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Book The Heroes of Rimau

    Book Details:
  • Author : Lynette Silver
  • Publisher : Pen and Sword
  • Release : 1991-10-01
  • ISBN : 1473814898
  • Pages : 562 pages

Download or read book The Heroes of Rimau written by Lynette Silver and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 1991-10-01 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 11, 1944, the British submarine "Porpoise" slipped quietly from Fremantle Harbour, bound for Indonesia. It was carrying the 23 Australian and British members of Operation Rimau who, under the leadership of the remarkable Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, intended to repeat the successful Jaywick raid of 1943 by blowing up 60 ships in Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour, 19 days later, the preliminary part of the operation successfully completed, the submarine commander bade farewell to the raiders at Pedjantan Island, promising to return to pick them up in 38 days' time. A handful of Chinese and Malays and the conquering Japanese were the only people ever to see the 23 men again. According to the scant official post-war record, the mission was an utter failure. All of the party were captured of killed - ten of them beheaded in Singapore only five weeks before the Japanese surrender in, it was claimed, a ceremonial execution. The fate of eleven of the others remains officially unknown. After a 31 year search, Major Tom Hall, with the assistance of writer Lynette Silver, has overturned the official version and uncovered the truth. Aided by thousands of Japanese and Allied documents and by the first-hand accounts of several Indonesians and Malays, sole witnesses to the events of 1944, they have established the fate of every member of the party and unravelled the story of "The Heroes of Rimau" - a story that has for 45 years been all but lost, distorted by hearsay and fantasy, by military cover-ups and conspiracy, by official bungling, ineptitude and apathy. This book not only chronicles a feat of extraordinary daring in the face of overwhelming odds - a gripping tale of inspired courage, self-sacrifice and eventual tragedy - it also exposes the appalling sequence of events which has, until now, resulted in the shameful suppression of the truth about one of the most amazing stories to emerge from World War II.

Book The Heroes of Rimau

    Book Details:
  • Author : Lynette Silver
  • Publisher : Pen and Sword
  • Release : 1991-10-01
  • ISBN : 0850523346
  • Pages : 349 pages

Download or read book The Heroes of Rimau written by Lynette Silver and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 1991-10-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 11, 1944, the British submarine "Porpoise" slipped quietly from Fremantle Harbour, bound for Indonesia. It was carrying the 23 Australian and British members of Operation Rimau who, under the leadership of the remarkable Lieutenant-Colonel Ivan Lyon of the Gordon Highlanders, intended to repeat the successful Jaywick raid of 1943 by blowing up 60 ships in Japanese-occupied Singapore Harbour, 19 days later, the preliminary part of the operation successfully completed, the submarine commander bade farewell to the raiders at Pedjantan Island, promising to return to pick them up in 38 days' time. A handful of Chinese and Malays and the conquering Japanese were the only people ever to see the 23 men again. According to the scant official post-war record, the mission was an utter failure. All of the party were captured of killed - ten of them beheaded in Singapore only five weeks before the Japanese surrender in, it was claimed, a ceremonial execution. The fate of eleven of the others remains officially unknown. After a 31 year search, Major Tom Hall, with the assistance of writer Lynette Silver, has overturned the official version and uncovered the truth. Aided by thousands of Japanese and Allied documents and by the first-hand accounts of several Indonesians and Malays, sole witnesses to the events of 1944, they have established the fate of every member of the party and unravelled the story of "The Heroes of Rimau" - a story that has for 45 years been all but lost, distorted by hearsay and fantasy, by military cover-ups and conspiracy, by official bungling, ineptitude and apathy. This book not only chronicles a feat of extraordinary daring in the face of overwhelming odds - a gripping tale of inspired courage, self-sacrifice and eventual tragedy - it also exposes the appalling sequence of events which has, until now, resulted in the shameful suppression of the truth about one of the most amazing stories to emerge from World War II.

