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Videos on the Spanish American War, Philippine Insurrection, US Colonialism as a whole, and how Thailand & Iran remained independent would be totally rad. Thanks for your hard work!
It also looks very similar to Mud and Blood. Looking at the bodies, they look like they were taken from another game called Skirmish Line, which is basically a homage to the Mud and Blood games.
Any discussion of these clashes between Australian and Japanese forces has to include the contribution of the locals, nick named the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels"
sad to say i never had to opportunity to meet my grandfather, a commando who fought on the kokoda trail (he survived) but i have heard stories past down. he said he wouldnt have survived without the "fuzzy wuzzies" they were our greatest ally and deserve all the respect and more.
@@claydud271 the Japanese forced them into it, the Australians didn’t, many fuzzy wuzzys ran away from the Japanese, the bond between the Australians and Fuzzys was a strong one that still holds to this day
@@zonk4718 I mean that’s the historical view yea but the angels were kind of forced into helping aussies too, they didn’t want any part of a war. Ex army vet fyi
Half of my grandmothers family passed away during the battle of Port Moresby. Respect and love to all the diggers who fought valiantly, allowing her to survive until now ❤️
Edit : How to win again Australia Rule one : Make Alliance with emus, spider, deadly toad, and buldog ants Rule two : destroy their Vegemite and flip-flop supplies Rule three : destroy the bob sample tanks before landed in Australia Rule four : Train your hand grip in case Australia become upside down Rule five : make Bali become your prison so when an Australian captured you can bribe them to go to bali with exchange of information
Only a fool would ally themselves with the Emus. The Emus have imperialist ambitions for global domination and would surely backstab you when you no longer serve a purpose.
German-trained KMT troops or Sun Li-Jen's CEF men will win. The communist core based in Yan'an participated in little conventional fighting so the contest is meaningless. Anyway, love or hate the CPC, there's no denying that various Communist-leaning partisan groups did contribute materially to the war.
@@13_kg05 I know you're joking, but it sounds kinda suicidal to try to loot the ammo off a dead friendly soldier. They died because an enemy had eyes on their position. I wouldn't want to spend a few seconds in that position, let alone a minute or two for looting.
@@readmore8302 Yeah and neither did the japanese. Those infamous banzai charges were usually done by stranted japanese soldiers, out of food and ammo, who had no other way of fighting anymore. Western troops in that case would surrender
@@planethunter8558 Ah yes the great Emu Wars of 1932 we had to retreat due to an onslaught of overwhelming enemy superiority leaving field's of grain to be decimated in their wake. It was said of the Emu's that "They can face machine guns with the invulnerability of tanks." Major Meredith
not because they wanted to though. Gallipoli was not Australia's war, Singapore was a F and Vietnam was literally nobody's war. Edit: and btw the ottoman empire is arguably at the same level as the Australians.
Yes. Thank you so much for breaking the stereotype that we Aussies got our arses kicked until the Americans came to help. I appreciate this video so much because The Australian story of the Second World War never really gets mentioned.
Yea, lets thank McArther for that bullshit. How he got away with calling us cowards and then getting his own US marines killed after we warned him that it was sucidial idea, is beyond me.
@DaFuzzBearYT...then you should know about the fall of Singapore and how the british forces were not winning. While germany stood australia was in danger after its fall the western forces could full focus on the japanese. No sole country turned the tide in the east.
They correctly called it a "Section" instead of Platoon most of the time, which is the term the British and Australian Army use. There are two sections to a Platoon instead of 3 Squads to a Platoon.
I think the point of all these comments are is that we love the infantry comparison videos. Tbh it shouldn't end at infantry, tanks, aircraft, and navy exists but still, the fans shouldn't overstress him on videos.
Finland vs Russia in the Winter War would go like this: Russian: All the gear they have Finns: All the gear Russians have, because Finns are Orks and everything not nailed down is looted.
Both my grandfathers fought in PNG, one on a minesweeper and the other driving an ammunition truck up to where the troops were and driving the wounded back. Some of the stories he'd tell about them creating makeshift bridges over massive drops in the treacherous mountains made you wonder how he got back alive. It's our inventiveness to make things up on the fly that works in our favour. Both of them praised the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea for their courage and assistance.
