smith RAE was there for many months and he always talked about Trail …. Never heard him say Track …..
Were all the coast watchers Australians? How many coast watchers were there? How many survived the war?
Most were Australian, but not all. There were about 600 in total
@@WW2TV Thank you! More than I thought.
I would argue, at about 6:00 that while the battles of New Guinea and Bougainville were not large (compared with China, Europe and Russia), the victories were very important because the Allies did learn to better their opponent. Lessons they carried through to later campaigns.
The Diggers called it a track. As far as I know.
My dad was on Bougainville from 1944-46. He was a Morse code signalman. His name was Cecil Belford.
I was always of the opinion that Macarthur only wanted American troops in the Philippines, which is why we got bogainville.
40:13 again with a reference to my pa who was an Australian militia man who took over twice from the Americal Division , first at Gona-Buna and then on Bougainville . He called them the and I'm quoting 'the masters of inactivity' ......... judging by this map and talk of icecream factories and coca cola bottling facilities he wasn't far off .
How can you debate whether it's trail/track when Americans will debate whether it's stroke or slash? I say trail - slash - track and you say trail - stroke - track and we have to get past Slash versus stroke before we can even think about trail versus track. Lol. Keep up the good work. Your videos are making it easier for me to deal with all of that mess and tragedy in the Ukraine.
But it is a big debate in Australia. The Track/Trail debate still rages
@@WW2TV I'm sure it does. I was just pointing out that in that debate there's another debate about how you actually say slash or stroke. It's pretty crazy how people will get into big debates like whether it was track or trail. I mean getting angry about it. I'm sure the answer is that it was both. Another video of yours that makes me think that MacArthur was the biggest a -,hole in the allied side. Worse even than Patton because Patton wasn't as much of a backstabber as MacArthur was. I think I said it in another video but I'm extremely grateful we never had a MacArthur presidency.
What I have learned is that every battle won added up to ultimate victory for the allies.
We are obliged to disobey.
24:17 Billy Hughes said that to Woodrow Wilson , when Wilson suggested that Japan should get New Guinea . Thank goodness he did . Footnote Japan lost less than 1000 dead .
My grandfather was in new guinea and Bouganville during the war what a pointless waste of men invading Bouganville it could have just been left isolated and just bombed into uselessness a waste of good men for no gain
I'm very pleased to see our Aussie cousins getting the credit they rightfully deserve for all of their hard work and dedication to freedom and democracy during WWI, WWII and all of the conflicts they've sent their troops into harms way. One thing I've heard from Aussies is that Winston Churchill had little regard for them and often considered them cannon fodder. Is there any truth to this?
There is not much truth
it felt that way sometimes i think. when the troops from the middle east were returning home to re train and fight the japanese the british ordered the ships to change course for burma, i think it was burma. the Aus govt countered that command and odered them back on course for Aus. the british/churchill diverted the ships again to burma but this time when ordered back on course for Aus they were told to ignore anymore orders to the contrary. had they landed there instead of Aus it would have been just in time to be over run. they just had their small arms, dont think they had any heavy weapons or the supplies needed to take on the japs ad hoc. we knew it wouldnt work and supposed the british did as well.
What would have happened if Robert Menzies' Government would have still been in power, instead of John Curtin's ALP Government? How would Australian war effort in the WW2 then differed in terms of its prosecution & outcome, especially in their New Guinea & Soloman Island's campaigns? Another super show Woody!! 👍😊👏
Menzies would have been a complete disaster he would never have stood up to Churchill he was never an Australian he always wanted to be a pom he was even buried in England
Totally agree, he even thought of running for British PM at one stage.
Pig Iron Bob, singlehandedly provided all the raw materials for the Japanese war machine in the years leading up to the war.
Blamey is more controversial than MacArthur in Australia believe it or not .
he addressed a Oz army unit and critized them heavily ,to a man they turned their backs to him, he stopped talking and left quickly
I find myself actually in agreement somehow with MacArthur's Philippine argument, as was Nimitz upon hearing his pitch. Traumatic as it was for Manila, I think the postwar Pacific political environment would have been in the balance. I'll grudgingly give MacArthur his due creds as somewhat a diplomat with some sense of statesmanship in the countries where he was in charge of our interests there, Australia being the exception.. And of course his faults were too numerous to list here.
Papua-New Guinea doesn't seem like something just "on the fringe" of the war, to me. I'd bet nobody would think that, had the Japanese been allowed to take Port Moresby. New Guinea, just like Guadalcanal, Burma, North Africa, Italy, Kursk, or Normandy, was the front line of the war at an important time. It WAS big war, a global war, obviously, but all the places where the Axis Powers were stopped, and then turned back, were important to the outcome of the whole thing.
The point is that almost all the little battles fought in SE Asia by Australia were of little value in the grand scheme of things.
@@anthonyeaton5153 that doesn't accord with my reading about Operation Cartwheel, isolating the Japanese base at Rabaul, or the 220,000 Japanese soldiers killed on Papua-New Guinea... all of which set the stage for the liberation of the Philippines, and the island-hopping campaign toward Japan.
What about the 37th inf/div in Bougainville?
What point are you making? This show was about Australian units
@@WW2TV What i meant to say was, have you ever covered the 37th in Bougainville?
Your initial comments are seen everywhere. Until Allied armies got trained, steeled themselves to battle, learned workable tactics, and simply learned they CAN win, they lost everywhere they fought.
The Japanese holdouts would be an informative addendum to their wartime history in the Pacific Islands.
The Australians get so little credit and publicity. They were first to fight in New Guinea. They are also the USAs most faithful ally over the last 100 years . This American says thank you.
I'm just curious whether Australia gained any new territory after the end of the war? There's a lot of islands there and I know some of them were under different amounts of control by the imperial powers of Europe and the United States. Did Australia acquire any new territories?
I have no idea, let's hope an Aussie sees this
Australia actually handed New Guinea its independence after the war . The Queen & Price Phillip attended the ceremony . Prince Phillip was introduced to the assembled VIP's and tribal people as " ..Number one master belong Queen .." Pigeon English .After WW2 Australia actually lost territory.@@WW2TV
@@paulobrien3241 Australia gained NO NEW Territory as a result of the war. (Cocos and Christmas Islands came in the 1950's.) Australia resumed her control of Papua and accepted the United Nations (succeeding League of Nations) mandates of North-East New Guinea and Nauru - granted independence in 1975 (Papua-New Guinea) and 1968 respectively.
Worthy of note is the problem that Japan has refused to apologise for waging aggressive war and for the atrocities perpetrated on both civilians and allied militaries in WWII. The Yasukuni Shrine reveres Japanese war criminals to this day.
No mention of the fuzzy wuzzy angels (local indigenous peoples) who helped and saved thousands of lives, even fighting the Japanese with outstanding jungle skills.
Because that was on Papua New Guinea, this was about Bougainville, which did not have the same indigenous peoples
Crazy to think that had the Japanese kept fighting they could've been stuck in those Jungles for at least another 6 months just on Bougainville. I wonder if other Dominion troope with Jungle experience might have been brought in to help occupy and mop up these islands, considering Australia was gonna help invade Japan.
McArthur was a big egomaniac.
Churchill wanted Australian soldiers to fight the Germans in Europe , after the middle east campaign, outraged labor prime Minister curtain said no, the seventh Australian division come home to fight the Japanese in new Guinea.
Best soldiers this side of the moon
No CT mo
?
MacArthur was to the Americans as Montgomery was to the British: highly overrated.
Aussie bogans
Very disappointing
What is disappointing?