Book The Heroes of Rimau

Download or read book The Heroes of Rimau written by Lynette Ramsay Silver and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Widow and Her Hero

    Book Details:
  • Author : Thomas Keneally
  • Publisher : Open Road Media
  • Release : 2017-11-14
  • ISBN : 150403869X
  • Pages : 244 pages

Download or read book The Widow and Her Hero written by Thomas Keneally and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Grace married the handsome and worldly Captain Leo Waterhouse in Australia during the middle of the Second World War, she never doubted that she had married a hero and he would come back to her unscathed. But Leo never returns from a commando raid on Japanese ships in the Singapore Harbour, leaving Grace a widow, like so many, to shoulder the pain and regret of losing her husband. Sixty years later, Grace is still bitter and perplexed by the tragic death of the love of her life when the true story of the abortive mission comes to light. As Leo’s diary during captivity, scrawled on toilet paper, and new fragments of the events emerge, Grace must confront her doubts about her hero and his ultimate betrayal.

Book The Heroes

Download or read book The Heroes written by Ronald McKie and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Commandos

    Book Details:
  • Author : Frank Walker
  • Publisher : Hachette Australia
  • Release : 2015-07-28
  • ISBN : 0733631681
  • Pages : 194 pages

Download or read book Commandos written by Frank Walker and published by Hachette Australia. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amazing revelations and extraordinary exploits of Australia's elite secret warriors. There was something unique about Australians and New Zealanders in war that prompted World War II Allied commanders to turn to ANZAC soldiers, sailors and airmen to carry out the most dangerous and virtually impossible missions behind enemy lines. Paddling canoes 4,000 kilometres to attack enemy ships in Singapore; lightning raids on Rommel's forces in the deserts of North Africa. Flying bombers at tree-top level deep into Nazi Germany to destroy vital targets; rescuing sultans and future US presidents from under the noses of the Japanese and playing crucial roles in the greatest commando raid of the war at St Nazaire - the Aussies and Kiwis were there. The special forces showed incredible bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They were determined to complete their missions. Often alone and far behind enemy lines,they demonstrated resourcefulness, spirit and a humanity that inspired others to follow them. Frank Walker, author of bestselling books on the Vietnam War and the British atomic tests in Australia, brings to life the amazing exploits and extraordinary stories of this select band of heroes..

Book The Heroes

Download or read book The Heroes written by Ronald Cecil Hamlyn McKie and published by . This book was released on 1968 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Between 2 Oceans  2nd Edn

Download or read book Between 2 Oceans 2nd Edn written by Malcolm H. Murfett and published by Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2011-10-15 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Singapore At War

    Book Details:
  • Author : Romen Bose
  • Publisher : Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd
  • Release : 2012-06-15
  • ISBN : 9814435422
  • Pages : 483 pages

Download or read book Singapore At War written by Romen Bose and published by Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2012-06-15 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together for the first time three of Romen Bose’s major historical works – Secrets of the Battlebox, The End of the War, and Kranji – in a panoramic account of Singapore’s experience in WWII. Sealed off and forgotten until the late 1990s, the Battlebox beneath Fort Canning served as the British Command HQ during the war. What actually happened in this underground nerve centre of the Malayan Campaign? Drawing on top-secret documents only recently opened to research, the author investigates the workings of the Battlebox and the fascinating role it played. Having lost their “impregnable fortress” of Singapore, the British were diverted to the European theatre of war. How then, when the Japanese surrendered, did they prepare to return to their erstwhile colonies? This book goes behind the scenes to investigate the circumstances, events, and unforgettable cast of characters that led up to liberation. Finally, the book considers those who fought and died in the war, and their ways in which they have been remembered in post-war Singapore, with Kranji cemetery and memorial as the centrepiece of the efforts. Singapore At War contains new findings which have come to light since the publication of the individual books, giving an unprecedented breadth and depth of perspective to this historical account.

Book War by Stealth

    Book Details:
  • Author : Alan Powell
  • Publisher : Melbourne University
  • Release : 1996
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 472 pages

Download or read book War by Stealth written by Alan Powell and published by Melbourne University. This book was released on 1996 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intriguing and daring story of the Australian coast-watchers in New Britain and the Solomon Islands during World War II is fairly well known, but they were part of a wider organisation. The Allied Intelligence Bureau was General MacArthur's intelligence, special operations and field propaganda unit in the Pacific War, 1942-45. The AIB was unique in its multinational composition. Under American leadership, it included British, Dutch, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian members, although many of the leaders and most of the field operatives were Australian. Its area of operations stretched from New Guinea to the Solomon Islands and from Indonesia, including Borneo, to the Asian mainland. Using much newly released, formerly secret archival material from Britain, the USA and Australia, this new full-scale study of the AIB examines for the first time relations between operatives and native peoples - a relationship critical for the success or failure of missions that were often appallingly dangerous. It also lays bare the power struggles within the organisation itself - conflicts over national, military and personal interests that were constant and intense - heightened by the conduct of war at a time that was, without doubt, the most desperate in Australian history.

