The Australians at Rabaul: The History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918
Australian History Colonial History Naval History Military History World War I Pacific Theater Official History Campaign Narrative
The Australians at Rabaul is the gripping, long-out-of-print Volume X of the official “History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918,” and this 1993 paperback re-issue puts the campaign back in collectors’ hands. In 412 tightly-written pages, Colonel S. S. Mackenzie traces how the first Australian troops of the war seized Germany’s key Pacific wireless station at Rabaul, only to be swallowed by an overlooked sideshow of trench warfare, jungle disease and naval siege that cost more lives than Gallipoli’s first month. Drawing on operations maps, unit diaries and eyewitness statements, the narrative moves from the dramatic cruiser duel off the Bismarcks to the surrender of the Kaiser’s colonial governor, giving the only comprehensive Australian account of the 1914-1915 occupation that secured the Southwest Pacific for the Allies.
What makes this edition especially desirable is its condition: a crisp, unmarked copy from a smoke-free home, free of the cracked spines and foxing that plague earlier 1920s printings. Military historians prize Mackenzie’s level of detail—down to the serial numbers of the 6-inch guns the Australians salvaged—while family researchers value the nominal rolls that list every AN&MEF casualty by name. The 1993 reprint corrects typographical errors found in the original without sacrificing the 38 battle maps and fold-out harbour chart, all reproduced at full scale for wargamers and battlefield tourists.
Collectors searching for “Australian military history Rabaul,” “AN&MEF campaign book,” or “Volume 10 Official History Australia WW1” will find this single-volume paperback the most shelf-friendly and affordable entry point into a campaign that shaped Australia’s early national identity. With interest in the Pacific War centenary surging, clean copies are disappearing fast; securing this very-good-condition example now ensures both a readable reference and a solid investment piece that routinely outperforms general WW1 titles in the second-hand market.
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