Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CONTENTS
- List of maps and figures
- Military symbols on maps
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- NOTES ON THE TEXT
- List of abbreviations
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER 1 ‘COMPLETELY UNTRAINED FOR WAR’
- CHAPTER 2 THE FOUNDATIONS OF BATTALION COMMAND
- 3 ‘WE WERE LEARNING THEN’
- CHAPTER 4 DESERT EPILOGUE
- CHAPTER 5 VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCE
- CHAPTER 6 ‘NO PLACE FOR HALF-HEARTED MEASURES’
- CHAPTER 7 ‘THERE IS NO MYSTERY IN JUNGLE FIGHTING’
- CHAPTER 8 ‘EXPERIENCED, TOUGHENED, COMPETENT’
- CONCLUSION
- APPENDIX 1 THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF AUSTRALIAN BATTALION COMMANDERS
- APPENDIX 2 PERIODS OF COMMAND
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
INTRODUCTION
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CONTENTS
- List of maps and figures
- Military symbols on maps
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- NOTES ON THE TEXT
- List of abbreviations
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER 1 ‘COMPLETELY UNTRAINED FOR WAR’
- CHAPTER 2 THE FOUNDATIONS OF BATTALION COMMAND
- 3 ‘WE WERE LEARNING THEN’
- CHAPTER 4 DESERT EPILOGUE
- CHAPTER 5 VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCE
- CHAPTER 6 ‘NO PLACE FOR HALF-HEARTED MEASURES’
- CHAPTER 7 ‘THERE IS NO MYSTERY IN JUNGLE FIGHTING’
- CHAPTER 8 ‘EXPERIENCED, TOUGHENED, COMPETENT’
- CONCLUSION
- APPENDIX 1 THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF AUSTRALIAN BATTALION COMMANDERS
- APPENDIX 2 PERIODS OF COMMAND
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
Summary
Just as the education and chance in life of the civil family depends very much on the head of that family, so is it with this military family represented by the Battalion and whose head is the Battalion commander. What manner of man he is determines to a great extent the character of the officers he has under him. On the officers of the Battalion depend the efficiency of the unit at work, and its happiness and contentment at rest.
William Devine, The Story of a Battalion, p. 80Tom Daly was described by Gavin Long, Australia’s Official Historian of the Second World War, as ‘the outstanding CO’ of the Balikpapan campaign of July 1945. Just before 9am on 1 July, Daly and the 2/10th Battalion landed at Balikpapan with orders to capture a steep hill, nicknamed Parramatta, that dominated the landing beaches. Almost immediately Daly was confronted with a dilemma. The first knoll on the way to Parramatta – Hill 87 – loomed before the 2/10th but the battalion’s supporting tanks were bogged on the beach, and artillery and naval gunfire support was likewise unavailable. Should he wait for the fire support but give the Japanese time to recover from the pre-invasion bombardment? Or should he push on without it, with all the risks that entailed? Each option had the potential for heavy casualties.
Knowing the danger an organised Japanese force atop Parramatta could pose to the landings, Daly ordered an assault. Relying almost solely on the tactics of fire and movement to maintain momentum, the attacking troops surged up Hill 87; it was in Australian hands by 12.40pm. By this time the tanks had been freed and moved forward, and the artillery was also in action. With this support in train, the 2/10th was firm on the summit of Parramatta by 2.12pm. Visiting Parramatta the next day, and viewing the fields of fire it provided over the landing beaches, Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, commander of I Corps, commented, ‘Thank God for the 2/10th Battalion.’
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009