Volume V – South–West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau (1st edition, 1959)

This volume describes the fighting on land in the South-West Pacific from mid-1942 to March 1943, including the critical operations in the Owen Stanley mountains, at Milne Bay and round Buna, Gona and Sanananda. It tells how Australian troops stemmed the advance of the hitherto-victorious Japanese, and, with American help, destroyed two-thirds of their force and drove the remainder out ot Papua. The Japanese story is told side by side with the Allied one, and it is now shown that the Japanese forces involved were considerably larger (but their losses somewhat lighter) than was thought at the time.

The author also describes the guerilla operations round Lae and Salamaua, the defeat at Wau of the last Japanese offensive against Australian troops, and the final phase of the operations of the Independent Companies in Timor. Woven through the story of the fighting in the field is an account of the discussions - and sometimes the sharp differences - between the Allied generals in this first year in the life of a mainly-American command established on Australian soil.

• Contents, Illustrations, Maps, Sketch Maps, Preface, and List of events (pages i - xiv )
• Chapter 1 – Reinforcement of Australia (pages 1 - 33 )
• Chapter 2 – The Island Barrier (pages 34 - 83 )
• Chapter 3 – Kanga Force (pages 84 - 107 )
• Chapter 4 – The Japanese Advance to Kokoda (pages 108 - 146 )
• Chapter 5 – Milne Bay (pages 147 - 192 )
• Chapter 6 – Withdrawal to Ioribaiwa (pages 193 - 228 )
• Chapter 7 – Ioribaiwa: and a Command Crisis (pages 229 - 253 )
• Chapter 8 – To Templeton's Crossing (pages 254 - 279 )
• Chapter 9 – Eora Creek (pages 280 - 310 )
• Chapter 10 – Oivi–Gorari (pages 311 - 335 )
• Chapter 11 – The Build-up before Buna (pages 336 - 355 )
• Chapter 12 – The Americans at Buna (pages 356 - 383 )
• Chapter 13 – On the Sanananda Track (pages 384 - 417 )
• Chapter 14 – Gona (pages 418 - 458 )
• Chapter 15 – The Australians at Buna (pages 459 - 483 )
• Chapter 16 – Buna Government Station Taken (pages 484 - 496 )
• Chapter 17 – The End of the Road (pages 497 - 533 )
• Chapter 18 – Wau (pages 534 - 591 )
• Appendix 1 – After Alola (pages 592 - 597 )
• Appendix 2 – Timor (pages 598 - 624 )
• Appendix 3 – Brisbane, November 1942 (pages 625 - 627 )
• Appendix 4 – Abbreviations (pages 628 - 630 )
• Index (pages 631 - 656 )