Larrikins in Khaki: Tales of Irreverence and Courage From World War II Diggers

AUSTRALIAN MILITARY

With a reputation for being hard to discipline, generosity to their comrades, frankness and sticking it up any sign of pomposity, Australian soldiers were a wild and irreverent lot, even in the worst of circumstances during World War II. In Larrikins in Khaki, Tim Bowden has collected compelling and vivid stories of individual soldiers whose memoirs were mostly self-published and who told of their experiences with scant regard for literary pretensions and military niceties. Most of these men had little tolerance for military order and discipline, and NCOs and officers who were hopeless at their jobs were made aware of it. They laughed their way through the worst of it by taking the mickey out of one another and their superiors. From recruitment and training to the battlegrounds of Palestine, North Africa, Thailand, New Guinea, Borneo and beyond, here are the highly individual stories of Australia’s World War II Diggers told in their own voices – warts and all.
Introduction
Military units
1 Joining up
2 Very basic training
3 Sailing to war
4 Desert Diggers prepare for war
5 High junks in Egypt
6 Fighting in the desert
7 Ill-fated Greek adventure
8 Out of the frying pan into the fire
9 The Allied invasion of Lebanon and Syria
10 The tide turns
11 Return to Australia
12 Prisoners of war of the Japanese
13 The railway of death
14 Service at home
15 The saga of the flying footsloggers
16 The Kokoda Track and the bloody beachheads
17 The battle for New Guinea
18 An unnecessary campaign
19 Savagery in Bougainville
20 Bloody Borneo – Tarakan and Balikpapan
21 The lost years and damaged lives
22 Retain all prisoners of war indefinitely
23 Final thoughts
Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index.
x, 436 pages ; 24 cm Includes bibliographical references (pages 422-424) and index. #160822 First Edition.
World War, 1939-1945 — Participation, Australian. | Soldiers — Australia — Anecdotes. | Australasian & Pacific history. | Australian