This is Part 9 of our series looking at the Kokoda Campaign, looking at the combat performance of the 39th Battalion.
This episode discusses the formation of the 39th Battalion, it's preparation for combat and how it performed on the Kokoda Trail. The 39th Battalion is one of the Australian Army's most famous Battalion, a militia battalion that bore the brunt of the Japanese attacks down the Kokoda track. What enabled it to fight so well?
Have a listed Dr David Cameron, an expert on the Kookoda Campaign as he discusses the history and performance of the 39th Battalion.
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.
Dr David Cameron Biography
David Cameron received first class Honours in Prehistory, University of Sydney and a PhD in Palaeoanthropology, Australian National University. He has written over twenty books covering Australian Military History, Colonial History, and Evolutionary Science with over 70 internationally peer reviewed papers published in various journals and book chapters. He is a former Australian Research Council Post Doctoral Fellow, School of Archaeology, Australian National University; and an Australian Research Council QEII Fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Histology, University of Sydney. He has conducted and led several international fieldwork projects in Europe (Hungary), Asia (Vietnam, India, and Japan), and the Middle East (Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates) and conducted extensive museum studies and conferences (United States, Europe, and Asia). Before retiring in 2023, he was a senior analyst in the Australian Intelligence Community.
Books on the Papua Campaign by Dr Cameron:
Cameron, D.W. (in preparation – December 2024.) The Battle for Milne Bay, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (in preparation – August 2024) Sanananda, Bastard of a Place: The Battle for the Beachhead, 1942-43, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (in press – November 2023) Bloody Buna: The Battle for the Beachhead, 1942-43, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (2023) Gona’s Gone: The Battle for the Beachhead 1942, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (2022) Retaking Kokoda: The Australian Advance Across the Owen Stanleys, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (2022) Saving Port Moresby: Fighting at the End of the Kokoda Track, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (2022) The Battle for Isurava: Fighting on the Kokoda Track in the heart of the Owen Stanleys, Big Sky Publishing
Cameron, D.W. (2020) The Battles for Kokoda Plateau: Three Weeks of Hell Defending the Gateway to the Owen Stanleys, Allen & Unwin Australia
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
103 - Principles of Training for War
102 - Training a Battalion for War
100 - The fall of Isurava
101 - Mobilisation Mistakes with the Mice of Moresby
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
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore