A Beaufighter from 30 Squadron RAAF
flying over the Owen Stanley Range in
late 1942. RAAF and USAAF
squadrons based in Port Moresby
attacked Japanese supply bases on the
north Papuan coast during the Kokoda
campaign. 30 Squadron also strafed
and bombed Japanese positions along
the Kokoda Track during the Australian
advance of October-November 1942.

[AWM OG0001]

This section covers some of the important battles of 1942, when Australians fully expected invasion – the Battle of the Coral Sea, the defence of Moresby, the Kokoda Track and the Battle of Milne Bay. Listen to an Australian seaman describe Japanese attacks on his warship, read the famous poem in praise of the New Guinea carriers, the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels', and learn how nurse Maiogura saved an Australian airman's life at Milne Bay.

Bibliography

Coral Sea

Chris Coulthard-Clark, Action Stations Coral Sea: The Australian Commander's Story, Sydney, 1991.

Kokoda

Peter Brune, Those ragged bloody heroes: from the Kokoda Trail to Gona Beach 1942, North Sydney, 1991.

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-45; Series Three, Air, Vol 1 - Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

David Horner, Crisis of command: Australian generalship and the Japanese threat, 1941-1943, Canberra, 1978.

Dudley McCarthy, Australian in the War of 1939-45; Series One, Army, Vol V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year, Kokoda to Wau, Canberra, 1959.

Raymond Paull, Retreat from Kokoda: the Australian campaign in New Guinea 1942, Richmond, 1982.

Richard Reid, Kokoda 1942: Papua New Guinea, Canberra, 2002.

Milne Bay

Clive Baker and Greg Knight, Milne Bay 1942, Loftus, 2000.

Peter Brune, The spell broken: exploding the myth of Japanese invincibility: Milne Bay to Buna-Sanananda 1942-43, St Leonards, 1998.

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939 - 1945; Series Two, Navy, Vol II, Royal Australian Navy 1942 - 1945, Canberra, 1968.

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-45; Series Three, Air, Vol 1 - Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

Dudley McCarthy, Australian in the War of 1939-1945; Series One, Army, Vol V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year, Kokoda to Wau, Canberra, 1959.

Richard Reid, Milne Bay 1942: Papua New Guinea, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Canberra, 2002.

Operation CLICK: Anzac to Kokoda

is a classroom resource which draws on and encourages the use of the following Veterans' Affairs websites:
• Australia’s War 1939–1945 – www.ww2australia.gov.au
• Visit Gallipoli – www.anzacsite.gov.au

You may download Work sheets - provided in PDF file format.

The resource book and CD-ROM package contains lessons that can be used in many contexts in History and Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) classrooms. They were written by experienced history teachers with three aims in mind:

• to provide both beginning and experienced teachers with lessons using the two websites as core resources
• to invite teachers to explore more effective ways of encouraging their students to incorporate ICT skills into their classroom learning activities
• to provide exciting and original lessons that will encourage young Australians to learn more about Australia’s wartime heritage through the stories and images provided on the two websites.