39th (Militia) Battalion
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The 39th Militia Battalion's deeds are well known in Australia but the actual battalion itself is largely forgotten. The 39th played a crucial role along the infamous Kokoda Track during the Second World War.
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Battalion History
Training
The Battalion was raised in Victoria (Australia) in late 1941 and apart from a few old vets mostly consisted of young boys aged 18 or 19 years of age. The unit was raised hastily and received poor training and equipment. The unit arrived in Port Moresby only weeks after the start of the Pacific War and instead of receiving much needed further training the 39th was used for months to build defences and unload ships. In evaluations of units the 39th received the lowest possible score and was deemed to have not completed training. It is perhaps a historical irony that during Australia's darkest days the front was manned by what were seen as the worst units.
Macarthur
After MacArthur arrived in Australia he continued the Australian policy of planning to fight the Japanese to Australia's north, a policy which he would later take credit for. Macarthur refused to believe any intelligence that stated the Japanese were going to make a push for Port Moresby over the Owen Stanley Ranges. He especially refused to believe this intel if it came from Australian sources, a bias he was to continue for quite a long time. Macarthur looked at the maps, many of which were innacurate or just plain wrong, and decided that it would be impossible for the Japanese to mount an attack over the ranges.
In a strange decision then he ordered the Australian forces to cross the same mountains and hold the Japanese. He believed that only a few militia battalions would be needed to defeat the Japanese as his American and Australian intelligence sources had greatly underestimated the Japanese strength, the US sources more so. For the rest of the battle Macarthur would only believe intelligence he received from US sources which would continue to greatly underestimate the Japanese's strength. This would greatly colour his relationship with the Australians under his command in the following months as he repeatedly stated that they were being defeated by inferior numbers of Japanese. In fact, most battles the 39th engaged in along the Kokoda Track saw them with at least a 4 to 1 disadvantage and at times a 10 to 1 disadvantage in numbers.
Books
One of Australia's most popular historians on the 39th and/or the Kokoda Track campaign is Peter Prune, author of such books as Those Ragged Bloody Heroes, A Bastard of a Place and The Spell Broken.
