At the Front Line: Experiences of Australian Soldiers in World War II

by Mark Johnston

• ISBN13: 9780521560375
• ISBN10: 0521560373
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-11-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This moving book examines Australian front-line soldiers' reactions to their ordeal in World War II. Based on the letters and diaries of more than 300 soldiers, its focus is the stress they faced and how they coped with it. Johnston paints a picture of survival and surrender in the surreal conditions in which these soldiers lived and fought.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	vii	(2)
List of Tables	ix	(1)
Acknowledgements	x	(2)
Conventions and Abbreviations	xii	(4)
Introduction	xvi
PART ONE: THE FRONT LINE	3	(88)
1 The Unnatural Life at the Front	3	(14)
2 Experiences of Fear and Death	17	(12)
3 Major Sources of Front-line Stress	29	(17)
4 When Fear Became Unbearable	46	(17)
5 Taking the Strains of the Front Line	63	(28)
PART TWO: THE ARMY WAY	91	(76)
6 Callous Bigwigs and Boredom	91	(13)
7 Army Muck--ups	104	(20)
8 Resentment of Inequality	124	(20)
9 Discipline and Making the Most of Army Life	144	(23)
PART THREE: MATES	167	(23)
10 A Band of Brothers?	167	(26)
11 Aftermath and Conclusions	193	(7)
Appendix A: Who Fought Where	200	(11)
Appendix B: Statistical Comparisons: Religion, Occupation, Residence	211	(3)
Notes	214	(23)
Bibliography	237	(15)
Index	252
MAPS	xxi	(1)
The Area of Australia's Campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean	xxi	(1)
The Area of Australia's Campaigns Against Japan	xxii