Brisbane Boys' College Library: Year 10: Term 3: Australia and the Pacific War

Oliver Library Catalogue

Oliver Library Catalogue

Oliver Library Catalogue
Look here for books, eBooks, DVDs and webs

General Resources

The Anzac Portal: Australia and the Second World War

Australian War Memorial: Encyclopedia
Look up your particular topic here.

RSL NSW: Australian involvement in the Second World War

Australian Bureau of Statistics: Australians at War : WW2
Scroll down the page to the information on WWII.

The Pacific War
An American EBOOK which uncovers the whys--the strategies, politics, and personalities that made things happen as they did in the Pacific War.

Includes: Pearl Harbour, Midway, The Defence of Australia (from US perspective), Guadalcanal, Papua and New Guinea, Submarines, Philippines, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japanese surrender.

Invasion of Australia Threat by Japan, 1942

Invasion 1942? Australia and the Japanese Threat
The Brisbane Line
Article purchased ($48) from Taylor and Francis Online, published by Journal of Australian Studies.

Scorched Earth Policy : Historian Sue Rosen
In 2017, Historian Sue Rosen found documents regarding the ‘Scorched Earth’ policy which details the preparations for the event of a Japanese invasion of Australia in 1942. Primary Sources included.

Australian War Memorial: Stolen Years - Australian Prisoners of War

The Anzac Portal: The Thai-Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass
Australian War Memorial: Prisoners of the Japanese
Click on the links at the bottom of the page.

Australian War Memorial: Australian prisoners of war: Second World War - Prisoners of the Japanese
Click on the links at the bottom.

Australian War Memorial: General Information About the Australian Prisoners of the Japanese

Prisoners of the Japanese

History.net: Cuture of cruelty

Japanese Treatment of POWs

Prisoners of War of the Japanese 1939-1945

Why Were the Japanese Army So Brutal?

Changi

One man who did much to improve the survival rate of prisoners in Changi was the Australian Army doctor Major Arthur Moon.

Prisoners of War
Chapter from the book: A people's experience of 20th century Australia - by D.McKinlay
Prisoners of War
From 'A People's Experience of 20th Century Australia', by David McKinlay. Scanned under licence.
The influence of Bushido: Why Japanese officers drove POWs to work unreasonably hard
From the book: Railwaymen in the War: Tales by Japanese Railway Soldiers in Burma and Thailand 1941–4. Author: Kazuo Tamayama, Written in 2005. Publisher - Palgrave Macmillan.
The Weekend Australian: Powerful history shines a light on wartime slavery
From 17 April 2021.

Herald Sun: The Forgotten History of Australia's prisoner-of-war Camps

Digger History: POWs in OZ - Jews, Italians and Japanese

National Archives of Australia: Wartime Internment

Trove: Jap Prisoners' Diet Problem

Cowra Breakout
Anzac Day Commemoration Committee: The Cowra Breakout

ABC-NET: POWs and Families Mark the 70th Anniversary of the Cowra Breakout

Australian War Memorial: Cowra Breakout

NSW Education Dept.: Internees and POWs in Australia during WWII
Check on left column under 'Japanese Prisoners and the Cowra Breakout'

ABC News: Former Japanese prisoner of war shares lesson from the Cowra breakout, 75 years on

Australian War Memorial: The Prison Break at Cowra, August 1944

Australian Geographic: On This Day - Australia's Biggest Prison Breakout

The Home Front

Queensland Government: Homefront

State Library of Victoria: Home WWII

The Anzac Portal: 'All in' - The Australian homefront 1939-1945

Includes primary source information

Australian War Memorial: Home front: Second World War

ABC Education:Growing up during World War II

Education ABC.net: The Home Front - History
Click on 'Chapter 1', 'Chapter 2' etc.