Book Australians

    Book Details:
  • Author : Thomas Keneally
  • Publisher : Open Road Media
  • Release : 2017-11-14
  • ISBN : 1504040457
  • Pages : 847 pages

Download or read book Australians written by Thomas Keneally and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 847 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third volume of Thomas Keneally’s history of the Australian people, Australians: Flappers to Vietnam chronicles the lives and deeds of Australians, both known and unknown, during the 20th century. Entering an age of consumerism, media, and communism, Australia underwent radical change in the hands of two less remembered prime ministers: the stoic Stanley Melbourne Bruce of the Melbourne Establishment and the humbler Irishman Jim Scullin of the Labor Party. Keneally examines the Great Crash, the rise of fascism, the reasons why Australia entered the Second World War through the massive unemployment that arrived later in the century. With a compassionate lens and rich storytelling, Flappers to Vietnam presents history in a fresh and vivid way.

Book Sabotage and Subversion  Classic Histories Series

Download or read book Sabotage and Subversion Classic Histories Series written by Ian Dear and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Second World War daring and highly unusual missions were mounted by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) – formed on Churchill's orders 'to set Europe ablaze' – and its American counterpart, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In sixteen separate chapters the author describes how the fearless individuals in these clandestine organisations were recruited, trained and armed, and examines some of their guerrilla operations in Europe, Africa and the Far East, such as the raid on Fernando Po, the destruction of the Gorgopotamos Bridge in Greece and the strike against Japanese shipping in Singapore harbour. Also covered are the means SOE and OSS used to subvert the enemy, by employing black propaganda, forgery, pornography and black market currency manipulation. It may well read like fiction but the stories are fact, and shows to what lengths the Allies were prepared to go to crush the Axis powers.

Book Sea Kayaking

Download or read book Sea Kayaking written by John Dowd and published by Greystone Books. This book was released on 2015-04-20 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Still regarded as “the bible” for both new and experienced kayakers after more than thirty years in print, Sea Kayaking covers the basics of equipment and technique, including types of paddles and strokes, as well as such essential skills as how to read the weather and the water, how to navigate with and without GPS and how to travel with a group. Drawing on his many years of experience paddling in all climates, John Dowd presents practical advice on dealing with potential hazards (from surf to sea ice to sharks), carrying out rescues and planning for long-distance expeditions. New for this edition are hints about digital technologies for planning and navigating while kayak touring as well as lots of tips for outfitting boats, adapting equipment and finessing fishing technique while kayak angling—whether casting and jigging for fun on a day trip or trolling for dinner on a longer expedition. Also fully updated are the sections on managing risk and the inspiring stories of adventure, including Freya Hoffmeister’s record-breaking circumnavigation of Australia and Japanese paddlers’ increasingly challenging trips around the islands and beyond. As a sport, sea kayaking continues to evolve. Once the sport of a very few long-distance paddlers embarking on international expeditions, then the recreational pursuit of many weekend tourers, sea kayaking is now popular with many day trippers as well. As more and more paddlers take to the water—for the day, the weekend or many months, this classic guide continues to be required reading for those seeking adventure on the open ocean.

Book Naval Warfare 1919 45

    Book Details:
  • Author : Malcolm H. Murfett
  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Release : 2008-11-04
  • ISBN : 1134048122
  • Pages : 818 pages

Download or read book Naval Warfare 1919 45 written by Malcolm H. Murfett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-11-04 with total page 818 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naval Warfare 1919–45 is a comprehensive history of the war at sea from the end of the Great War to the end of World War Two. Showing the bewildering nature and complexity of the war facing those charged with fighting it around the world, this book ranges far and wide: sweeping across all naval theatres and those powers performing major, as well as minor, roles within them. Armed with the latest material from an extensive set of sources, Malcolm H. Murfett has written an absorbing as well as a comprehensive reference work. He demonstrates that superior equipment and the best intelligence, ominous power and systematic planning, vast finance and suitable training are often simply not enough in themselves to guarantee the successful outcome of a particular encounter at sea. Sometimes the narrow difference between victory and defeat hinges on those infinite variables: the individual’s performance under acute pressure and sheer luck. Naval Warfare 1919–45 is an analytical and interpretive study which is an accessible and fascinating read both for students and for interested members of the general public.

