Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 3 – Air - Volume Vol1
Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942 (1st edition, 1962)
Author: Douglas Gillison
This volume is concerned mainly with the air war against Japan from December 1941 to the end of the first quarter of 1943 when air superiority was first wrested from the Japanese. It describes particularly the experiences and achievements of the Australian airmen who fought as integrated RAAF units or as members of units of the British and American air forces in Malaya, Burma, the East Indies and under General MacArthur in the South–West Pacific.
In both time and geography the scope is wide. The opening chapters describe the genesis of the Royal Australian Air Force, its history between the wars and the problems of the development of the force in Australia and the Far Eastern theatre before the Japanese onslaught opened.
It has been necessary to look back to the very beginnings of aviation in Australia – as far back as 1909 – and to extend the frame of the whole picture to include all the essential outside influences. There is thus a concentration on 43 months of war set within an over–all time span of more than 30 years.
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Contents, Illustrations, Maps, Diagram, and Preface (419.74Kb PDF file)Pages i to xiii
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Chapter 1 – Formation of the Royal Australian Air Force (2.07Mb PDF file)Pages 1 to 30
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Chapter 2 – Salmond to Ellington (2.07Mb PDF file)Pages 31 to 57
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Chapter 3 – Demand versus Capacity (1.41Mb PDF file)Pages 58 to 78
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Chapter 4 – The Empire Plan: Doctrines and Decisions (912.07Kb PDF file)Pages 79 to 89
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Chapter 5 – The New Command (2.27Mb PDF file)Pages 90 to 120
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Chapter 6 – Sea Lane Protection and Aircraft Production (1.49Mb PDF file)Pages 121 to 140
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Chapter 7 – The Malay Barrier (2.45Mb PDF file)Pages 141 to 172
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Chapter 8 – American Preparations (1.23Mb PDF file)Pages 173 to 189
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Chapter 9 – Degrees of Readiness (1.22Mb PDF file)Pages 190 to 206
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Chapter 10 – Japan's Seven–point Assault (1.96Mb PDF file)Pages 207 to 234
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Chapter 11 – The Price of Hesitation (2.07Mb PDF file)Pages 234 to 263
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Chapter 12 – “Hours Not Days” (753.92Kb PDF file)Pages 264 to 274
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Chapter 13 – The Barrier Weakens (1.13Mb PDF file)Pages 275 to 291
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Chapter 14 – Australia Becomes a Base (901.65Kb PDF file)Pages 292 to 304
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Chapter 15 – Token Resistance (1.37Mb PDF file)Pages 305 to 322
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Chapter 16 – Malaya Convoys: January 1942 (681.09Kb PDF file)Pages 323 to 332
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Chapter 17 – Withdrawal from Singapore (1.56Mb PDF file)Pages 333 to 352
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Chapter 18 – The Fall of Rabaul (1.46Mb PDF file)Pages 353 to 368
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Chapter 19 – Ambon and After (954.58Kb PDF file)Pages 369 to 381
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Chapter 20 – On Sumatra (1.46Mb PDF file)Pages 382 to 400
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Chapter 21 – Retreat from Burma (1.14Mb PDF file)Pages 401 to 416
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Chapter 22 – Loss of Timor and Java (2.49Mb PDF file)Pages 417 to 445
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Chapter 23 – Assult on New Guinea (2.02Mb PDF file)Pages 446 to 469
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Chapter 24 – Command and Supply (1.86Mb PDF file)Pages 470 to 494
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Chapter 25 – The China–Burma–India Theatre (1.54Mb PDF file)Pages 495 to 514
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Chapter 26 – Coral Sea and Midway (1.45Mb PDF file)Pages 515 to 535
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Chapter 27 – “No Second Front” (3.02Mb PDF file)Pages 536 to 569
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Chapter 28 – Problems of Command (2.18Mb PDF file)Pages 570 to 598
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Chapter 29 – Kokoda and Milne Bay (2.01Mb PDF file)Pages 599 to 622
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Chapter 30 – Advance to Buna (2.04Mb PDF file)Pages 623 to 652
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Chapter 31 – Gona, Buna, Sanananda (2.06Mb PDF file)Pages 653 to 678
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Chapter 32 – Wau and the Bismarck Sea (2.18Mb PDF file)Pages 679 to 707
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Appendix 1 – Military Aviation 1909–1914 (248.79Kb PDF file)Pages 708 to 711
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Appendix 2 – The Air Force List – 1925 (95.65Kb PDF file)Pages 712 to 713
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Appendix 3 – The RAAF in the Darwin Raids (186.25Kb PDF file)Pages 714 to 716
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Appendix 4 – Australian, British, American and Japanese Aricraft (890.33Kb PDF file)Pages 717 to 750
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Appendix 5 – Abbreviations (143.19Kb PDF file)Pages 751 to 754
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Index (3.37Mb PDF file)Pages 755 to 786