In 1916, the British launched the now infamous Battle of the Somme. Three weeks after the opening of the battle, the high ground around a small village in French Picardy remained in German hands. In the AIF's first major assault on the Western Front, the task of seizing Pozieres fell on the 1st Australian Division. The 23rd July would mark the beginning of the battle which would incur the greatest loss of life in Australian military history.

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I recently interviewed Roland Perry about his new book Oliphant, the biography of arguably Australia's greatest mind and a man who played an instrumental role in the defeat of both Nazi Germany and Japan.

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With the capture of Magdhaba and with El Arish more or less secured, the Desert Column was poised to leave the Sinai behind and entre Palestine. There was only one potential threat to that advance, the old Egyptian police post of Rafa. This strong defensive position gave the Turks better access to water than the British and Commonwealth forces could muster and so at the start of the day, the Turks held all the aces, unless of course they didn't know the attack was coming.

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Start Digging You Bastards is the new book from Tom Gilling, following the deeds of the Australian 9th Division during the Battle of El Alamein. This month I interview Tom about El Alamein and the Australian's role in the "Turning Point of the War."

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Something different this month as this is a topic I knew absolutely nothing about. Fortunately, someone who does know all about it is Edmund Goldrick, whose dulcet tones you will get to enjoy instead of my usual droning. Enjoy

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At the outbreak of the Korean War, the 77th Squadron were just packing up to leave Japan after five years with the occupation forces. Within a week they were flying their first combat mission of the war and would go on to forge a reputation as an effective fighting force, which the Commanding Officer of the US 5th Airforce said "set the pace".

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The Japanese thrust had managed to drive a wedge between the 24th Brigade and the 20th Brigade of the 9th Division. But the fighting had left the Japanese battered and unable to launch a coordinated follow up attack. Over the following days, the Australians would regroup and reinforce with the intention re-establishing their defensive line and pushing the Japanese back in preparation for the attack on Sattelberg. But the Japanese have never been known for giving up without a fight. It would take hard fighting to shift them from their hard earned positions.

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Having been forced out of Finschhafen and Jivevaneng, the Japanese forces on the Huon Peninsula launched a counter-attack, aimed at recapturing the Australian-held Scarlett Beach. This is where stores and reinforcements were being landed by the Australian and American forces. Lose Scarlett Beach and the entire area would become precarious. Fortunately, a plan of the coming offensive had been discovered on a dead Japanese officer and so General Wootten knew roughly where and when things were going to happen. But knowing this, and being able to do something about it, were two completely different things. His already stretched 9 Division would be severely tested.

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With the fall of Finshhafen, the 20th Brigade of the 9th Division was keen to push on to their next major objective in the Huon Peninsula campaign; Sattelberg. It appeared that the Japanese who had retreated were all heading in that direction, so all haste was needed in order to prevent them from settling in. Unfortunately, the areas which the Brigade had already seized were only thinly held and far from secure. Support was coming in the form of one battalion from the 24th Brigade, but until they arrived no proper offensive action could be undertaken. Meanwhile the Japanese were hatching plans to retake all that they had lost. The question of supply would decide the fate of the whole campaign.

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Born in New Zealand, Nancy Wake grew up in Australia. At her first opportunity she took off overseas and, after training as a journalist, found herself with a front row seat to the rise of Nazi Germany. When war broke out and Germany captured Paris and Northern France, Nancy and her husband went to work helping Allied soldiers flee occupied France to England. In the process Nancy became the Gestapo's most wanted operative. Forced to flee, leaving behind her husband, Nancy arrived in England and joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE). There she began to really make trouble for the Germans, including an epic bicycle ride that would go down in history as one of the most audacious acts of the French resistance during the war.

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With the initial attack halted, the men of the 5th Australian Division set about holding onto what they had managed to take. But confusion and lack of communication meant that the commanders back from the fighting didn't fully understand the situation. In ignorance of the true situation further attacks were ordered, then cancelled. But the battered 15th Brigade didn't get notified of the cancellation until it was too late. 

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With all the planning done and dusted, there was nothing left to do except get going. The British 183rd and 184th Divisions, forming the right flank of the attack went forward and were almost immediately stopped in their tracks. The next in line was the Australian 15th Brigade, whose task was to attack the underside of the Sugarloaf. The preparatory bombardment had inflicted no serious damage on the Sugarloaf and the 15th would bear the brunt of the fire coming from that position. The 14th and then the 8th Brigades, further along to the left had some limited success, but time and manpower were wasted searching for the German second line trench.

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On 1st July 1916, General Haig launched his now infamous Somme Offensive. The opening days had been disastrous and something needed to be done to assist the British troops currently struggling against the strong German defence. To the north of the Somme, a salient jutting into the British lines, just near the little village of Fromelles. It was decided that a strong demonstration here would prevent the Germans from moving troops to the south to reinforce on the Somme.

And so a demonstration was planned, and then cancelled, and then reinstated but with a different objective, then back to the original plan, but not yet, to then suddenly be urgent. Such was the back and forth and changing of plans that became the Battle of Fromelles.

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In this episode I am talking with Mal Murray, Peter Harrower and Jim Smith, veterans of the fighting at Fire Support Base Coral. No more needs to be said. Enjoy.

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In January 1968, the North Vietnamese Forces launched the Tet Offensive. They suffered server casualties during the opening phases of this attack and to replenish their forces, they required uninterrupted infiltration routes. Obviously, Western Forces, including Australians, didn't want this to happen. So in May troops from 1RAR, with Australian and New Zealand artillery, were sent out to establish Fire Support Base Coral. The Vietnamese forces hit Coral before the defenders were properly prepared and an epic battle ensued. Shortly after that, 3RAR went further afield to establish Fire Support Base Balmoral. They also came under heavy attack. Between them, these twin battles would become Australia's most intense and most costly battle of the Vietnam War.

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After the evacuation of Greece, New Zealand, British and Australian troops prepared to defend the airfields of Crete. The Australians concentrated on the central area of the island, with the 2/1st and 2/11th Battalions responsible for the defence of the airfield at Retimo. When German paratroopers began to fall from the sky on the 20th May 1941, it signaled the beginning of several days of hard, bitter fighting as the Allied forces attempted to deprive Germany of yet another conquest.

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As the fighting at Pinios Gorge was reaching its peak, the majority of W Force moved back through Larissa heading for the next defensive position on the Thermopylae - Brallos Pass Line. Initially, this line was where the Allied Forces planned to halt the German advance through Greece, however the situation soon changed and the stand along this line was now responsible for delaying the German advance long enough for W Force to be evacuated from Greece. Fail and the entire force would be captured and any further attempt to stop the Germans in this theatre would be lost.

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