Book The Tiger s Revenge

    Book Details:
  • Author : Evan Morris
  • Publisher : Grosvenor House Publishing
  • Release : 2023-08-31
  • ISBN : 1803814217
  • Pages : 184 pages

Download or read book The Tiger s Revenge written by Evan Morris and published by Grosvenor House Publishing. This book was released on 2023-08-31 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the end of the Second World War, this audacious operation has remained little known amongst the public or military in the United Kingdom. It was an incredible endeavour executed by British and Australian service personnel. The deepest surface waterborne penetration behind enemy occupied lines undertaken by special forces of WW2. This hand-picked band of men would achieve what some thought to be impossible, a major strike at the very heart of the Japanese in their newly acquired Empire in South East Asia. This story ranks and deserves the same acknowledgment as exploits such as the Dambusters or Cockleshell Heroes. In the words of British Generals and US Admirals and Commanders, it achieved what everyone thought was impossible, without loss and with the minimum expenditure of resources. A terrible twist in the tail is that by not using the success of the mission as a propaganda victory as had been intended by Jaywick's commanders, a terrible price was paid by local Singaporeans who were scapegoated by the Japanese Secret Police. This is perhaps the reason that Operation Jaywick was never hailed with the success it truly deserved. The highly effective delivery of Operation Jaywick gave a green light to an even more ambitious endeavour from which no British or Australian personnel would survive, many being executed, beheaded by their Japanese captors. The Tiger's Revenge is the story told by the son of a Special Operations Executive crew member who was the only British survivor of Operation Jaywick.

Book Death at a Distance

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael Sturma
  • Publisher : Naval Institute Press
  • Release : 2013-07-31
  • ISBN : 1612514324
  • Pages : 274 pages

Download or read book Death at a Distance written by Michael Sturma and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-07-31 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only seven U.S. submariners earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. Sam Dealey, the USS Harder's commander, was one of them. His honor was awarded posthumously after the entire crew was lost off Bataan during a depth-charge attack in August 1944 by a Japanese convoy. The Harder's fighting spirit is legendary, and its record of sinking a total of eighteen enemy ships (with a tonnage in excess of 55,000) made Dealey one of the top five submarine skippers in the war. During a single patrol his crew sank five enemy destroyers in five short-range torpedo attacks —an unprecedented feat. In addition, the Harder played important roles in rescue missions, extracting secret operatives deep in enemy territory and saving downed pilots. Drawing on previously untapped sources, Michael Sturma, an Australian teaching at Murdoch University, details several daring missions, one that involved the heroic Australian commando Bill Jinkins, and puts the Harder's action in the context of the overall Pacific campaign. In do so, the author adds not only significant information to the Harder's story but also provides a fresh perspective on the submarine war.

Book Z Special Unit

    Book Details:
  • Author : Gavin Mortimer
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
  • Release : 2022-04-14
  • ISBN : 1472847075
  • Pages : 241 pages

Download or read book Z Special Unit written by Gavin Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-04-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading expert Gavin Mortimer tells the remarkable origin story of a wartime special forces unit that defied the odds. Z Special Unit, one of the most intrepid but arguably the most unsung of Allied Special Forces of the Second World War waged a guerrilla war against Japan for two years in the south-west Pacific. On some of their 81 operations Z Special Unit slipped into enemy harbours in canoes and silently mined ships before vanishing into the night; on others they parachuted into the dense Borneo jungle to fight with headhunters against the Japanese and on one occasion they landed on an Indonesian island and smuggled out the pro-Allied sultan from under Japanese noses. The Japanese weren't the only adversary that Z Special Unit encountered in the brutal terrain of the Pacific. In the mango swamps of Borneo and the dense jungle of Papua New Guinea they were faced with venomous snakes, man-eating crocodiles and deadly diseases. But it was the enemy soldiers who proved the most ruthless foe, beheading those Z Special Unit commandos who fell into their hands. Drawing on veteran interviews as well as operational reports and recently declassified SOE files, Gavin Mortimer explores the incredible history of this remarkable special forces unit and the band of commandoes that defied the odds.