The Japanese deliberately targeted medics and regularly beheaded captured soldiers. Not to mention the outright genocide throughout Asia. And unlike Germany who has largely atoned for their sins and suffered the great indignity of Soviet rape and occupation and loss of historical Germany lands. Japan got off very lightly. And worse still most Japanese today are unaware of their ww2 atrocities
My grandfather was a captain in the Boganville campaign. The day after the Japanese signed the surrender, he got two of his men and they went and raided the quarters of General Masatane Kanda who signed Japans surrender to the Australians. Killing several Japanese soldiers who were guarding the building even though the surrender had been signed. The world was very different back then. When is was 14 my grandfather gave me general Kandas walking stick, which I still have. You can see the walking stick in photos of the general online. They also toon a bunch of other stuff which is still in our family. Sadly those small trinkets didn’t make up for the severe PTSD and alcoholism that followed his return.
39th Battalion and the other Battalions in New Guinea save Australia. My grandfather serve in the 39th as a Sub-Machine Gunner, he was one of the few members that where able to walk out under his own power after the Kokoda campaign.
So basically like the war itself the Japanese had a mean star with ingenious tactics and trickery, but didn't have the follow through to finish the fight.
Their determination was unmatched. Fortunately for us something simple doomed them from the beginning.. they simply did not have the economy / industry to match the west. The materiel and supply difference impossible to overcome
They had too many follow through, which kinda defeat the purpose of the trickery. Like Oh we booby trapped successfully but later followed by a banzai. Such a waste. I think the better trickery was like vietnamese war against USA. Just falling back when things didn't go well. Then set up another trick. Now that's the real follow.
@@edhikurniawan Good Japanese generals saw that Banzai charges are just a waste of life and manpower; yet the squad level leaders and low ranking officers still employ it. They should have just fallen back and lay more traps like the VC. But fortunately for us, they have a blind fanaticism and for the , retreating is cowardice.
This is a load of B/S. The Japanese never got into Port Moresby. The closest they got to P/M was to Owers Corner from where they could see the distant lights of P/M. From Owers Corner the defeated Japanese began a withdrawal back down the Kokoda track with the Australian army after them.
my great uncle was in a number of ambushes where the only Australian casualty was when one of their own bullets ricocheted off a rock. He was taken in the fall of Singapore
German commander Erwin Rommel was even quoted as saying: "If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.
antwan 1357 - The Kokoda Track was entirely in Papua [Sth Eastern quarter of the Island of New Guinea]. Papua until January 1942 was an external territory of Australia when the Australian Government added the Mandated Territory [mandated by the then defunct League of Nations] of New Guinea making both territories Australian New Guinea, administered by ANGAU, The tribesmen and women of ANG were accustomed to seeing Australian civilians, soldiers, policemen, church missionaries, miners and planters throughout ANG and understood they were the government of the day, in other words the Aussies were not the foreigners as stated by you. ANG became Papua New Guinea [PNG], a single external territory of Australia after the war, until 1975 when it was granted independence.
@@robertgilleland3114 they wernt acxustomed to it on tanna island in vanuatu or many other small islands. And in the papua highlands were they are stl relatively cut off from the modern world. These people are today worshipping the sky gods and waiting for them to airdrop their divine cargo buy summoning them with wooden radar dishes and radios made from coconuts
@@anitabonghit2758 What you say is true but as per the original thread, my comments referred to the action on the Kokoda Track during the Japanese/Australian battles of 1942. Which included those native troops from the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the native police from the Royal Papuan Constabulary that operated alongside the Aussies which together were known as Maroubra Force.
@@robertgilleland3114 my response applies to pretending and not really based upon the video. But to emphasising putting yourself into a state of imagination.
@@robertgilleland3114 yea.....but imagine if you were a native of a country that didnt have contact with the civilised world. And all of a sudden you are seeing aircraft carriers, planes, tanks, and bombs. Must have been mind boggling
Great grandpa fought in this battle, he was an Australian soldier, he didn’t fight much, he did the devices and communication, he became friends with a Japanese soldier and salvaged a katana from this aswell.
No probs, we also used to wear berets but they have been phased out for quite some time, only special units wear them now. We wear giggle hats as combat uniform, slouch hat is mostly ceremonial. Slouch hats are also prone to being pinched so you have to keep an eye on them lol I much preferred the beret for parade but they weren’t very useful for sun in your face.
@@manhattanhusky Oh i know about the berets! The US Army has them for mostly dress but some units have berets they can wear with their fatigues or battle dress. Otherwise, we had the patrol cap which didn't really look neat lol and the cav unit is was in could wear stetsons which I do adore.
