Australia’s Coastal War
When World War Two Reached Our Shores
By Tom Lewis 
Published by Big Sky Publishing
RRP $34.99 in Paperback
ISBN 9781923300835

For acclaimed military historian Dr Tom Lewis, OAM, this book represented an opportunity to ‘sweep up’ his 40 years of research and work into regional Australian military history into one work. With the vast scope of this undertaking, only essential details have been included as he lays out the full scale of World War II’s forgotten battles along our coastline. 

From German surface raiders laying deadly mines to Japanese submarines prowling offshore and enemy aircraft launching hundreds of attacks, the war on the coast stretched across thousands of kilometres—from Darwin to Hobart, from Townsville to Melbourne. 

There are well-known events such as the sinking of the cruiser HMAS Sydney by the German raider Kormoran, with the loss of 645 lives and the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour but Lewis explores other less well-known events that brought the war far closer to home than many Australians realise. 

An interesting point: the excellent appendices provide the type of detail many readers will be keen to peruse. 

In all, one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-two individual attacks took place, counting every enemy aircraft, submarine and ship action. 

Four thousand, seven hundred and twelve deaths was the human cost on the Allied side (not all Australians). 

In the end, writes Lewis, the coastal war came close to crippling Australia. It was Allied victory in the battle of the Coral Sea that turned the tide. 

And yet, until recent times, knowledge of Australia’s coastal war was scant. In publishing this book, Lewis has filled a huge gap in our historical knowledge. 

VERDICT: For readers of Australian military history, this is a book that must be on your bookshelf. Highly recommended.

*****