'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

Thanks for your honest appraisal/view on James Scott's books. I am yet to read "Black Snow" so I cannot comment on that book but I totally agree that his book covering the Doolittle Raid was excellent.

Two 5-star books waiting in my library to be picked up and read :)

Antonio wrote: "Started on "Hobart's 79th Armored Division at War", by Richard Doherty."

Sounds like another interesting book Antonio, let us all know how it goes :)

Great review Rowan! It also reminded me that I have a copy of this book on the subject; "Stretcher-Bearers: Saving Australians from Gallipoli to Kokoda" by Mark Johnston.

Stretcher-Bearers: Saving Australians from Gallipoli to Kokoda by Mark Johnston

Jonny wrote: "I wish I had the time!"

And the space!

Boudewijn wrote: "Some funny anecdotes from The Battle of the Bismarck Sea by Michael Veitch:

Always make sure you are present when the new general wants to meet you, as this colonel discovered:
The..."

Some good stories there Boudewijn!

Two great reviews Marc, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the rest of the group.

Sweetwilliam wrote: "I watched Narvik yesterday on Netflix. I thought it was outstanding.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81166149"

That's good to hear, I've got it on my watch-list!

Very interesting MR9, glad that in the end it went down, and I hope the U.S. can gather some useful intel from the wreckage.

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - The day after the battle, Allied aircrew were sent back to finish off any survivors in the water to ensure they were not rescued by Japanese destroyers in the area:

Bull Garing, who had ordered the killing of any Japanese survivors, later described an incident at Ward's airstrip where a Beaufighter pilot returning from the slaughter got out of the aircraft, went to the side of the strip, and in Garing's words, ' ... retched his guts out. Blackjack and I walked over to him and said, "What's wrong with you, son?" and he said, "Sir, I've never seen so many sharks." And I said to him, "Well now, for every one that you sent to the bottom and the sharks got, you've saved one Australian infantryman. Don't forget it."

In his own recollections of the battle and its bloody aftermath, Blackjack Walker was even more forthright:

Well, it's war and I think war is not finished until your opponent is dead and I don't give a hoot whether they're in the water or whether they're out of the water or in the air or where they are. As far as I'm concerned, from what I've read of what the Japanese did to our fellows during the war, I'm only bloody sorry I didn't get a few hundred more of them.

Aftermath of the Battle of the Bismarck Sea:
https://navyhistory.org.au/battle-of-...

Great dioramas, I wish I had that sort of skill and patience!

Dj wrote: "After they shot the Balloon down, the Chinese got all hissy about it. They are picking the debris up out of the water off South Carolina so it would seem we will be able to see just how civilian it..."

Good news indeed :)

The Chinese are a bit like the Russians, who complained that the Ukrainians were fighting back.

Doreen wrote: "I thought it looked like a good read Rick. I was only two years old when this happened so I wanted to learn more."

Me too (I was 3 years old)!

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - The Australian combat cameramen, Damien Parer, was in one of the attacking Beaufighters, perched behind the pilot trying to film the low-level attacks:

Some of the most vivid images of the battle came from Damien Parer, hanging onto both the plane as well as his camera behind Torchy Uren in Beaufighter A19-5. Later complaining that this day he was 'all fingers and thumbs', Parer at one stage ran out of film just as Uren began a strafing attack. In the middle of clumsily reloading his camera, Parer made a request of the skipper.

'Torchy, can you go over those two burning ships again? I missed them.'

Torchy was happy to oblige. Banking around, he lined up for another strafing run, just for Parer.

Besides providing the world with the most vivid visual record of the battle, Parer would later commit his recollections to paper as well:

You've gone around behind the warships but they're still banging away with their big guns, pom-poms and ack-ack. You can see tracers whipping by. A cargo ship is in the sights. She is camouflaged and has goalpost masts. She looks blurred at first, but then comes into focus. The first thunder of fire [from the Beaufighter's four cannons and six machine-guns] ... jars at your feet, and you see the tracers lashing out ... Then the plane is banking round again and a fresh target is lining up in the sights ... You're going in —hard and furious. The great hull of the ship is looming up at you, grey and black and forbidding. Again the guns begin their violent stammer, again the flashing of tracers. The shuddering beat of the explosions gives the scene a grey flicker. The acrid smell [of cordite] is in your nostrils. You seem suspended in an unwholesome moment of fear and delight as you watch the stream of bullets whang over the decks. You see the black smoke rising and you are still diving to meet it until everything is a black smudge—and you say a quick prayer. And then you feel that wrench upwards again as the plane sweeps miraculously up. And the ship passes below the fuselage in a dark blur.

Damien Parer:
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-a...

https://halloffame.melbournepressclub...

Boudewijn wrote: "I'm 25% in my ebook about the Battle of the Bismark Sea where general George Kenney has just melded and reformed the disparate units under his command and created the Fifth US Army Air Force.

http..."

He did an excellent job in forming the Fifth and giving it a sense of mission, some esprit de corps.

Doreen wrote: "The Abyss: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962 by Max Hastings"

I have a copy of that as well Doreen but yet to read it :)

Jonny wrote: "A local one for the Gear War thread, this one's got to sneak in near the top of Mount TBR!

[bookcover:A Sturdy Race of Men - 149 Brigade: A History of the Northumberland Fusiliers Territorial Batt..."

Nice one Jonny!

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - An Australian observer/navigator in one of the attacking Beaufighters, Flight Sergeant Fred Anderson, later recalled his observations of the attack on the Japanese ships:

"It was like a pack of sharks in a frenzy, or wild dogs, perhaps. Smoke, ships on fire, some listing, bows underwater; people in the sea everywhere. People on rafts and barges and little boats they'd managed to find somehow. Flaming aircraft, falling out of the sky. I heard Bob just saw under his breath, 'bloody hell', and looked out and saw a wing - just a wing - flutter down, spinning like a leaf falling from a tree, still on fire from the fuel tank inside it. No idea what sort of plane it was from. And planes just coming in at all angles at those ships, even after they were already ablaze. I looked out and saw what looked like a whole destroyer over on its side with smoke above it. Never saw anything like it. Not before or since."

The Mighty Beau:
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art...

RAAF Beaufighters:
https://31squadronassociation.com.au/...

"Battle of the Bismarck Sea" - Some excellent online articles on the Battle of the Bismarck Sea:

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/bat...

https://www.mhhv.org.au/the-battle-of...

YouTube Footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgone...

Martin wrote: "Sailor's Heart, based on true events, is a story about three men who fought for their country in Arctic Convoys, then for their sanity and dignity, labelled as cowards and subjected to experimental..."

Hi Martin, your book sounds very interesting. I hope it does well on the market. Any reviews or additional information please post the details in the author's page:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...