After the fall of Singapore 80 000 British, Indian and Australian troops became prisoners of the Japanese Imperial Army. Many of these men would be subjected to the horrors of the Thai Burma railway, but around 2 500 were to suffer and even worse fate. They would be sent to Borneo to build an airstrip for the Japanese near the village of Sandakan. After years of brutality, with the fear of an Allied landing somewhere on Borneo, the Japanese authorities decided to move the prisoners over 250 km to the village of Renau, signaling a new level of suffering for the POWs.

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Having advanced beyond the village of Pozieres, the 1st and 3rd Brigades of the 1st Division now attempted to realign themselves with the Old German (OG) Lines. The fighting by now was chaotic with orders being issued for local attacks, often without neighbouring units being aware. Miscommunicated orders also didn't help things. But advances were made, lost and made again. The 25th and 26th July 1916 would see the Australians subjected to further bombardment during the days and launching attacks at night. But by the 26th, the men were at the end of their endurance and the process of relieving the 1st Division with the 2nd Division began.

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After securing the ground on the southern edge of Pozieres village, along the Bapaume Road, the 1st Australian Division was ordered to use patrols to capture the remainder of the village, which higher command believed to be empty of Germans. The patrols met some success with positions established on the northern side of the village, but the Germans weren't going to let the Australians have it all their own way. The 24th July 1916 marked the beginning of what would become the signature feature of the battle for Pozieres; artillery.

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In 1916, the British launched the now infamous Battle of the Somme. Three weeks after the opening of the battle, the high ground around a small village in French Picardy remained in German hands. In the AIF's first major assault on the Western Front, the task of seizing Pozieres fell on the 1st Australian Division. The 23rd July would mark the beginning of the battle which would incur the greatest loss of life in Australian military history.

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I recently interviewed Roland Perry about his new book Oliphant, the biography of arguably Australia's greatest mind and a man who played an instrumental role in the defeat of both Nazi Germany and Japan.

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With the capture of Magdhaba and with El Arish more or less secured, the Desert Column was poised to leave the Sinai behind and entre Palestine. There was only one potential threat to that advance, the old Egyptian police post of Rafa. This strong defensive position gave the Turks better access to water than the British and Commonwealth forces could muster and so at the start of the day, the Turks held all the aces, unless of course they didn't know the attack was coming.

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Start Digging You Bastards is the new book from Tom Gilling, following the deeds of the Australian 9th Division during the Battle of El Alamein. This month I interview Tom about El Alamein and the Australian's role in the "Turning Point of the War."

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Something different this month as this is a topic I knew absolutely nothing about. Fortunately, someone who does know all about it is Edmund Goldrick, whose dulcet tones you will get to enjoy instead of my usual droning. Enjoy

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At the outbreak of the Korean War, the 77th Squadron were just packing up to leave Japan after five years with the occupation forces. Within a week they were flying their first combat mission of the war and would go on to forge a reputation as an effective fighting force, which the Commanding Officer of the US 5th Airforce said "set the pace".

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