Phillip Bradley

Although this history of an important battle in the WWII campaign for control of New Guinea is well-researched, impeccably edited, and augmented with many illustrations and maps, its readability is very poor. You'll find no typos, grammatical errors, or homonym teratisms, but the book reads as though it exists as a vanity publication to sell to participants in the battle's surviving families; every Australian officer and most of the casualties from the ranks are given a mini-military biography, and all are identified with their full name and rank each and every time they appear. This avalanche of detail extends further, most risibly to including the serial number of airplanes; there's not a researcher in the world pedantic enough to find this useful. The first half of the book concerns itself with some scattered commando actions in the area and is of interest, if at all, for its combat narratives. The second half, about the eponymous battle, narrates a more conventional action with more troops and better organized forces, and is more interesting, if replete with excruciating detail. The broader campaign for control of New Guinea is mentioned in passing, but readers with little background will struggle to put this action into context. The many maps are helpful, but also difficult to read, with fine print superimposed on aerial photographs. Most of the illustrations are not especially relevant.… (mere)

This book covers the campaign in the the Ramu Valley and Finisterre Range between the Allies and the Japanese in 1943-44. 'Finisterre' is French for the 'end of the earth' and that pretty much describes the remoteness and seeming inaccessability of the mountains and valleys in which the battles took place. I initially had some trouble falling into step with the rythym of the authors writing, as it was straight into battle without a lot of context, which was only drawn out as the narrative advanced.

Essentially the book is the story of the campaign at section, platoon and company level based upon the first hand recollections of the Australian participants, however the author has also included first hand Japanese accounts where available, which are most interesting. From the Australian perspective, the effectiveness of the Japanese mountain guns and snipers in defence is prominent. Of interest also is the close air support provided by RAAF Boomerangs and US 5th Airforce P39's, P40's and B25's.

As an Australian military history book for the general market, the book is a little jingoistic in places, but otherwise a readable account.

Copy purchased by the Reviewer from the Avenue Bookstore Elsternwick $A35.

Postscript: Given the book relies greatly upon first hand accounts, and at the date of publication the passage of time has laid these veterans to rest, it appears that a lot of the material for the book was gathered during the research for, and included in, the authors volume for the Australian Army History Series 'On Shaggy Ridge' (Oxford, 2005), however this is not readily available, and only so at a steep price on the secondhand market.… (mere)