Darkest Hour: The True Story of Lark Force at Rabaul - Australia's Worst Military Disaster of World War II
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From the book:Concealed behind coconut log fortifications, the Australians could clearly hear the rumble of diesel motors and the scrape of steel hulls on coral. John N. Jones, a twenty-three-year-old corporal from New South Wales, was patrolling the perimeter at 0225 when he saw the barge-like landing craft approaching the beach, their silhouettes faintly backlit by the fires burning in Rabaul. The first boatload displayed remarkably poor discipline. Some of the Japanese were talking, others laughing, and one even shined a flashlight. Jones pointed a Very pistol skyward and pulled the trigger.Seconds later, the flare cast a bright light over the beach, catching the Japanese troops by surprise. “We allowed most of them to get out of the boats,” recalled Kenneth G. Hale, another corporal in A Company, “and then fired everything we had.”The Australians cut loose with a withering blast. The staccato chatter of machine guns and the popping of Enfield rifles blended into a solid roar. Some of the newly delivered Thompson submachine guns added their distinctive rattle, and Captain Matheson’s antitank guns joined in with a nasty whip-crack. Lost among all the gunfire was the metallic thumping of mortar rounds leaving their tubes. Additional flares whooshed skyward, lighting up the beach just as the mortar shells began to land near the barbed wire. The Japanese, thrown into disarray by the explosions and concentrated firepower, twice attempted to rush the wire and twice were driven back.
Contents AcknowledgmentsPrologueChapter 1—DiggersChapter 2—Evil SpiritsChapter 3—Hostages to FortuneChapter 4—Prelude to an InvasionChapter 5—ChaosChapter 6—Vigorous Youth from ShikokuChapter 7—Every Man for HimselfChapter 8—You Will Only DieChapter 9—TolChapter 10—Escape: The Lakatoi Chapter 11—Escape: The LaurabadaChapter 12—OutcryChapter 13—Inside the FortressChapter 14—Cruel FatesChapter 15—The Long WaitEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex
