Battle for Australia Index

"For there can be no doubt that 1942 was for Australia - as a nation and as a people - the most important single year of all those two hundred. It was the turning point in the making of modern Australia. In the fire of that tremendous crisis were forged all the elements which have shaped our national life and destiny, to this day."

The Hon. R.L.J. Hawke, AC, Prime Minister of Australia, on the occasion of Australia's Bicentenary, 1988

* This text and website by James Kenneth Bowen (author's concise CV) was initiated 9 May 2001. Website was last updated 20 December 2018.

Returning from the Battle of Isurava, soldiers of the 39th Australian Infantry Battalion trudge through deep mud on the hellish Kokoda Track. In heavy fighting under appalling conditions, these heroes have played a vital role at Kokoda, Deniki, and Isurava in blunting the momentum of the Japanese advance towards Australia. From right to left: Warrant Officer 2 R. Marsh, Privates G. Palmer, J. Manol, J. Tonkins, A. Forrester, and Gallipoli veteran Staff Sergeant J. Long.....AWM 013288.

For my wife Dianne

Dianne in 1970 at the christening of our youngest daughter Jillian.

I owe a special tribute to my wonderful wife Dianne who has not only supported my proposal to commemorate a Battle for Australia since 1995, but has also patiently and cheerfully endured the substantial drain on our finances, the lost holidays over twenty years, the heavy cost of expensive desktop computers and professional internet software (including Adobe Photoshop and web editor Adobe Dreamweaver), and the thousands of hours expended on research, writing this history, and creation of the complex Pacific War and Battle for Australia web-sites. I graduated in history from the University of Queensland with a special focus on Japanese history that did not extend past the first World War. When I turned to the Pacific War in 1995, it required a massive learning curve and extensive reading. Not having ready access to a university library, it has been necessary for me to purchase history books, and my personal World War II history library now numbers over two hundred volumes. Our fathers had both served in the Pacific War, and we did not begrudge the time and money required by a project that we firmly believed was justified to acquaint young Australians with the sacrifices made by those who defended Australia from Japanese control in 1942.

© "THE BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIA 1942-1943" BY JAMES BOWEN IS COPYRIGHT.
Unless otherwise expressly indicated, all material on this web-site is copyright to James Bowen, and all rights are reserved. The copyright in paintings remains with the artists who gave permission for their display on this web-site. The copyright in eyewitness stories remains with the veterans who provided those stories to the Pacific War Web-site (or their families). Subject to the foregoing, the author of this web-site will permit use of not more than 300 words of his text provided that the source is acknowledged. Any institution or person wishing to use more than 300 words of the author's text for any purpose must contact the author at the address below. Unless otherwise indicated, all maps have been produced by the author and their source from this web-site must be acknowledged.

INDEX TO THE BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIA 1941- 1943

Note: For the convienence of visitors to this web-site who may wish to pursue further historical research on the World-wide Web, the powerful "Google" search engine has been placed below this INDEX.

Japan attacks Malaya, British Borneo, & the Dutch East Indies (Text being revised)

PART 2A - CONFRONTING A DENIAL OF THE BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIA BY DR PETER STANLEY

Any inconvenience caused by removal of the author/webmaster's previous hot-linked address is regretted.The previous hot-linked address produced a continuing flood of unsolicited junk mail, or "spam".

This web-site includes references to historical source material. That source material includes other web-sites, printed publications, films and video material related to aspects of the Pacific War between 1941 and 1943. Reference to those sources does not necessarily imply endorsement by the Pacific War Historical Society of the material contained in those sources or views expressed in those sources.