@@eyesofstatic9641 awesome! I live in the US now for abit over a year, I find the patrol cap weird too, I’m still adjusting to culture shock over here lol
It was a battle of attrition won by Australia. Both sides fought bravely with heavy losses. Japans supply lines from the north became too extended as they moved further south on the track and as a result their force was weakened and forced to withdraw. The Australians were reserve soldiers for the most part and as such were commended for the victory despite their lack of experience. I take my hat off to all the soldiers who had to carry guns as well as their provisions along the ~ 100Km long steep muddy track.
The Japanese on the track were the Pacific South Seas force, veterans of Manchuria, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines....the Australians were militia and had never been in combat before/
Crazy how back in the day your kit was basically just light clothing with a belt to hold essentials (ammo) and a hat compared to your kit and pack doubling your weight when they tell you to travel light 😂
I think the big ommitted factors here were the decisive factor of Papuans themselves, and consideration of the performance of Australian infantry vs Japanese infrantry in urban warfare in Singapore - where the Aussies were the units that repeatedly failed to keep defensive perimeters allowing the other battalions to be flanked and the city to collapse so fast. In the end of the day, Papua held because of the Papuans more than the Australians. I doubt if it was just up to Australian units that they’d have fared much better than the Dutch did in West Papua and Borneo.
All war is terrible. This particular battle in New Guinea was as bad as it gets. Starvation, dysentery, Malaria, typhus, savage hand to hand fighting, high death rate, no let up for weeks and weeks, no supplies, steep slippery muddie tracks, hot tropical rainy conditions, Not knowing where the enemy was, no medical help resulting in dying from infections. The worst unrelenting isolated situation for everyone.
The Owen's gun was built by a 16yo in his shed for fun, when he turned 17 he enlisted. His neighbor found the gun in a sack while doing yard work and used his connections as a manufacturing plant owner to get the gun into army trials and get the kid returned to the mainland to work out the kinks. The gun was lighter, several times cheaper, and infinitely more reliable in the jungle than the american Thompson, but it had a slower fire rate and was less accurate. It was open bolt design to remove mud while firing and had the magazine mounted upside down to assist in feeding if the magazine spring rusted. It was so loved by aussies in the field that they would trade their higher quality Thompsons for this pipe gun.
I have a mate who's father served in Balikpapan at the end of the war and, as a supply officer, had never been required to engage in front line combat duties. Alas, short of men, his company commander ordered him, a WO, to lead a platoon on patrol as there were stray Japanese in the immediate area. ''I rounded the corner of a grass hut with my Owen gun pointing off to the left, cocked and loaded, safety off. A Japanese officer stood three feet to my left. He raised his sword and I squeezed the trigger of my Owen gun out of sheer fright. Here's his sword.'' At this point he pulled a Japanese sword out of a hall cupboard to prove it. Not every Aussie trooper was or is a hero, but they still got the job done.
You know you're screwed when the bushes start speaking Japanese, trees start speaking Vietnamese, mountains start speaking Albanian, snow starts speaking Finnish, and the white guy with a gun has an Australian accent.
My grand father fought in Kokoda against the Japanese, his told me some scary story’s of lack of ammunition while being out numbered, yet they still managed to hold the line, sometimes it was so bad he had use Japanese rifles just to defend himself, he told me one story how he went over just to grab rifle, but unfortunately it only had two shots, he done it 3 times just to fight and the story’s of leeches bigger then you can think off after the war he became a paramedic his truly my hero and the definition of a warrior he lied about his age and he wasn’t even in the regular army the only experience he had was shooting rabbits.
@@timothykidd8995 it is funny that either way, native english speakers just do these kinds of simple mistakes, considering that english is my second language and if you're so up for the task, or you're just this salty, then go on ahead and take my place.
@@SirDaffyD Courage, Valour and determination in the worst possible terrain in a storm knee height in mud.. Lest We Forget I’m an ex regular Infantry soldier who served in the Royal Australian Regiment and to this day reservists still get called Choco’s ? Bizarre
At that time Papua New Guinea wasn't an independent country yet, it was under the territorial protection of Australia. During WW2, under Australian law conscripted soldiers could not be ordered to fight in areas outside Australian territory, but since PNG was under Australian territorial protection, it was considered to be "Australian territory", so Australian conscript soldiers were sent there.
People forget that the original Kokoda track soldiers were mainly reservists fighting with WW1 equipment. The real Australian professional army arrived later in the battle as much of the Aussie army was in North Africa facing Rommel. My father fought in New Guinea and he said the Japanese were good soldiers.
John Curtin even brought Australian troops back from Africa to fight in New Guinea against the direct orders of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. When they arrived on the island they still had clothing camouflaged for the desert so they had to dye it a green colour so it would blend in with the Jungle better.
