Michael Veitch has done it again and somehow managed to write another brilliantly well-written and captivating book – that's long overdue (especially in such a readable form) – about a little known battle which took place to Australia's north in WWII, all of which was also the case with his previous book on an earlier aspect of the (air) war in New Guinea: 44 Days!
He describes everything in such a compelling way that I feel anything I write here is going to fall well short of the wordsmanship which his latest book ‘Turning Point’ has to offer. Anyhow, I'll do my best. The experience of having to fight at Milne Bay was clearly an utterly horrific one. Everything about it was hellishly dreadful for the Australians, and for the Japanese… Mud, rain, malarial swamps & jungles, rugged terrain, etc. The heavy rain was accompanied by an even worse rain of ammunition slamming into the mud all around as mortars exploded loudly, Japanese tanks with their blinding headlights tried to smash through the Australian line of defence at night in attempting again and again and again to sieze the No.3 Strip (Turnbull Field). Cannons would fire until they were red hot. Australians fearlessly forged into areas thick with tree-top snipers, firing upon them like sitting ducks. RAAF Kittyhawk pilots strafed and obliterated the invading barges and supplies unrelentingly, along with Japanese ground troops. Retreat, especially for the Japanese, was completely unthinkable. However, they were finally left with no choice except to engage in a sort of ‘fighting retreat’.
I knew a little bit already, through hearing a certain amount from relatives of mine who'd fought in Papua during WWII. So therefore, I myself had a vague insight into these things but mainly just what the flying and living conditions (and so on) were like. However, the very thorough research by Veitch (in evidence here) has extended my own knowledge and insights hugely. Milne Bay was a case of an ‘unheard of’ level of close air-to-ground support, like never before or since, between any Army and any Air Force/ ever/ anywhere – and likewise, such was the incredible cooperation between all other personnel, including with American's who built the airfields.
Where the poorly trained Australians, who in many cases were not professional soldiers before they suddenly found themselves fighting desperately for their country and for their families, were ‘anything but’ highly trained: the Japanese (by contrast) were and very much so! Though neither side ‘gave quarter’… The enemy – in this case – was particularly fearsome and brutal, even to the extent of showing no mercy whatsoever to the local indigenous people.
While Field Martial (of the British Army) William Slim praised the Australians for giving heart to all of the fighting forces – not only in Burma but throughout SE Asia – and also for breaking the spell of Japanese invincibility, MacArthur was far less generous. A Milne Bay veteran whom I once met was of the strong opinion that because his US Navy counterpart Admiral Nimitz had by then notched up one extra victory at that stage, ahead of MacArthur (by whatever measure) the latter was eager to declare an extra victory for himself (and for the Americans he led) at the earliest possible juncture there at Milne Bay, while things were still dragging on in a somewhat uncertain way (under Nimitz's command) at nearby Guadalcanal. The two men neither liked or respected each other, I've also heard., which would go some way towards helping to explain his attitude. Nevertheless IT WAS a famously disappointing bias, which he so publicly adopted.
All in all, a highly engaging and informative book that is (at the same time) surprisingly easy to read!