To Benghazi

To Benghazi
Author: Gavin Long
Publisher:
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1961
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN:

To Benghazi

To Benghazi
Author: Gavin Merrick Long
Publisher:
Total Pages: 336
Release: 1952
Genre: Australia
ISBN:

Australia in the War of 1939-1945 Vol. I: To Bengazi

Australia in the War of 1939-1945 Vol. I: To Bengazi
Author: Gavin Long
Publisher:
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2014-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781783310050

This volume, the first of seven in the army series of the official history of Australia in the war of 1939-45, carries the story of the Second AIF up to the end of the operations in Cyrenaica in the first quarter of 1941. It tells briefly the story of the Australian Army from 1919 to 1939 and describes the raising of an expeditionary force for service in Hitler's war. It discusses some of the problems encountered by the commanders of that force in the Middle East in 1940 - often problems of enduring interest in that they have been met and will be met again by other leaders of the forces of minor partners in a coalition war. The defeat of the Italian army in Cyrenaica by the 7th Armoured and 6th Australian Divisions is narrated in a degree of detail made possible by reliance not only on contemporary reports and war diaries but on private papers and interviews and correspondence with a large number of participants. Finally the question whether the British political leaders in February 1941 missed a golden opportunity of marching on to Tripoli and securing great strategical gains is examined in the light of hitherto unpublished documents from both the Allied and the Axis side.

Sword and Baton Volume 1: 1900 to 1939

Sword and Baton Volume 1: 1900 to 1939
Author: Justin Chadwick
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 591
Release: 2017-02-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1925520315

Sword and Baton is a collection of 86 biographies representing every Australian Army officer to reach the rank of major general from Federation to the outbreak of World War II. This is the first of two volumes, and its scope is broad, including chaplains-general, surgeons-general and British Army officers who served with the AIF or the permanent forces. Author Justin Chadwick portrayal of these officers careers provides a lens through which he examines trends such as the development of military skills which ensured that, by the commencement of hostilities in 1914, Australia boasted a pool of well-trained, albeit inexperienced officers. The effects of command under pressure of war and the enormous physical impact of combat are likewise portrayed in these comprehensive biographies. By the end of hostilities Australian officers had garnered immense experience and were among the best in the Allied forces. Ironically, this hard-won skill base was to be all but lost in the interwar period. Sword and Baton offers its readers more than a series of biographies. Rather, it describes a crucial period in Australian military history through the lives of the extraordinary men at its head.