Skwirk: The Australian Home Front

State Library of Victoria: Roles for Women in WWII

The Americans in Brisbane

State Library of Queensland: WWII Servicemen in Australia - The Known and the Unknown

Australian War Memorial: United States Forces in Australia

Daily Mail Australia: Beer-drinking, beef-eating tough guys who gamble on ANYTHING: Fascinating World War II handbook reveals what American soldiers were told to expect in Australia

Britannica.com: Battle of Brisbane

State Library of Victoria: Americans in Australia in WWII

Global Security.org: The Brisbane Line

How to Write Introductory Paragraphs

How to Write an Introductory Paragraph

Essay Template for Writing the Essay

Essay Template for Writing the Essay
Save this Word document and write your essay within its guidelines, then later copy your content out into a normal Word document.

Map of the Japanese Expansion in the Pacific War

Pacific War Conflicts / Campaigns

Smithsonian: Complicated Leadup to Pearl Harbour

USC News: 75 Years Later, What is the Legacy of Pearl Harbour?

Institute of World Politics: The Impact of Pearl Harbour on America

Ohio & Miami Universities: December, 1941 - Pearl Harbour

Modern History Sourcebook: Pearl Harbour Attack Documents, 1941

Pearl Harbour Attack
From From: "Battles that Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict", by Spencer Tucker, Publisher: ABC-Clio, 2011.

Raymond Callahan, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science and the author of “The Worst Disaster: The Fall of Singapore,” has stated: “The fall of Singapore was a pivotal event with enormous consequences. Not only was it a military defeat, it was a shattering blow to Great Britain’s prestige and marked the decline of the Western era in Southeast Asia, which ended when the last helicopter left Saigon".

Skwirk: The Fall of Singapore

HistoryLearning site: The Fall of Singapore

National Museum of Australia: The Fall of Singapore

Australia Great War: The Fall of Singapore

ABC News: Fall of Singapore Anniversary: How a Military Defeat Changed Australia

National Geographic: On This Day - The Fall of Singapore

National Archives of Australia: Bombing of Darwin
Skwirk: Bombing of Darwin
Australian National Maritime Museum: The Bombing of Darwin
Battle for Australia Association: The Bombing of Darwin
Sydney Morning Herald: The Day That Changed Australia
The Australian: The Bombing of Darwin Taught us Fear

Attack on Darwin
From 'A People's Experience of 20th Century Australia', by David McKinlay. Scanned under licence.

The Battle of the Coral Sea is unique in the annals of naval history. It is the first battle in which enemy fleets never came within sight of one another. Instead, aircraft launched from carrier decks were sent out to attack the enemy with bombs and torpedoes.

Australian War Memorial: Battle of the Coral Sea

Royal Australian Navy: Battle of the Coral Sea

ANZAC Portal: Battle of the Coral Sea

Pacific War.org: Battle of the Coral Sea

Ohio University: Battle of the Coral Sea

University of San Diego: Battle of the Coral Sea

Anzac Portal: Kokoda Track

Skwirk: Kokoda

Australian War Memorial: Kokoda Track

Australian Army: Kokoda Track

Warfare History: Trail of Death - WWII's Kokoda Track Campaign

Daily Telegraph: Kokoda Campaign: Surviving Veterans Share Their Triumphs and Horrors in Jungle Warfare

Kokoda
From 'A People's Experience of 20th Century Australia', by David McKinlay. Scanned under licence.

On February 19, 1945, nearly 70,000 American marines invaded a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific. Over the next thirty-five days, approximately 28,000 combatants died, including nearly 22,000 Japanese and 6,821 Americans, making Iwo Jima one of the costliest battles of World War II.

History.com: Iwo Jima

History.Net: Worth the Cost? Justification of the Iwo Jima Invasion

Quora: What Was the Significance of Iwo Jima?

Military Battle.org: Battle of Iwo Jima

Britannica: Battle of Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima
Graphic novel of the Battle of Iwo Jima is detailed, from its genesis in Japanese territorial expansion in the early 1930s, to Japan's signing of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States's entry into World War II. The ensuing battle in the Pacific is examined, including the invasion of the strategically important island and the fierce fighting to win its control.

