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Borneo: The Last Campaign
From bestselling author Michael Veitch (Australia's Secret Army, Turning Point) comes the story of the brilliant, yet controversial campaign which ended Australia's involvement in World War II.
The Last Campaign tells the story of Operation OBOE, the massive, three-pronged assault on the vast Japanese-held island of Borneo in 1945. It was one of the largest amphibious invasions of the entire war, and a virtually all-Australian operation.
Over the final twelve weeks of World War Two, the 1st Australian Army Corps chased down and fought the remnants of the Japanese army over burning oil fields, up languid tropical rivers, along leech-ridden jungle tracks and across endless hills, valleys and ridges. Far from being the easy 'mopping-up' the men had been told to expect, Borneo turned out to be as savage as anything the Aussies had hitherto encountered in the Pacific, as the Japanese - despite the inevitability of their defeat - continued fighting with fanaticism, tenacity and shocking brutality.
Immensely complex but brilliantly planned, OBOE called for Australia's two most famous Infantry Divisions - the 7th and 9th - to storm ashore at three separate landing areas supported by US and Australian naval forces and local Dyak guerrilla fighters. Their objectives were to secure Borneo's oil facilities and liberate its long-suffering people.
Although now largely forgotten, as well as mired in the controversy that it had little effect on the overall outcome of the war, the skill, bravery and determination showed by the average Australian soldier on Borneo - many of whom were fighting their one and only battle of the war - is beyond question. OBOE involved more than 70,000 Australian military personnel, of which over 2000 became casualties, with nearly 600 killed. It was also where the two final Australian Victoria Crosses of the war were won, as well as literally dozens of other awards for bravery.
OBOE was superbly executed, achieved all of its objectives, and was the very last sustained Allied action of World War Two.
Drawing on a myriad of firsthand sources and interviews with the two last surviving veterans, The Last Campaign examines the lead-up, the landings and the campaign itself in never-before published detail.
Once again, Michael Veitch provides a compelling and fascinating account of a part of Australian war history that deserves to be recognised.
'Detailed, informed . . . Vivid . . . Veitch's account is an important act of retrieval' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
The Last Campaign tells the story of Operation OBOE, the massive, three-pronged assault on the vast Japanese-held island of Borneo in 1945. It was one of the largest amphibious invasions of the entire war, and a virtually all-Australian operation.
Over the final twelve weeks of World War Two, the 1st Australian Army Corps chased down and fought the remnants of the Japanese army over burning oil fields, up languid tropical rivers, along leech-ridden jungle tracks and across endless hills, valleys and ridges. Far from being the easy 'mopping-up' the men had been told to expect, Borneo turned out to be as savage as anything the Aussies had hitherto encountered in the Pacific, as the Japanese - despite the inevitability of their defeat - continued fighting with fanaticism, tenacity and shocking brutality.
Immensely complex but brilliantly planned, OBOE called for Australia's two most famous Infantry Divisions - the 7th and 9th - to storm ashore at three separate landing areas supported by US and Australian naval forces and local Dyak guerrilla fighters. Their objectives were to secure Borneo's oil facilities and liberate its long-suffering people.
Although now largely forgotten, as well as mired in the controversy that it had little effect on the overall outcome of the war, the skill, bravery and determination showed by the average Australian soldier on Borneo - many of whom were fighting their one and only battle of the war - is beyond question. OBOE involved more than 70,000 Australian military personnel, of which over 2000 became casualties, with nearly 600 killed. It was also where the two final Australian Victoria Crosses of the war were won, as well as literally dozens of other awards for bravery.
OBOE was superbly executed, achieved all of its objectives, and was the very last sustained Allied action of World War Two.
Drawing on a myriad of firsthand sources and interviews with the two last surviving veterans, The Last Campaign examines the lead-up, the landings and the campaign itself in never-before published detail.
Once again, Michael Veitch provides a compelling and fascinating account of a part of Australian war history that deserves to be recognised.
'Detailed, informed . . . Vivid . . . Veitch's account is an important act of retrieval' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
- GenresWar
371 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2025
15 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Michael Veitch
28 books35 followersMichael Veitch spent much of his youth writing and performing in television sketch comedy programs, before freelancing as a columnist and arts reviewer for newspapers and magazines. For four years he presented Sunday Arts, the national arts show on ABC television, and produced two books indulging his life-long interest in the aircraft of the Second World War, Flak and Fly. He lives in Hobart, where he presents ABC radio.
Books:
Hailing from a family of journalists, Veitch wrote Flak – True stories from the men who flew in World War II published in 2006 by Pan Macmillan and later, Fly: True stories of courage and adventure from the airmen of World War II published by Penguin Australia in August 2008. A third book, The Forgotten Islands, exploring the lesser-known islands of Bass Strait, was published by Penguin Australia in August 2011.
Further publications include a history of the CSIRO marine exploration vessel, Southern Surveyor will be released in late 2015 (CSIRO Publishing) and a further volume of Second World War airman stories, which will also be published late 2015 (Penguin Books).
Books:
Hailing from a family of journalists, Veitch wrote Flak – True stories from the men who flew in World War II published in 2006 by Pan Macmillan and later, Fly: True stories of courage and adventure from the airmen of World War II published by Penguin Australia in August 2008. A third book, The Forgotten Islands, exploring the lesser-known islands of Bass Strait, was published by Penguin Australia in August 2011.
Further publications include a history of the CSIRO marine exploration vessel, Southern Surveyor will be released in late 2015 (CSIRO Publishing) and a further volume of Second World War airman stories, which will also be published late 2015 (Penguin Books).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 20, 2025
An exceptionally well crafted book that successfully delivers an interesting, informative, balanced, and detailed story that provides the strategic context, the activities of units, and the individual experiences of soldiers. The book manages to elicit emotion while being objective and unsensational when covering the heroism, savagery, mistakes, tragedies, and sacrifice of the campaign.
December 25, 2025
A good story of an almost forgotten campaign on Borneo in the last months of the Second World War in which Australians conducted a challenging and dangerous set of operations to destroy the Imperial Japanese forces in Borneo. Veitch has written a detailed history with many accounts of the actions of individual officers and men and how they contributed to the eventual victory. While there are those that might ponder the necessity of these battles, it is much easier to do so with the benefit of hindsight than it must have been at the time. Certainly, Veitch’s recording of the gratitude of the native peoples of Borneo for their liberation from the Japanese give the impression that it was not all unnecessary. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews