Welcome

In 1942, with the Empire of Japan on the offensive, Britain’s own imperial possessions and allies in the Far East and the Pacific suddenly found themselves in the firing line of a new, perilous front.

Men from across Australia, who had already answered the call to arms, now found themselves facing a threat much closer to home. Outnumbered and in many cases outgunned, small Aussie units deployed on Timor, Guinea and elsewhere resorted to guerrilla tactics – using their bush craft and knowledge of the topography to harass the Japanese.

This issue, Dr Karl James of the Australian War Memorial explains how these guerrilla forces helped hold the empire’s frontline against all the odds.

Tim Williamson Editor-in-chief

Aussie ‘guerrillas’ utilise the landscape on Portuguese Timor to conduct ambushes