Any idea what year this footage is taken. I grew up in the 70's in Port Moresby and Waigani swamp is about 3-4km behind the UPNG University campus where we lived. In about 1974-76 we used to ride our push bikes out there and see this P38. There was also a burnt out bone yard of Brewster buffalo, P40 Kitty Hawks and CAC Wirraways. They got burnt over yearly by the Indigenous locals burning off grass land in the dry season
When I asked my Grandfather "What were the Japanese like ?" His standard answer was : " They didn't like the cold English steel." He was in the 3rd NZ Division.
Sons of the empire, Britain loves and respects everything you have done. We wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for your valiant efforts and self sacrifice. God bless Australia and New Zealand and let's not forget Canada. From a grateful Englishman.
14:51 Lt.Col. Colin Townsend you POS! Exploiting Smith's hard work whipping DELTA into shape [no thanks to Townsend] -- he's gonna weasel out to the conflict just to rake the merits of Delta for yourself?? Shame on you! Only worse, Townsend ordered APCs to delay arrival, *just so he could get on-site before it was over!* That is hardcore-coward. Townsend's no better than Brigadier Oliver Jackson (even if he finally got the APC out of Nui Dat)
My grandfather said there were two things everyone wanted (apart from going home😉): a Commando knife and a Bren carrier. He got the Commando knife but someone nicked it two days later! Then he finally got a Bren carrier but that only lasted a couple of weeks before an Officer commandeered it as his ‘staff car’ 🙂. Everyone wanted one!
Criticism from others after the battle - I suspect these were criticisms which came from non Armoured soldiers who don't understand the difficulties of operating AFVs, especially without radios which I was very surprised to hear Col Roberts reveal. negotiating rivers with any sizeable banks especially if steep banks is very very tricky and does have a dramatic affect upon the time in getting to the destination cos it slows down the AFVs especially in poor visibility. I was appalled with Col Roberts saying that they had no fitted radios or intercoms. And this was over a year after M113s had began ops in SVN. This to me is a failure of Army command in not ensuring an effective radio system was retro fitted to the M113s. Yanks already had the AN VRC 524 radios together with intercom facilities in their AFVs and trucks etc in SVN in 1965 and 1966. These radios were later adopted by RAAC and were still in use well into the 1990s along with the PRC 77 radio sets configured for use in AFVS.
Hooked in, I remember that expression from RAAC days. 'hooked in' - firing killing bursts from MGs 50 and 30 cals! 20 - 30 rounds, pause, assess effect and direction of the shoot, adjust aim if needed then fire the next burst then repeat.
Swollen creeks are very difficult to negotiate using M113s. Sure they are amphibious, but if there is any substantial current they are vulnerable to being swept along with the current. Found this out on AFX in the mid 1980s in western NSW. My troop leaders M113 was floating down stream and his driver could not steer the AFV. Luck prevailed and in a bend in the creek, his carrier managed to strike the opposite bank and the driver was able to manouvre his M113 out of the creek.
The troop which became 1 APC Troop RAAC arrived in South Vietnam entitled 1 Troop A Squadron 4/19 Prince of Wales's Light Horse and were wearing the PLWH badge on their berets on ops. There is an ABC TV vid from this period called Diggers in Vietnam and that PWLH badge can be seen being worn on the crewman's berets in that vid.
Thoroughly recommended is Anthony Cooper's book 'Darwin Spitfires',_ Newsouth Publishing, 2011. Far from a Spitfire hagiography, this is a warts-and-all account of 1 Fighter Wing's defence of Northern Australia. Cooper goes to great lengths to retell the stories of each individual pilot's combat accounts and the total effect the three squadrons - two Australian and one British - had on the Japanese raids of 1943. Cooper goes a lot further than most such accounts and without in any way denigrating the commitment of those involved, he covers the tactical mistakes made at wing level and the individual errors made by the pilots. He also describes the litany of equipment failures that plagued the aircraft. It is important to stress that anyone looking for a simple explanation will not get it. This is a detailed, nuanced account that uses Japanese sources to help figure out the balance sheet.
As a person from Turkey, i have seen much material when it comes to the memories of Ottoman soldiers that fought in the Gallipoli campaign. But i always wondered how the Anzac troops who fought in said campaign viewed it. And i finally have that answer, thanks to you. Sure; i was aware of letters and the sort, but seeing the actual veterans themselves talking is much more powerful.
My father fiught in the Aitepe campaign. I assume he would have been there in Wewak at this time. We moved to PNG in 1978 and Dad had to go to Wewak for work. Upon his return, I sked him, "Has it changed much?" "Not really. A lot quieter, though." (dry smirk) My father would be turning 100 this year in September.
In SVN, Aussies used jungle tactics they learned the hard way in South West Pacific/Papua New Guinea during WW2, and jungle tactics learned the hard way in Malaya in the 1950s. If you read a book by RAF officer Sir Robert Thompson - Make for the Hills, about his experiences in the Malayan War against the CTs (communist terrrorists), where the Brits were successful in starving the CTs into submission - ... He describes how early in the Vietnam War, yank army sought his advice about conducting their campaign in the South Vietnam War. In his book he talks about how the yanks ignored his advice. The book is a very good read and he goes into considerable detail on how Brits dealt with the Malayan CTs who appear to be managed by mostly ethic Chinese not native Malays.
This must have been filmed early in the Aussie involvement in SVN. The batwing shields surrounding the BMG M2HB 50 cal are fitted (instead of the later Cadillac Gage T50 completely enclosed turrets) The batwings were found to be not enough protection for the crew commander, so Aussie Army ordered all sabre squadron M113 to be refitted with T50 Turret. Most likely this was filmed 1968 when 1st Batt RAR did their second tour.
These soldiers unknowingly threw away their countries by destroying the countries that tried to save us all. Yes, Japan was enemy. Germany shouldn't have been.
These are real Australians who had the guts to put their lives on the line and then were castigated by their own people fellow Australians who were not fit to lick these heroes boots and still treated with contempt by looney left politicians and goverment institutions ans sadly fellow Astralians and their offsprings.
Interesting that they use 2 loaders and a cradle for lifting the 5.5" shell, yet the equivalent film for the 6" gun relies on 1 loader picking it up by hand, (over 100lb).
Now this is a true “documentary”! Guess they don’t make em’ like they used ta’ - including the service men. Wow, this is spectacular footage for its time. I’m so impressed, & humbled. Dan Snow, eat your heart out (i couldn’t resist). Excellent show with a minimum of tell. Doesn’t really need the (dated) music - those engines work just fine alone…
Bless the aussies, so restraint, I was wondering did the jap soldiers feel shame in their hearts that allied soldiers did not humiliate them, they don't feel guilty or rueful or remorse,,,,
They left out how awful and unreliable the Liberty engine was. This plagued the Crusader throughout its life. Very fast in the desert when the engine worked but it had woefully thin armour and a mediocre gun ( the 6 -pounder was an improvement). Our obsession with Cruiser Tanks meant that we didn't get a great tank until the wars end and the first A34 Comets came into service with their superb 17-pounder gun. This tank lead to the development of the Centurion which in my opinion was the best British tank of the 20th Century (certainly the longest serving with many still in use with the IDF as ARV's).