Fun fact, did you know that the Australians were a militia force because new guinea was an Australian territory, and they were called 'choccos' by Australian soldiers as they thought they would melt in the heat of battle. Yet the militia won. It's like a reverse Gallipoli.
Never heard that take on the PNG locals being called 'choccos', but it wouldn't surprise me, we've a tendency towards direct and insensitive communication coloured by black humour. I do however know the Papuan New Guineans were known as the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels' due to their fuzzy hair and their tireless efforts in supporting the Aussies.
@@WayneLyons it was a disparaging remark from the regular Aussie soldiers towards their fellow militia countrymen because they thought they would "melt in battle" like chocolate when it gets heated - nothing to do with the PNG locals!
Well, beyond some of former imperial generals (many were in Red army also)and veteran soldiers and Antante help in materials,white guard didn't had better weapons although 1:1 their forces were better organized although there wasn't a clear ideological motivation beyond fighting communists.
@@kaletovhangar Too true, the Whites were so divided, they never had a chance. If just two White armies had managed to unite for an attack on the Red heartland, that would have been it. Among other things, Lenin pulled the very clever stunt of offering self-determination to the ethnic minorities of the Soviet Union, which besides unifying the Reds even more probably prevented the fall of the ethnicaly diverse Petrograd to a White attack.
what could be really cool (although likely way too speculative) would be the white russians remnants that fought for japan in manchuria against the soviets in ww2: white russian veteran mercs vs soviet manchurian troops, or maybe chinese nationalists/communists
@@squamish4244 Very interesting. I read that Azerbaijan was independent from 1920 to 1922 until Lenin decided to invade because he said the SU couldn't survive without Baku's oil.
Given that the Australian recruits that drove the Japanese back were still very green, they did an amazing job. The Allied command had ordered the battalion commander to send his troops into Gallipoli-style charges. Major Bill Potts, himself a Gallipoli veteran knew better. Under his command, not only did they stand a better chance of survival, they drove them back a LOT faster than the Allied command were expecting. Major Potts was relieved of his command for insubordination, yet his troops would have followed him to hell and back.
Some comments: The Australian troops were AMF, not AIF and were used as labourers a lot at Port Moresby, so didn't have the training of the AIF. However, the officers DID train the 39th battalion to a reasonable standard. (Not, unfortunately, the 53rd.) The Allied command did NOT order them into Gallipoli style charges, although the command had extremely limited understanding of what the conditions were actually like on the Kokoda Track. The commander was Brigadier Arnold Potts, not Bill Potts. The Australians did NOT drive the Japanese back a lot faster than the Allied command expected. Firstly, the Japanese forced the Australians back as far as Ioribaiwa Ridge before the Australians could go on the offensive and then push the Japanese back to the north coast. In fact the Australian advance was quite slow. Yes, Brigadier Potts was relieved of his command, but not for insubordination, rather because General Blamey thought that he wasn't doing a good enough job. (Blamey didn't have a clue as to the conditions of fighting on the track.) And, yes, the Australian soldiers did have a very high regard for Brigadier Potts. And, yes, I have been there.
@@anthonyeaton5153 That is incorrect. The Japanese landed at Buna with about 10,000 men. The Australian battalions were the 39th, the 49th and the 53rd with about 1,000 men each. That is, 3,000 men.
@@markshaw5159 The Bayonet strength of an Ozzy battalion was more like 400-500 on the Kokoda track. four companies of 100-120. B eschlon troops were back at Moresby.
@@graemesydney38 Why are you Australians so absorbed by rifles and bayonets. Ever heard of artillery, armour and above all logistics not to mention airpower.
I can imagine the Australians would think on the go and adapt quickly to any situation that presents itself. They underestimate the fighting spirit of an Aussie.