Pacific War Leaders

A reexamination of Emperor Hirohito's Military and Political Role

History.com: Hirohito

J ohn.Curtin.edu.au: John Curtin

The Australian: John Curtin Argued the Cause of Putting Australia's Defence First

John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library: Biography of John Curtin

Skwirk: John Curtin

Museum of Australian Democracy: John Curtin

National Museum of Australia: John Curtin

National Archives of Australia: John Curtin

John.Curtin.edu.au: Robert Menzies

World War II Database: Robert Menzies

Australian War Memorial: Prime Minister Robert Menzies - Wartime Broadcast

John Curtin.edu.au: Menzies and Curtin - A Comparative Essay

Menzies 1941 Diary: Japan

National Museum of Australia: Robert Menzies

Pacific War.org.au: Macarthur - A Flawed General - Takes Control of Australia's Defences

Australian Dictionary of Biography: Douglas Macarthur

University of Sydney: American Caesar - Douglas Macarthur (Part I)

University of Sydney: American Caesar - Douglas Macarthur (Part II)

Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Douglas Macarthur

Yamamoto Isoroku
Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku was the defining Japanese naval commander of World War II. Despite the success of his daring pre-emptive strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941, that damaged the US Pacific Fleet and ushered in the Pacific War, Yamamoto's subsequent handling of the Japanese combined fleet can be called into question. The final campaign commanded by Yamamoto was that around Guadalcanal, where Yamamoto's myth of excellence will be totally laid bare.

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: Isoroku Yamamoto

Darwin Military Museum: The Life and Death of Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral Yamamoto

New York Times: A Reluctant Enemy

World War II Database: Isoroku Yamamoto

Pacific War.org.au: Admiral Yamamoto Saves Australia

History.com: Isoroku Yamamoto - Japan's Mastermind of the Pearl Harbour Attack

Warfare History Network: Admiral Yamamoto - Japan's Naval War Leader

Kamikaze Pilots

Kamikaze: To die for the Emperor
EBOOK - Engaging and often incredibly disturbing history of the Kamikaze tradition in Japanese culture, right back to the original Divine Wind (major natural typhoons) that saved Japan from invaders in ancient history.
Kamikaze: Japanese special attack weapons 1944-45
EBOOK - Kamikaze attacks initially consisted of crude improvisations of conventional aircraft fitted with high-explosive bombs that could be crashed into US warships. Called "Divine Wind" (Kamikaze), the special attack formations first saw action in 1944, and became the scourge of the US fleet in the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.

WarHistoryOnline: Japan's Deadly WWII Kamikaze

University of Chicago Press: Kamikaze Diaries - Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers

Wesleyan University: Kamikaze Images
Check the links on the left for both American views and Japanese views of the Kamikaze pilots.

HistoryLearningsite: Kamikazes and World War II

What happened when a Kamikaze pilot returned?

Internment of Japanese-Australians

Queensland Government: Internment

National Archives of Australia: Wartime internment camps in Australia

Australian War Memorial: Enemy aliens and POWs

Internment in South Australia and the Loveday camp

Barmera Tourism: Loveday internment camps

State Library of Victoria: Refugee internment

The Rape of Nanking

What was the significance of the Nanking Massacre in the context of World War II?

Why was the Japanese army so brutal?

Project Muse: The Rape of Nanking

History.com: The Rape of Nanking

University of California (Santa Barbera): The Rape of Nanking
Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Stanford University: The Rape of Nanking

The History Place: The Rape of Nanking

The Rape of Nanking: the History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre During the Second Sino-Japanese War
A print Library book (951.04 CHA) about the notorious massacre of the Rape of Nanking, one of the most notorious events of the 20th century.

