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The Lost Battalions (Unabridged)
A battle that could not be won. An island that could not be defended. An ally that could not be trusted. They were thrown into a hopeless fight against an overwhelming enemy.
About The Lost Battalions (Unabridged)
A battle that could not be won. An island that could not be defended. An ally that could not be trusted.
They were thrown into a hopeless fight against an overwhelming enemy. Later, hundreds died as prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma Railway and in the freezing coal mines of Taiwan and Japan. Through it all, wrote Weary Dunlop, they showed ‘fortitude beyond anything I could have believed possible’.
Until now, the story of the 2000 diggers marooned on Java in February 1942 has been a footnote to the fall of Singapore and the bloody campaign in New Guinea. Led by an Adelaide lawyer, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC, and fighting with scrounged weapons, two Australian battalions – plus an assortment of cooks, laundrymen and deserters from Singapore – held up the might of the Imperial Japanese Army until ordered by their Dutch allies to surrender.
Drawing on personal diaries, official records and interviews with two of the last living survivors, this book tells the extraordinary story of the ‘lads from Java’, who laid down their weapons, but refused to give in.
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The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) is available as an audiobook on Apple Books. We haven't confirmed it on Spotify yet — but you can still search there below.
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More by Tom Gilling
The Witness: The Fighting Had Ended but for Sandakan’s Most Notorious Prisoner the War Was Not Over (Unabridged)
Start Digging, You Bastards!: Australian and New Zealand Forces' Desperate Battle with Rommel and the Axis at El Alamein (Unabridged)
Bastard Behind the Lines: The extraordinary story of Jock McLaren's escape from Sandakan and his guerrilla war against the Japanese (Unabridged)
The Sooterkin
The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) — frequently asked
- Is The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) on Spotify?
- We haven't confirmed The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) on Spotify's audiobook catalog yet. Spotify audiobooks are included with Premium (up to a monthly listening limit) in supported markets.
- Is The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) on Apple Books?
- Yes — The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) is available as an audiobook on Apple Books.
- Who wrote The Lost Battalions (Unabridged)?
- The Lost Battalions (Unabridged) is by Tom Gilling.
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