Australia’s great victory in a long forgotten battle

TO prove to my son that movies were better in the ’70s, I bought a DVD of the Steve McQueen classic, Bullitt.

Well, my son just couldn’t believe just how great the famous car chase sequence in the film was.

And that brings me to my query – Steve McQueen, as Lt Frank Bullitt, pursues the bad guys in a Ford Mustang, but what were the bad guys driving? – S.

McQueen drives a 1968 model Ford Mustang, and the baddies are in a 1968 Dodge Charger.

The sequence – without any dialogue, just the roar of the cars’ engines – was only added as an afterthought by director Peter Yates, but is regularly voted the best car chase in movie history.

However, the editing leaves a bit to be desired, as the Mustang appears to lose six hubcaps during the chase.

AHEAD of a trip there next year, I’ve been reading Bill Bryson’s Down Under, a book about his travels in Australia.

It’s very funny, and very informative, but he left me puzzled when he mentions that, during the Second World War, the Japanese were pushed back from invasion because of the American victory at the Battle Of Midway, and an Aussie success at Milne Bay.

I’ve never heard of Milne Bay, can you tell me about it, Queries Man? – I.

The two battles stopped Japan’s expansion in its tracks.

The more famous of the two actions, the Battle Of Midway, took place near Midway Atoll, a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

On June 4 to 7, the United States Navy inflicted irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet.

The Battle of Milne Bay took place a few weeks later, from August 25 to September 7.

At Milne Bay in Papua, (now Papua New Guinea) a mainly Australian force fought for two weeks to successfully defend a vital airstrip against a determined Japanese invasion. Crucially, the victorious Aussies were supported by two squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks.

Milne Bay received worldwide publicity at the time but, sadly, has since been largely forgotten.

Field Marshall Sir William Slim, Commander of Commonwealth forces in Burma said: “Of all the Allies, it was the Australians who first broke the spell of invincibility of the Japanese Army.”