This is the sixth episode in our Kokoda Track series looking at the performance of the 53rd Battalion. The 53rd, a militia Battalion, had some incredibly brave men. Virtually untrained, poorly equipped and with inexperienced leaders, they fought a battle-hardened enemy in some of the worst terrain in the world.
This episode looks at the mistakes in mobilisation that we made that sowed the seeds for the performance of the Battalion on the Kokoda Track at the Battle of Isurava.
What are the similiarities between the formation of the 53rd Battalion and the mobilisation of Russian Reserves for the war in Ukraine?
How was the Battalion formed?
What was the Shanghai incident?
How did they get to Port Moresby?
Why were so many of the troops surprised on the Aquatania after it left port?
What lessons are their we can learn from the 53rd Battalion if Australia was required to mobilise rapidly for war in the future?
Check out the show notes for the podcast for all of the information that we cover in this episode as well as the images and other details that didn't make it into the podcast.
114 - P40Es vs Zeroes - 75 Squadron and their 44 days at Port Moresby
113 - 75 Squadron and the Kokoda Campaign
112 - Combined Arms on the Kokoda Track
111 - Friendly Fire on the Kokoda Track
110 - The JIPOE / IPB for the Kokoda Track
109 - Operational mistakes in the Kokoda Campaign
108 - The Competition for Superior Doctrine
107 - British Combined Arms doctrine in the inter war period
106 - Combined Arms Doctrine Development in the First World War
105 - Ralph Honner, the 39th Battalion and Kokoda
104 - The 39th Battalion on the Kokoda Track
103 - Principles of Training for War
102 - Training a Battalion for War
100 - The fall of Isurava
99 - The Death of a CO
98 - Creating the doctrinal and cultural changes for effective Mission Command with Jim Storr
97 - Time and the importance of timeliness in orders with Jim Storr
96 - The 53rd Battalion at Isurava during the Kokoda Campaign
95 - A militia Battalion on the Kokoda Trail
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