Australia's Coastal War: When World War Two Reached Our Shores

by Tom Lewis

For the first time, acclaimed military historian Dr Tom Lewis OAM uncovers the full scale of World War II’s forgotten battles along our coastline.
From German surface raiders laying deadly mines to Japanese submarines prowling offshore and enemy aircraft launching hundreds of attacks, the war on the coast stretched across thousands of kilometres—from Darwin to Hobart, from Townsville to Melbourne.
This landmark book rewrites history, revealing a long and brutal struggle between German and Japanese forces and those of Australia, Britain, and the United States. Scores of ships were sunk, thousands of lives lost—yet much of this story remains unknown.
Among the tragedies are gripping accounts of heroism and the sinking of the cruiser Sydney with 645 lives lost in a duel with the raider Kormoran; a deadly mine explosion on a quiet South Australian beach; and the haunting fate of a priest abducted and executed by an enemy floatplane crew.
There are also tales of misjudgement and misadventure—like the flawed decisions during the Sydney midget submarine raids, partly redeemed by the courage of small ship commanders whose bravery remains unrecognised. Other stories are only now coming to light, including the daring attack by two RAAF bombers on a Japanese submarine still lost off the coast of New South Wales.
Australian Coastal Wars reveals it all—a sweeping and deeply human account of a war far closer to home than most Australians ever realised.

635 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Peter S · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 and a half. Reading the first section of the book I thought the title a little misleading as it went through the various types of planes etc used by both sides in the war. while the book is comprehensive in the series of singings around the Australian coast and the various air incursions of the Japanese around Australia, the author mentions where you could find more detail in his other books, or someone else's.
All up a comprehensive recollection of a little mentioned history of Australia during WW2.

[Angus Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading it, and appreciated some of the graphs that were inside. However, due to the nature of the topic, the book can be hard to follow and jumps around a lot with it being hard to match up timelines. The author also rambles at times, but it is a solid compilation of events that is worth reading if you are interested in the topic.