Between the end of the Kokoda campaign in January 1943 and the start of the New Guinea offensives at Lae in early September 1943, the Australian Army was engaged in some of the most intense and challenging fighting of the war for the ridges around Salamaua. Following the defeat of the Japanese offensive against Wau, it was decided to carry the fight to the Japanese force at Salamaua but what started as platoon level actions in April and May 1943 soon developed into company, battalion and brigade level operations for control of the dominating ridge systems around Salamaua. Following an amphibious landing, an American infantry regiment and supporting artillery units were also drawn into the fighting in July 1943. Salamaua 1943 also includes detailed insights into the tenacious Japanese defence of Salamaua, a defence to a threat that in the end was only a feint to draw Japanese forces away from Lae. Incorporating over 120 photographs from the battlefield including drone footage plus 26 maps and the added detail of 15 sidebars, Salamaua 1943 takes the reader behind what was one of the most complex campaigns of the Pacific War.

This book recounts the organization and deployment of one of the most important fighting armies of World War II. Australian divisions made a large and distinctive contribution to victory both in the deserts of the Middle East and the jungles of the South-West Pacific,earning for the second time a unique reputation for aggressiveness, endurance and independence of spirit. The text is illustrated with original wartime photos from all fronts; and with full colour plates showing a wide range of uniforms and gear, together with the complex and colourful Australian system of unit insignia.

In mid-1945, the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions conducted three amphibious operations – code-named Oboe – on Borneo. The Allies enjoyed command of the sea and the air, and used both to isolate and pummel the Japanese defenders. The Borneo landings – well planned, resourced and executed – are rightly considered the acme of amphibious operations, yet their strategic and operational utility has been questioned. By 1945, US forces had retaken the Philippines and were pressing towards Japan, while Australia was tasked with the conduct of these landings. Japan had yet to surrender and there was still fighting ahead, but Japan’s defeat was certain. This book describes the planning and execution of the three landings: Oboe 1 on Tarakan, Oboe 6 on Brunei and Oboe 2 on Balikpapan. Although the political and strategic context is covered, this book focuses on operations and tactics, and demonstrates how the Oboe operations benefited from amphibious expertise developed in the Pacific theatre. As amphibious operations bring together land, naval and air assets to act in concert, amphibious expertise is joint in nature. This expertise comprised the development and use of specialist equipment, creation of fit-for-purpose command and control systems, joint and Allied interoperability and an overall amphibious mindset. Dayton McCarthy uses official histories and war diaries to explain these complex operations, focusing on the often-overlooked aspects such as the logistics, staff work and planning and the role of air and naval forces. As Australia again re-examines the role of amphibious operations in its near region, the subject matter of this book is timely.

‘I had no qualms fighting the Australians, just as I have killed without remorse any of the Emperor’s enemies: the British, the Americans and the Dutch’, so admits Takahiro Sato in this ground-breaking oral history of Japan’s Pacific War. Thanks to years of research and over 100 interviews with veterans, the Author has compiled a fascinating collection of personal accounts by former Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen. Their candid views are often provocative and shocking. There are admissions of brutality, the killing of prisoners and cannibalism. Stark descriptions of appalling conditions and bitter fighting blend with descriptions of family life. Their views on the prowess of the enemy differ with some like air ace Kazuo Tsunoda who believed the Australians ‘worthy’. Some remain unrepentant while others such as Hideo Abe are ashamed of his part in Japan’s war of aggression. The result is a revealing insight into the minds of a ruthless and formidable enemy which provides the reader with a fresh perspective on the Second World War.

In 1942, Japanese forces invaded the island of New Guinea and started a bitter, three-year campaign against allied Australian and American forces. Fought in dense jungles and across rugged mountaintops, the grueling fight pushed men to their very limits and forced commanders to adopt new strategies and tactics for the harsh island terrain. Filled with new rules, scenarios, and unit types, this supplement for Bolt Action provides players with all of the information they need to set their games in this unforgiving battlefield.