Toowoomba to Torokina

TOOWOOMBA TO TOROKINA, The 25th Battalion in peace and war, 1918-45

Bob Doneley

Big Sky Publishing, 2012, 358pp.

Having been born in Toowoomba, I was attracted by this book about the local Citizen Military Forces/Army Reserve unit, and found it enjoyable to read. Bob Doneley covers the difficult inter-war years in reasonable detail, and the wartime service of the battalion in Papua, New Guinea and Bougainville comprehensively.

Doneley’s discussion of the inter-war years focuses on the problems on maintaining unit strength and soldiers’ interest under financial restrictions. A familiar story (certainly to those involved with the reserve forces in the 1970s) is recounted of general stability among officers and senior non-commissioned officers, combined with high turnover of junior personnel. Many of the inter-war officers and NCOs, including one member of the Queensland Parliament, appear again in Papua or Bougainville.

As with many other CMF battalions, as well as supplying volunteers for the Second Australian Imperial Force, the 25th’s wartime service included a combination of extensive garrison duty and some active campaigning. The battalion served in action at Milne Bay in August/September 1942, and on Bougainville from November 1944. Its overseas garrison service was in Papua before and after Milne Bay, and for five months of 1944 at Madang, before moving to Bougainville.

The descriptions of the battles in which the 25th Battalion was involved are written at a fast pace. Doneley descriptions are of these engagements are clear and effective, and give a good understanding of the events. At Milne Bay, the battalion was perhaps fortunate not to have been heavily engaged until the Japanese approached Number 3 Strip, where the troops could bring the advancing Japanese under fire from prepared positions. The 25th Battalion lost eight men killed and ten wounded at Milne Bay. Two of the wounded subsequently died from their injuries.

The descriptions of the 25th Battalion’s actions on Bougainville take up about a third of the text. The battalion’s principal engagements during the Bougainville campaign were the capture of Pearl Ridge in December 1944/January 1945 and the defence of Slater’s Knoll (after which Corporal Reginald Rattey was awarded the Victoria Cross) in March/April 1945. Both actions showed the battalion to be well trained and effective.

The 25th Battalion was in constant contact with the Japanese between Pearl Ridge and Slater’s Knoll. That it did not suffer the morale, leadership and discipline problems experienced by the other battalions in the 7th Brigade might be credited to the leadership of its commander since January 1944, Lieutenant-Colonel John McKinna. However, some credit must also go to McKinna’s predecessor, Lieutenant-Colonel Ted Miles, who commanded the battalion from January 1942 until January 1944, including at Milne Bay.

Doneley misses an opportunity to give readers a feel for the wider impact of the war on Australia. He describes the action that led to the award of a Military Medal to Sergeant Stephen Sullivan, but could have mentioned that Sullivan was one of five brothers who served during the Second World War. All survived the war, although one was captured in North Africa, and another in Singapore.

The writing style can be somewhat eccentric. The sections dealing with training in Australia, particularly during the period between the wars, often seem like précis of unit training reports, while the sections on the battalion’s period on active service are written in a much livelier style. There are also some factual issues. As examples, the figures given on page 156 for Japanese losses during the battle of the Bismarck Sea are well above their actual losses, while the corvette De La Rone mentioned on page 186 was probably the Deloraine.

JOHN DONOVAN