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Post by Sir John on May 2, 2013 18:17:13 GMT -5
HRH Gen MacArthur was safe in his dugout, further south in Melbourne.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 18:30:31 GMT -5
Where did the Nips think they could have gone in OZ and not be noticed ? .
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 18:33:32 GMT -5
Is NSW close to Japan has to be or the Japs wouldn't have tried to escape , would they ? . No Denny, NSW is below Qld on the east coast and Cowra is a long way inland from the coast. The Japanese had considered invading Australia via Darwin at the top end using an inland rout on bicycles and some trucks to Alice Springs central Australia and then capturing a train to invade Adelaide to create a base from which to invade the coastal most populated areas while most Australian military were away from home bases. Maybe the POWs planned to join their army.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 18:38:58 GMT -5
Where did the Nips think they could have gone in OZ and not be noticed ? . Muleskinner during WW2 Australia inland from the coastal strips was a vast almost empty land and with most of our armed forces in foreign lands maybe the Japs thought they could escape easily. Many a foreigner has perished in the Australian Outback and so have quite a few Australians who did not understand the lack of water and the high temperatures or overnight freezing conditions and how remote it is. Even in a modern air conditioned vehicle.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 18:41:10 GMT -5
It is most fortunate that Gen. MacArthur arrived when he did , OZ is forever grateful .
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 18:42:02 GMT -5
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Post by Sir John on May 2, 2013 18:46:22 GMT -5
Back in 1942, Gen MacArthur ignored the commitment to appoint an Australian (Gen Sir Thomas Blamey) as his 2IC.
He did accept an Australian Liaison Officer to his staff. Mac, or one of his underlings, asked the Australian what he would do if the japs landed 50,000 troops in the top End.
His reply was "wait 3 months and go out and pick up the bones".
For all Americans with a large wall map of Australia on their wall, I point out that in 1942 there were NIL roads south from Darwin to Adelaide, 3000 kms south. The entire route was corrugated gravel. The lower 1500 kms had an 1880s steam train and tracks laid on the bare earth.
There was the same standard track west and east from Darwin to both coasts, again about 2000 kms away in each direction.
ANY escape by a POW was doomed to death by thirst and starvation. Unless they hitched a ride on an American or Australian warship heading to Tokyo.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 19:10:30 GMT -5
Percival was originally set up to be Big Mac's 2IC but Percy was engaged in other matters so Blimp was moved into the slot .
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Post by Sir John on May 2, 2013 19:22:05 GMT -5
Percival was British, and long a POW before Big Mac arrived at Terowie Station.
There was only one candidate, and that was General, later Field Marshal, Thomas Blamey. he was NOT a highly respected Officer to his troops.
SJ
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 20:13:37 GMT -5
The extensive damage done by the Japs bombing Darwin was covered up during and after WW2 for a long time, the attack on Darwin Harbour resulted in many ships being sunk and lives lost. They also bombed Townsville on the east coast and Broome on the west coast and inland as far as Mt Isa in preparation for the invasion that was called off by Japan.
Their plan to capture Darwin and then travel south to capture Alice Springs and the train line south to Adelaide would not have succeeded in my opinion, they were planning to use bicycles for most of their soldiers' transport to Alice. Lack of water, heat and cold, very rough track conditions, dust and logistics would have defeated them and allied retaliation too.
There were a number of airfields spread around the top end of Australia that could be made operational quickly and were at times, even underground hospitals in a couple of places including near Mt Isa. However most of our military personnel were overseas.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 20:19:09 GMT -5
OZ was Japans Russia .
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Post by Sir John on May 2, 2013 20:30:56 GMT -5
Actually the Top End airfields are mainly still there.
We free camped on one called Fenton, just a few kms west of the Stuart Highway. It was originally the home of the 380th BG of the USAAF, and later the 24th Sqn RAAF, both with B24s.
Google Earth will show scores of strips scattered all over the top End, and most major cattle stations have their own strips.
SJ.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2013 22:06:56 GMT -5
As you would know SJ a number of the RAAF airfields from WW2 have been upgraded and are used as temporary F/A-18 Hornet bases, buildings and equipment flown or trucked in.
Foreign nationals who have not experienced the Australian Outback are surprised when their aircraft crosses the coast in the north and they learn that they have hours more flying to reach Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne or from the west coast same empty country with scattered tiny towns and cattle/sheep property buildings only to be seen.
I am planning a road trip to Perth Western Australia next year and while selecting the must see places along the way I have reached 3700 kilometres (2,300 miles) from east coast home to Perth one way. A 6 week return trip including sightseeing.
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Post by Sir John on May 3, 2013 15:56:35 GMT -5
A small anecdote of mine in relation to WW2.
As Matthias may know, the Vienna Boys Choir were on tour in Australia when WW2 broke out, and they stayed here as house guests of many prominent German families. They went to school here, usually in the top schools.
In 1953 a new Vienna Boys Choir had been formed and they toured Australia again, and they came to the regional city of Albury (NSW) where I was going to boarding school. I have no idea how this came about, but they stayed at our school in makeshift accommodation for about 3 nights as they gave their concerts in the local hall.
On the 3rd night we were treated to our own private concert in our quite large 'Assembly Hall'. A big thrill.
Communication was a bit of a problem as I doubt they knew much English, and we knew no German. Sign language etc had to suffice.
SJ
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Post by mcnoch on May 4, 2013 1:05:48 GMT -5
SJ, yes, this fact is well known here at least to lawyers, because it is very often used as an example to illustrate the legal problems of civilians when war breaks out between their country and the country they live in (at least temporarily as visitors). There are only regulations for members of the embassies, not for other persons. The International Red Cross normally got involved.
There were some plans to ship the children via India to Iraq and then on via train to Germany, but there were a number of problems and so it was delayed again and again until it was abandoned. They were escorted by their choir-leader, two fathers and one mother, if I remember correctly. The men would have to stay behind, so the mother would have been the only one to escort the children during the long and dangerous travel. Additionally there were some discussions about sending only the youngest boys home as the older ones (up to 15) could serve as soldiers soon. So in the end it was decided to stay together in Melbourne. At first it was a big problem for the parents in Austria, but when the bombs started to fall on Vienna and the living conditions became problematic in 1944 they were happy to know their children in safety. After the war only one boy returned home.
The Vienna Boys Choir was reestablished in the way we know it today (with an own (boarding) school and three choirs) in 1948. And when I remember it correctly it was the British city-commander who pushed this and made available the funds as he saw this as a very good way to get a number of orphaned boys back into a kind of replacement family. That is why in the first years the biggest of the three choirs was in-officially called the orphans choir, a name that was soon dropped as too macabre.
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