Page 62 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2019

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COMPILED BY PETER MASTERS | BRISBANE
AFTER AMERICAN PRIMACY
IMAGINING THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA’S DEFENCE
By Peter J Dean, Stephan Fruhling, Brendan Taylor (eds.)
Published by Melbourne University Publishing RRP $49.99 in paperback ISBN 9780522874549
Part of a series focusing on outstanding works of research on strategy and warfare
with regard to Australia
and the region, this latest book has an impressive list of contributors. Described as a period as uncertain
RAAF BLACK CATS
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COVERT CATALINA MINE-LAYING OPERATIONS TO CRIPPLE JAPAN’S
WAR MACHINE
By Robert Cleworth and John Suter Linton Published by Allen & Unwin RRP $32.99 in paperback ISBN 9781760633066
In March 1945 Reg Cleworth, a navigator on PBY Catalina seaplanes flying out of Darwin, went missing in action. No details were ever given about the incident that took his life, nor the reason his plane went down. Forty
as the late 1960s, Australia must now face the fact that the American dominance
we have come to rely on is
at an end with the present uncertainty compounded
by the erratic policies of the current US President whose America First mantra is at odds with the ‘rules-based international order’ that now appears to be under real threat. Against this backdrop, where will Australia find its next great ‘powerful friend’? Japan’s ageing population and lack of immigration will see its current population shrink by a quarter by 2050, says Brendan Taylor, ruling
it out of contention. Brabin- Smith examines Australia’s dependence on US military intelligence gathering, a
role not easily replaced.
And ‘armed neutrality’? The economic sacrifices would be too great, says Peter Dean. All food for thought in our strategic future.
years later Robert, Reg’s younger brother, decided to investigate what happened and in doing so he has brought the little-known
story of the Catalina mine- laying operations to light. Between 22 April 1943 and
1 July 1945, the crews of the RAAF’s Catalina 11, 20, 42
and 43 Squadrons conducted covert mine-laying operations in the south and south-west Pacific in an effort to thwart the Japanese advance, undertaking 1210 mine-laying sorties over 240 nights of which 1130 were successful. As a joint US/RAAF undertaking, the Australian role was often overlooked
or given little credit by US reports of the Pacific war. What started as a search for the truth about his brother’s death became a much bigger story; the story of the Catalina crews and their unheralded role in victory in the Pacific.
THE EMPIRE HAS
AN ANSWER
THE EMPIRE AIR TRAINING SCHEME IN THE AUSTRALIAN PRESS 1939-1945
By Tony James Brady Published by Big Sky Publishing
RRP $34.99 in paperback ISBN 9781922265364
First, some statistics. Under the Australian Empire Air Training Agreement (EATS), seven-ninths of Australia’s aircrew contribution were fully trained in Australia, with the balance finishing their training in either Canada
OPERATION BABYLIFT
THE INCREDIBLE STORY
OF THE INSPIRING AUSTRALIAN WOMAN WHO RESCUED HUNDREDS OF ORPHANS AT THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR
By Ian W Shaw
Published by Hachette
RRP $32.99 in paperback ISBN 9780733642241
As the war in Vietnam edged closer to Saigon, a handful
of very determined women hatched a plan to evacuate scores of Vietnamese orphans. Rosemary Taylor, a voluntary aid worker, in concert with Margaret Moses, approached
or Rhodesia. Australia had undertaken to train 14,300 pilots, 16,173 air observers and wireless air gunners and 2,000 ground personnel by March 1943. There were a total of 37,576 aircrew trained under the program. While the aircrew Australia committed to EATS was just 3.75 per cent of all Australian service personnel, the aircrew killed made up almost 25 per cent of all Australian war fatalities. Churchill acknowledged the contribution the scheme
had made to the Allies air superiority and eventual victory. What we understand through this book is the strength of the ties that Australia felt as part of the Empire. The scheme, highly ambitious for its time, was needed to counter German air superiority and Britain’s lack of preparedness for war. This book contributes significantly to our understanding of that program.
the Australian Embassy seeking assistance to fly 600 orphans out of Saigon to safety. These rescue operations were not without danger as evidenced by the catastrophe which on the first mission.
On 4 April 1975 a USAF C-5A Galaxy cargo aircraft crashed soon after takeoff from Saigon, killing 153 people, including 76 children; Margaret Moses was among those killed. Despite this tragedy,
the evacuations continued. Shaw paints a vivid picture of the desperation of the nurses and volunteers as they battled to obtain the necessary paperwork while the military situation imploded around them. By the time Saigon fell, some 2,900 children had been evacuated to America, 266
to Australia and 150 to the
UK, with possibly the same number to Europe. Against the odds and amidst the panic of the final days, Operation Babylift succeeded.
62 | November 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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