"Jungle Warfare"; with the Australian Army in the South-west Pacific, 1944

"Jungle Warfare"; with the Australian Army in the South-west Pacific, 1944
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E D I T 0 R I A L N 0 T E
Most of the items in this volume were received in a competition for stories, verse, and black and white drawings. All members of the Australian Army except those of the Military History Section, who nevertheless made important contributions to the book, were eligible to enter. A noteworthy feature of the competition was that the Women's Services were better represented than hitherto, and the story of the Army has gained in interest as a result. All competitors were required to make a declaration that their entries were their own work and had not been published. Once again the native ingenuity of the front-line soldier in improvising means of transporting his contribution was apparent. One sketch arrived in a length of tired bamboo; another in a metal ammunition cylinder, produced in Japan for a somewhat different purpose. One of the Editors' chief difficulties has always been to select the title. There was no dearth of suggestions-humorous, prophetic, and alliterative, and ranging this year from "Onward Christian Soldiers" to "Jeeps, Japs, and Jungle Juice". Titles selected in the past have been broadly descriptive of the year. In 1941 the Army was on "Active Service". In 1942 it was "Soldiering On". In 1943 it fought in the Middle East and in New Guinea in "Khaki and Green". For a time "The Rising Sun" - symbolic of the great change in our fortunes and of dawning victory - was a tentative choice for this year's book. This gave way to "Slouch Hats" inspired by the fact that in 1944 Australian infantry fought again in the familiar digger headwear. Finally, "Jungle Warfare" was chosen. The composition of the Australian Army is illustrated in the end papers. They show the types of units which make up the Australian Army and are an interesting commentary on the complexity of modern war. Designations used are in the abbreviated Army form, and this nominal roll of the Army may prove to be not the least interesting feature of the book. In making acknowledgment the policy adopted when "Active Service" was being prepared in the Middle East in 1941, and followed in succeeding books, has been retained. Its purpose is to avoid deflecting to individuals attention which they would prefer should be focused on their unit as a whole.

Acknowledgment to contributors is made to the member's Army number - a form more individual and personal than initials or a nom-de-plume, and one which enables the author's work to be recognized by his mates and his relatives and friends.

The Editors believe that contributors as members have something like affection for their Army number the one thing given to them by the Army which is their own possession, something which the private holds in common with the Commander-in-Chief, something more exclusive than the owner's surname.

In illustration of this, the Editors feel that the following incident is worthy of note. There is beside the Dog River near Beirut, a rocky cliff on which from time immemorial the conquerors of Syria - from Rameses and Nebuchadnezzar to Allenby and Chauvel - have recorded their victories. Shortly before the Australians left the Middle East in 1942 one of them was instructed to cut in the face of the cliff an inscription commemorating the freeing of Syria and the Lebanons in 1941. When, with hand-made tools forged on the spot, he had completed his task, the Australian soldier felt the urge of the craftsman to associate himself with his handiwork. He cut in a corner of the rock face, away from the inscription, not his name, nor his unit, but his Army number.

To those who submitted contributions, whether used or not, the Editors offer their grateful thanks for assistance without which the book could not have been prepared.

The Editors

HEADQUARTERS,

ALLIED LAND FORCES,

SOUTH WEST PACIFIC AREA.

"JUNGLE WARFARE" is the fourth book in this series presented by the Australian Army to the people at home during this war. As its title implies, it tells the story of military operations in the jungle and kunai, mountains and swamps of New Guinea. There the terrain and climate gave to the fighting a character of its own unlike anything experienced by Australians previously and never-to-be forgotten by those who took part in it.

This volume is concerned with the services of the Australian Army during the past twelve months. Few references will be found in it to our comrades-in-arms of the United Nations. We should, however, like to record our admiration of the great and decisive victories won during this period by the forces of the British Empire, the United States, Russia, and China, aided by the free men of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Greece, and Yugoslavia who, when their countries were overrun by the German hordes, left their homelands to continue the struggle by the side of their allies.

Since Japan entered the war global strategy has required that, while the coup-de-grace was being prepared and delivered to the Germans, the Australian Army, in co-operation with our sister-Services - the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force - and with the forces of the United States and the Netherlands East Indies, should hold the fort in this distant theatre. This we have not only succeeded in doing but we have won important victories of our own, an account of which will be found in the following pages.

Of the large number of copies of these books which is printed nearly all are sent by members to their families and to their friends. To them we send also our best wishes and our gratitude for their confidence and their unwavering support. With them we rejoice that the tide has turned and is now bearing us steadily to the successful conclusion of the war. Hard fighting and great sacrifices still lie ahead, but if we pursue the war with determination, with unity and with singleness of purpose, complete victory of our arms is certain.


	General, Commander-in-Chief, Australian Military Forces.