Look up the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam. Outnumbered 10 to 1, they had stumbled across what they estimate to be 1500-2000 NVA and or VietCong forces (nobody can be 100% sure, but there were a lot of blood trails leading out of the jungle) they numbered some 108, with three Kiwi artillery. They drove them back, with few deaths or casualties. It's said that after that encounter, the enemy Vietnamese forces never engaged Australians or Kiwis again in open combat. They called them "ghosts" for their ability to sneak up, and engage in guerilla warfare, the very tactics they used against US forces
@@wrynightraven5255 I read the detail of that battle from the commander of that battalion, Major Harry Smith. He wrote a book on it, from his earliest days in the army up to finally getting the recognition his troops deserved
@You are correct But True, they didn't have the kind of firepower at their disposal that the US military has, but they have a long tradition of improvising and doing things efficiently. Here's an example from the Iraq war: An Australian unit had the job of cleaning out some insurgents from a cement plant on the outskirts of Bagdhad. The commander of the unit got his translator on the bullhorn: "We're going to give you five minutes to surrender peacefully. If you come out in that time, with your hands on your heads, you will be taken into custody as prisoners of war, but won't be harmed. If you choose not to come out, we will come in after you with maximum force." The Captain called in a favour from the USAF. He told the pilot of an F-18 Hornet to fly over the plant, and break the sound barrier as close as he can to overhead to it as he can. He got it near perfect to overhead. When a plane breaks the sound barrier, the sonic boom is VERY loud. The insurgents all walked out with their hands over their heads, without firing a single shot
Java was amazing. My great grandfather was stationed there. It was tropical beaches, sunny weather and no gunfire. All local populus had given uo their weapons and were generally supportive of the Japanese, who helped aided local nationalist movements. On the other hand, Burma, or more specifically North-East India, was a hellhole, as the Brits poured Indian after Indian to patch their mounting casualties in the face of an entrenched Japanese. New Guinea? That place is hot, rainy, and muddy. Even if the enemy does not kill you, tropical diseases will.
Yet again no history regarding armchairs. I am deeply disappointed with his channel and his team. I am thinking about filling a class action lawsuit for false advertising if you want to join on. /s Edit: I do not know what the digity darn is going on in the comments Edit 2: Have a great day!
My grandfather fought alongside Australians at New Guinea, he said they were the finest jungle fighters he had ever seen in his life, superior to the Japanese both at jungle and night fighting. He remarked that some Japanese units outright broke and ran when fighting the Australians.
Cool. But the running part is what go me. Japanese soldiers never surrendered in any situation no matter what situation. They could be outnumbered and they still wouldn't. What army or regiment did your grandfather fight in?
They tried Banzai charges against the Red Army in Manchuria in 45'. I wondered what happened to them when the charged squad was a Soviet all SMG and Flamethrower assault team.
Our Australian men suffered a lot of casualties and problems throughout the war that were caused by British leadership (as usual), did poor leadership from foreign officers become a problem for Filipino soldiers as well, just curious, I’m assuming it was just us mostly but I know near nothing about how the war played out for Filipino soldiers
@@retardcorpsman yo I'm Filipino too. One example of the Filipinos will to fight is when US soldiers and Filipino Guerillas fought the Japanese in the Raid of Cabanatuan where they were able to free 500 POWs while being outnumbered. And yes the Japanese are more experiencded. But that's why the Filipinos went for guerilla warfare which is unconventional warfare.
You gotta be more specific than "Filipino Guerillas" though, since there is a lot of them. The few I could remember are the Huks, some US-backed guerillas, muslims, and even a Chinese one believe it or not.
What they did to P.O.W.s was a fucking disgrace, and they call themselves noble? Those that managed to survive the beheadings and being used for bayonet practice, whilst being forced to work until you died of disease or starvation, those men who came home were never the same again, many turning to drink, and dying way before their time. My grandad fought them in Burma, but never spoke about what he did or saw, and succumbed to the effects of alcohol long before he reached old age, we buried him at 50.
@@michaelwinter8633 They performed all kinds of experiments on the guys, like freezing arms in a block of ice, and that's just what the lucky P.O.W.s got, read up on it fella.🏴
@@aotearoa24-79 Love them too now, great people, just one generation ago, my father would have killed them on site, its not people that are enemy's, its politics
One factor not apparently considered here was the use by the Australians of local Papuans in the Papuan Infantry Battalion. These people has thousands of years experience in the jungle, and attached as scouts to Australian units, meant the Japanese had zero chance. I remember as a cadet at school, seeing boys from PNG, thinking I would not want to come up against them.
To be fair, they didn’t consider the Japanese having Type 99 Grenade dischargers and the fact that their squad would actually be bigger than the Australian unit. What also wasn’t considered is that the IJA usually had supremacy in actions related to the bayonet; they prioritised such training and while their fire was inaccurate their bayonet training remained superior to that of the enemy. Japanese troops were, for example, trained to literally disarm an opponent with the bayonet. Still a solid video despite its flaws though
The fuzzy wuzzy angels carried all our food and munitions up the track and our wounded back down. They were critical in our troops being able to push the Japanese back to Buna and into the sea.
@@wejwedge8137 in n a war where machine guns, rifles, tanks, planes, battleships and aircraft carriers are used.......I can understand how advanced bayonet training would be a burden. Am I to suppose a Roman legionary is superior to a G.I because he's a better swordsman?
