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In conventional terms, the task of Australia’s defence and national security apparatus is to protect national territory against any form of direct military attack. This task is usually taken to mean repelling an armed invasion of the continent although, in recent years, the possibility of a terrorist attack on Australia has become a factor in the public mind. In reality, Australia has never had to fear seriously the prospect of invasion. Even in 1942, the Japanese hesitated to invade Australia; today, only …

Contemporary military operations and the character of the emerging security environment have shown that full-scale mobilisation for the defence of the nation is much less likely in the early 21st century than it was in the 20th century. Indeed, the trend away from state-on-state, large-scale conflict began in the last century. From the time of the Korean War of 1950–53 through the Vietnam conflict of the 1960s and early 1970s to the current plethora of small-scale conflicts experienced at the beginning of …

Australian Military Logistics and Ships Taken up from Trade … Without it We're STUFT …

The Fragile Forts: The Fixed Defences of Sydney Harbour 1788–1963   Written by Peter Oppenheim, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, New South Wales, 2005, 326pp.   Reviewed by: Colonel Terry McCullagh, CSC, President, Royal Australian Artillery Association (ACT) The Fragile Forts is a joint publishing venture between the Australian Army History Unit and Australian Military History Publications and makes a valuable contribution to the rich history of the Sydney Harbour’s fixed defences. The …

Two Perspectives on a Trouble Future Empire Lite: Nation-Building in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan   Written by: Michael Ignatieff, Vintage Random House, London, 2003, ISBN: 9780099455431, 134pp.   Another Century of War?   Written by: Gabriel Kolko, The New Press, New York, 2002,  ISBN: 9781565847583, 165pp.   Reviewed by: Russell Parkin, Senior Research Fellow at the Land Warfare Studies Centre and co-editor of the AAJ In his essay An Agenda for the 21st Century (1987), the leading Mexican writer Carlos …

Inventing Anzac: The Digger and National Mythology   Written by: Graham Seal, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 2004, ISBN: 9780702234477, 232pp. Reviewed by: Captain Lachlan Mead, Headquarters 1 Brigade, Robertson Barracks In 1975 Paul Fussell opened what might be described as a new front in military studies with the publication of The Great War and Modern Memory . The book turned away from approaching World War I as a collection of grand campaigns directed by great generals, or as a clash of …

To The Editors Sirs I was pleased to hear that the Army is to receive a fine battle tank. Being a naval officer, my enthusiasm might come as a surprise to some people. Indeed, many observers did not share my satisfaction. Some critics questioned why the Australian Army needed tanks at all. They argued that we have not used tanks since Vietnam and that Asia is, in any event, not ideal tank terrain. The last point is contradicted by the reality of the Japanese advance in World War II down the Malayan …

Future War in Cities: Rethinking a Liberal Dilemma   Written by: Alice Hills, Frank Cass, London, 2004,  ISBN: 9780714684949, 285pp.   Review Essay by: Michael Evans In the Old Testament Book of Joshua, it is recorded that, when the Israelites took Jericho, ‘they utterly destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword’. This passage is a chilling reminder that human history has frequently witnessed war for, and in, cities—from the sack of …

Mesopotamia 1917–1920: A Clash of Loyalties—A Personal and Historical Record Written by: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Arnold T. Wilson, Oxford University Press, London, 1931, 323pp.   Review Essay by: Graeme Sligo Sir Arnold Wilson was a British political officer in the service of the Government of India during World War I. He published two volumes on his experiences in Mesopotamia between 1914 and 1920. The first volume covers military operations from 1914 to 1917, when the British captured Baghdad; the second, …

Major General William Joseph Watson, AO, MBE, MBBS, FRACMA (1924–2004) Major General William Joseph Watson, who died just three weeks short of his eightieth birthday, was widely recognised as the pre-eminent planner, designer and commander of Australian Army hospitals since World War II. He commanded two overseas military hospitals and a Field Ambulance, and later became the Director General of the Australian Army Health Services and the Medical Superintendent of the Calvary Hospital in Canberra. Watson …