Media: DATA CD - 1 CD (174 pages)
Year: (1944) 2009
ISBN: 9781742226552
Publisher: Archive Digital Books Australasia

Featured here are the members of the Volunteer Defence Corps and their achievements during the four years since the Corps establishment.

The VDC was composed mainly “of veterans of the First A.I.F., as well as of younger men in reserved occupations and essential industries who were debarred from joining the fighting forces”. This book tells of their doings in all parts of Australia – a book written from their own experiences. It also includes an official account of the reasons leading to the formation of the VDC and its role in the Australian Military Forces. As with the other books in the series the authors are acknowledged only by their army service number.

When War Came to the Gulf (by Q140103), tells the story of the day when one detachment thought they were in for some real action:

On the 29th March, 1942, the Karumba detachment, V.D.C., went out to resist a Japanese landing on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria—but the "Japs" were only some Dutchmen and a handful of A.I.F.

Another story (Part-time Soldiers Helped Hold Japs in New Guinea) on the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, shows how a volunteer force could perform vital military service:

With the fall of Rabaul heavy raids continued on the New Guinea mainland , which was obviously next on the roster of the Japanese military plans ; and the first important task of the N.G.V.R. was to see to the evacuation of women , children, and all civilian men either too old or unfit for military service. The N.G.V.R. performed a magnificent task in assembling refugees at stated points, caring for the sick and wounded, in finding routes by which they could cross the mountains to safety, and in arranging for air transportation to get them away.

There is an excellent selection of colour and black and white photographs and sketches highlighting people and places. It is a valuable resource and a great read for all interested in naval history.

This CD contains high quality scanned images of the original book, and has been bookmarked for easy navigation. Pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Any computer using Adobe (Acrobat) Reader 4 or later
Adobe Reader 6 or later is recommended for CDs with searchable text