Tarakan: An Australian tragedy

by Peter Stanley

In 1945, 240 Australians died taking the small Borneo island of Tarakan from the Japanese. The tragedy of Tarakan was that by the time they succeeded, they need not have begun.

Peter Stanley explores that battle, what it was like and what it means to us over fifty years on. He traces the operation from its origins in MacArthur's GHQ, down to the rifle sections patrolling in Tarakan's rugged jungle.

Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy suggests new ways of looking at Australia's experience of war. It critically appraises the view that the Borneo campaign was unnecessary, arguing that it was a justifiable operation doomed by the politics of coalition warfare and by bad planning.

Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy illuminates the Australian experience of war. Through it, we can hear the men on Tarakan - scared, angry, humorous, proud, bitter and, above all, Australian - the voices of a vanished Australia.

Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy is the story of people at war, how it affected them, and how we have remembered it and them.

Genres: World War II

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 1997

About the author

Peter Stanley is a leading military historian and author. A Stout Pair of Boots is based on his research on Australia's battlefields in many parts of the world. Formerly Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, he is now Director of the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia.

Reviews

[John Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

a forgotten battlefield

Stanley’s work on Tarakan captures the courageous and dedicated service of the Australian’s who took Tarakan against determined Japanese resistance. So complete was their victory that there were no senior Japanese left to conduct a surrender ceremony when the war ended. The sacrifice of these Australians is described well and in great detail. Highly recommended.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of a relatively obscure and misunderstood battle.