An Australian soldier with an Owen gun
during the fighting at Sanananda

[AWM 014185]

The battle for Kokoda is well known in Australia. However, that campaign culminated in what many veterans see as the worst fighting of the Pacific war in New Guinea – the struggle for the Japanese strongholds of Buna, Gona, and Sanananda on the north Papuan coast. This section explores those 'Beachhead' battles of January 1943.

Bibliography

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

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

G Hermon Gill, Australians 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 1939-45; Series One, Army, Vol V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year, Kokoda to Wau, Canberra, 1959.

John Moremon, Battle of the Beachheads 1942-43: Buna, Gona, Sanananda, Papua New Guinea, 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.