'The crab's claw' cartoon

[The Argus, 9 January 1942]

This section comprises seven subsections of stories and images on the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the fall of Rabaul and Singapore, the fall of Ambon and the experiences of the Australian 'Gull Force', the fall of Timor and Java, and the defence of Moresby. Learn about young Richard Harvey, aged 11, shot along with his parents for espionage at Rabaul in 1942 or of the courage of Ordinary Seaman Edward Sheean who died at his gun as his ship sank near Timor.

Bibliography

Department of Foreign Affairs, Documents on Australian Foreign Policy 1937 - 49, Canberra, 1982.

Malaya

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-1945; Series Two, Navy, Vol 1 - Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Canberra, 1957.

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

John Moremon & Richard Reid, A bitter fate: Australians in Malaya & Singapore, December 1941 - February 1942, Canberra, 2002.

Janet Uhr, Against the Sun: the AIF in Malaya, 1941-42, St. Leonards, 1998.

Lionel Wigmore, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series One, Army, Vol IV - The Japanese Thrust, Canberra, 1957.

Rabaul

Douglas A Aplin, Rabaul 1942, Melbourne, 1980.

K Buckley & K Klugman, The Australian Presence in the Pacific; Burns Philp 1914-1946, Sydney, 1983.

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Three, Air, Vol I, Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

Margaret Reeson, A very long war; the families who waited, Melbourne, 2000.

Peter Stone, Hostages to freedom: the fall of Rabaul, Yarram, 1994.

Lionel Wigmore, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series One, Army, Vol IV, The Japanese Thrust, Canberra, 1957.

Singapore

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-45; Series Two, Navy, Vol 1, Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Canberra, 1957.

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

Betty Jeffrey, White Coolies, Sydney, 1954.

John Moremon and Richard Reid, A bitter fate: Australians in Malaya & Singapore, December 1941 - February 1942, Canberra, 2002.

A B Lodge, The Fall of General Gordon Bennett, Sydney, 1986.

Ambon

Joan Beaumont, Gull Force: survival and leadership in captivity 1941-1945, Sydney, 1988.

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

Courtney Harrison, Ambon, island of mist: 2/21st Battalion AIF (Gull Force) prisoners of war 1941-45, North Geelong, 1988.

Lionel Wigmore, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series One, Army, Vol IV, The Japanese Thrust, Canberra, 1957.

Timor

Bernard Callinan, Independent Company: the Australian Army in Portuguese Timor 1941-43, Richmond, 1984.

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-1945; Series Two, Navy, Vol I, Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Canberra, 1957.

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 I - Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

Peter Henning, Doomed Battalion: mateship and leadership in war and captivity: the Australian 2/40 Battalion 1940-45, St Leonards, 1995.

Dudley McCarthy, Australia in the War of 1939-45; South-West Pacific Area - First Year, Kokoda to Wau, Canberra, 1959.

Lionel Wigmore, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series One, Army, Vol IV, The Japanese Thrust, Canberra, 1957.

Java

John Bellair, From snow to jungle: a history of the 2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion, Sydney, 1987.

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Two, Navy, Vol 1 - Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Canberra, 1957.

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Three, Air, Vol 1 - Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

David Horner, High Command: Australia and allied strategy, 1939-1945, Sydney, 1982.

Lionel Wigmore, Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series One, Army, Vol IV, The Japanese Thrust, Canberra, 1957.

Defence of Moresby

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-1945; Series Three, Air, Vol I - 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.

David Wilson, Seek and Strike: 75 Squadron RAAF, 1942-2002, Maryborough, 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.