Buna, Gona, Sanananda (New Guinea 42-43)

Ebusitanus · Post by **Ebusitanus** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:09 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCBEZtzSz4

I recently could read this book about the hard fighting that took place at Buna late 1942 and early 1943 in New Guinea. Its amazing how "forgotten" these campaigns have been in relation to the more "shiny" ones such as Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima or Okinawa.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... _OU02_.jpg

Schanilec · Post by **Schanilec** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:41 pm

Read The Green Mountain Boys a couple of months ago. Very good read. Also enjoyed Fortress Rabaul. Now into Volume IV of S E Morrison's The History of of the United States Navy in World War II. 10 volumes to go.

Enigma6584 · Post by **Enigma6584** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:12 pm

Hi Schanilec,
 
Do you mean "Ghost Mountain Boys?"  I only ask because I just got this book and was wondering if it is the same one you are talking about.

Schanilec · Post by **Schanilec** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:58 pm

Yes, that is what I meant. Sorry about that. Hadn't finished my first cup of coffee.

JeffroK · Post by **JeffroK** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:36 pm

Not sure if available easily in the USA, look up books by Peter Brune, an excellent writer who did a number of books on this era.

Ebusitanus · Post by **Ebusitanus** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:50 pm

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Not sure if available easily in the USA, look up books by Peter Brune, an excellent writer who did a number of books on this era.

Found five matches on Amazon. After recently watching that Aussie flick "Kokoda" I feel ready to read up on their toils in NG

Schanilec · Post by **Schanilec** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:00 pm

Then you'll need the new Campaign Series from Matrix and play the Kokoda Trail campaign.
I need to get that movie.

Reg · Post by **Reg** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:23 pm

ORIGINAL: Ebusitanus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCBEZtzSz4

I recently could read this book about the hard fighting that took place at Buna late 1942 and early 1943 in New Guinea. Its amazing how "forgotten" these campaigns have been in relation to the more "shiny" ones such as Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima or Okinawa.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5 ... _OU02_.jpg

Blame the MacArthur publicity machine.........

(there wasn't enough mileage in it..[:(])

Alpha77 · Post by **Alpha77** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:31 am

ORIGINAL: Ebusitanus

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Not sure if available easily in the USA, look up books by Peter Brune, an excellent writer who did a number of books on this era.

Found five matches on Amazon. After recently watching that Aussie flick "Kokoda" I feel ready to read up on their toils in NG

Kokoda ? Good movie ?

Are there more movies that can be recommened from that TOW ? Or also Burma or China ?

aspqrz02 · Post by **aspqrz02** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:12 am

You might also like Wau by Phillip Bradley, part of the Australian Army Campaign Series, published last year by the Australian Army History Unit.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I have read most of the other books in the series, and they are uniformly excellent.

They are a sort of cross between an Osprey book and a regular history book ... but they aren't formulaic like Ospreys, Wau, for example, is 216 pages long!

(Not to be confused with his other book of much the same name, of 2008, which is available through Amazon)

http://www.army.gov.au/ahu/Wau.asp

Phil

Ebusitanus · Post by **Ebusitanus** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:39 pm

Googling the author up found me that the man also acts as a battlefield tour guide. I wish I hit the "Euromillions" and book the man for a whole year. Just check out the places he has on his "menu" [:)]

http://www.kokoda.com.au/

The music from the OP youtube clip has me hooked, can not stop from hearing it while playing [:D]

ilovestrategy · Post by **ilovestrategy** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:19 pm

Thanks for putting this up. I really enjoyed it.

I'm just trying to imagine what it was like for both sides a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ways from home fighting in an environment totally alien from what they grew up in. Even for the Aussies it had to have been different from Australia. The mud, rain, heat, insects, bad food, shortage of food, shortage of water, difficulty in transporting ammo.

I'm so happy I was in peace time military.

aspqrz02 · Post by **aspqrz02** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:01 am

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy
... shortage of water ...

In New Guinea?!?!?!?!

