The Lost Battalions: A battle that could not be won. An island that could not be defended. An ally that...

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Tom Gilling

The Lost Battalions

A battle that could not be won. An island that could not be defended. An ally that could not...

Tom Gilling

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English

Allen & Unwin
03 September 2019

Australasian & Pacific history; Second World War; Battles & campaigns; Prisoners of war

They were thrown into a hopeless fight against an overwhelming enemy. Later, hundreds died as prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and in the freezing coal mines of Taiwan and Japan. Through it all, wrote Weary Dunlop, they showed 'fortitude beyond anything I could have believed possible'.

Until now, the story of the 2000 diggers marooned on Java in February 1942 has been a footnote to the fall of Singapore and the bloody campaign in New Guinea. Led by an Adelaide lawyer, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC, and fighting with scrounged weapons, two Australian battalions - plus an assortment of cooks, laundrymen and deserters from Singapore - held up the might of the Imperial Japanese Army until ordered by their Dutch allies to surrender.

Drawing on personal diaries, official records and interviews with two of the last living survivors, this book tells the extraordinary story of the 'lads from Java', who laid down their weapons, but refused to give in.

'[Gilling] has made superb use of an Australian Army History Research Grant to afford us a greater understanding of what the lost Australian warriors on Java experienced as a consequence of failed imperial wartime policy.' -The Australian

'An engaging account . . . Gilling makes good use of diaries, memoirs and interviews with survivors.' -Good Reading

By: Tom Gilling
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 128mm,
Weight: 254g
ISBN: 9781760876166
ISBN 10: 176087616X
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 03 September 2019
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Tom Gilling is an acclaimed novelist. The Sooterkin, Miles McGinty and Dreamland have all been published in Australia, as well as London and New York. He is co-author with Clive Small of the highly successful Smack Express, Blood Money, Evil Life and The Dark Side. His most recent book is The Griffith Wars with Terry Jones.