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Post by hornet32 on Sept 7, 2013 17:50:52 GMT -5
In a recent interview with the survivors of the 9th all 4-5 of them the Vets said they hung on at Tobruk for 9 months because they had no other place to go and no way to get there , the bloody poms left us dangling while they were busy getting their arse kicked every where else said one toothless old boy with a gleam in his eye , Empire my ass said another , OZ is what we were there for , thank God for General MacArthur said another .
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Post by Sir John on Sept 7, 2013 18:11:24 GMT -5
Well, sort of.
8 months!
They were there because they were needed to stop Rommel getting a good port to shorten his supply lines by 500 miles. I have spoken to a few of these vets and they all were determined that Rommel was NOT going to get Tobruk. Gave Rommel a hell of a shock!
The 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' of Australian destroyers and frigates provided an overnight run to Alexandria in Egypt taking out the wounded and POWs after bringing in supplies etc.
Plus a ship load of beer of course!
And given that all this happened long before the Yanks even got out of bed, let alone picked up a musket, they were worse than useless. The Australians called them the "gunners" (We are gunna arrive some day, when all the action is over). The blokes had never even heard of Mac until he faded away from Bataan with his tail between his legs. A fleet of PTs and B17s were needed to carry all his medals.
SJ
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Post by hornet32 on Sept 7, 2013 18:41:31 GMT -5
Its all in the eyes of the beholder , Churchill said of the Yanks thank god they are here , Churchill was upset because the 'Roos had deserted him but it didn't matter because the Yanks were coming and all is well there was singing and celebration through out the Empire , when asked about the 9th Churchill said who .
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Post by hornet32 on Sept 8, 2013 16:13:49 GMT -5
The 59th battalion who were suppose to be on the boat to N.Africa became confused and went trekking off through New Guinea fortunately General MacArthur was able to point them in the right direction .
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Post by Sir John on Sept 8, 2013 16:50:35 GMT -5
39th Battalion! (a bunch of "chocos" - chocolate soldiers, as christened by the 2nd AIF) actually weekend warriors that had been a unit for only a few months, and averaged about 19 years. By the end of 1942 they could not number a full platoon!
And no, they were not headed for the desert in mid 1942, they were still changing their nappies.
After that they got a REALLY tough job, teaching the Yanks how to fight!
SJ
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