Surely it would be an *excess* of water [X(]

Even if you narrow it down to *drinking* water ... usually *not* a problem [8D]

Phil

JeffroK · Post by **JeffroK** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:43 am

Had to put chlorine tablets into anything you drank!

aspqrz02 · Post by **aspqrz02** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:36 am

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Had to put chlorine tablets into anything you drank!

So, "Shortage of Chlorine Tablets" would apply [;)]

Actually, as long as you drank from a fast flowing stream you were probably OK. Stagnant pools, on the other hand = really bad idea w/o chlorine!

Phil

Ebusitanus · Post by **Ebusitanus** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:20 pm

I was reading on the "Ghost mountain boys" book how when the fresh/green 32nd US Inf. Div. started to unload its first regiments at Port Moresby, how no one had thought about giving the GIs any sort of waterproof containers/bags. All the quinine and chlorine tablets issued were just rotting after a few days with all the humidity, rain and sweat. Most of these guys (two regiments worth of troops) ended up with all sorts of tropical diseases asides from the hell at Buna.

CaptBeefheart · Post by **CaptBeefheart** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:18 am

I would not receommend "Kokoda." As I recall, it's only about a young, frightened squad of Aussie soldiers in a very small patch of woods with Japanese supermen soldiers who are probably played by a local rugby team since you never see their faces. Nothing at all in the flick about the campaign or the larger picture. Looks like it's made by a typical filmmaker who doesn't know anything about war other than that it is bad. Disappointing to me, but your mileage may vary.

Just looked up the Wikipedia entry and this line explains a lot: "Due to budgetary restrictions, Grierson and co-writer John Lonie were forced to scale down the story, concentrating primarily on the trials and tribulations of one lost patrol." So there you have it.

Cheers,
CC

Ebusitanus · Post by **Ebusitanus** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:16 am

Perhaps its a matter of expectations. Having read about the campaign and not expecting much in the ways of CGI or mass productions for this movie, I quite enjoyed the dense jungle experience and the misery endured by this militia squad. Its certainly worth watching IMHO. Its better to have a semi decent movie about this obscure theatre than nothing at all.

From the same wikipedia entry

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Beyond Hollywood.com called the film 'a gem'.

Paul Byrnes from The Sydney Morning Herald called the film "a glimpse of what this dirty, nasty, very personal corner of the war was like." In Australia the film made over $3 million in its first few weeks and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of the year. Some critics went as far to say that Kokoda could be compared to Peter Weir's film Gallipoli. Some critics felt that character development was slim except for Jack and his brother who are later found out to be of German-Australian descent. The performances by Jack Finsterer, Travis McMahon and Steve Le Marquand were highly praised by critics, considering most of them had never done a film on this large scale. The film was also praised for its realistic portrayal of the Australian 39th Battalion during the campaign as well as the jungle setting which critics found "haunting, scary and very realistic." Many Kokoda veterans have also praised the film, many calling it "the closest thing you can get other than experiencing combat on the Kokoda Track yourself".

LeeChard · Post by **LeeChard** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:10 pm

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

Thanks for putting this up. I really enjoyed it.

I'm just trying to imagine what it was like for both sides a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ways from home fighting in an environment totally alien from what they grew up in. Even for the Aussies it had to have been different from Australia. The mud, rain, heat, insects, bad food, shortage of food, shortage of water, difficulty in transporting ammo.

I'm so happy I was in peace time military.

I wonder how many of those Aussies had already spent time in North Africa before coming to the Pacific. Quite a change of pace[:D]

Alpha77 · Post by **Alpha77** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:57 pm

ORIGINAL: JeffK

Had to put chlorine tablets into anything you drank!

Silver would do the trick also and it is more healthy [;)]

Btw: This Kokoda movie seems to be simmilar to the movie I watched per accident in TV, this was about a lost American squad in the Ardennes, they later were joined by a shot down Brit pilot......there was even 1 German soldier who was not pictured as totally stupid and evil as usual in such movies from US POV... I cannot remember the name though .

Buna, Gona, Sanananda (New Guinea 42-43)

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