Japanese Militarism

How to Use Signal or Linking Words to Construct an Essay

Sample Signal or Linking Words for Your Essay
Your essay needs to flow in a cohesive, united way, and these signal or linking words will be enormously helpful.

Possible Hypotheses

Possible Hypotheses

How to Write In-Text References for Humanities

How to write in-text references for Humanities

ONESearch

The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.

Databases

Britannica Online
A great general encyclopedia, especially for Middle School, this is the largest, most authoritative encyclopedia in the world. Beside topical articles, it includes maps, photos, illustrations, videos, multimedia clips, and yearbooks from 1993 onward.
Gale World History in Context
Combining outstanding primary and secondary historical sources with great multimedia, World History In Context reaches back nearly 5,000 years to chronicle the rise and fall of cultures and societies across all continents and eras. Rare primary sources combine with reliable references to put content into context for every learner.
History Reference Center
Features full text for more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers.

Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima
EBOOK which describes how the Japanese city of Hiroshima became the target of the world's first nuclear attack, explaining the development of the atomic bomb, the nuclear arms race that followed, and the city's legacy as a peace memorial.
Hiroshima: The world's bomb
EBOOK which shows the bomb dropped by a US pilot that hot August morning in 1945 was in many ways the world's offspring, in both a technological and a moral sense. And it was the world that would have to face its consequences, strategically, diplomatically, and culturally, in the years ahead.

The Australian: Those atomic bombs saved so many Japanese lives
Article choosing the 'pro' perspective about dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. The Australian newspaper, Friday 7 August 2020.

Hiroshima
Article from ebook "Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity", by Dinah L. Shelton, ed. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Scanned under licence.

History Hit: What Were the Long-Term Effects of the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

National Security Archive: The Atomic Bomb and the End of WWII

Washington State University: History and Global Effects of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bombings

Washington State University: The Effect of the Atomic Bombs Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Pacific War.org.au: Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan in 1945 Justifiable?

BBC: Was it Right to Bomb Hiroshima?

Washington Post: Truman Was Right to Use the Bomb on Japan

HistoryExtra.com: Was the US Justified in Dropping the Bomb on Japan?

Georgetown University Library: Dropping the Atomic Bomb - Primary Sources

National Security Archive: The Atom Bomb and the End of WWII - A Collection of Primary Sources

Public Enemy Number 1 : Hiroshima

The War in the Pacific

Primary Sources

Trove Newspapers
Trove provides access to primary source materials from Australian newspapers – mostly 1803 to 1954, and the full text of the Australian Women’s Weekly from 1933 to 1982.
Australian Screen
Australian Screen provides access to a number of primary source clips from film and television. See below examples of the Pacific War news items.

National Archives of Australia
Specify World War II and click on 'Browse' to access a range of primary sources including:

Cablegram from Curtin to Churchill about the defence of Singapore – 17 January 1942

Churchill on the return of Australian troops to defend Australia – 27 January 1942

Examples of In-Text and End-Text Referencing

Referencing Examples

Some Possible Key Questions

Why were Australians afraid of invasion by Japan, and were these fears justified?
What made the Japanese military so fearsome during the Pacific War?
What role did Brisbane play in the Pacific War?
Was 'island-hopping' the right strategy to fight the Japanese?
How effective was the military leadership of Macarthur?
How effective was the military leadership of Nimitz?
Compare the way Japanese POWs in Australia and Australian POWs in Asia were treated.
How important was Emperor Hirohito's role in the Pacific War?
Why is Yamamoto a revered Japanese military leader?
What were Kamikaze attacks, and how effective were they as a military tactic?
How effective was John Curtin's leadership of Australia during the war?
How effective were the policies which the Curtin government implemented after 1942?
What were Australian-American relationships like during the war?
Why was conscription a divisive issue in Australia during the Pacific War?
What impact did the war have on the role of Australian women?
What does 'turning the tide' in the Pacific War refer to, and how was it achieved?
What was the Manhattan Project, and how effective was it?
Was the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?