Gull Force

In February 1942, on the remote island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1150 Australian soldiers were preparing for invasion by Japanese forces. Outnumbered and ill-equipped, theirs was an impossible mission.

After their defeat, over 200 Australians were massacred. The survivors faced three-and-a-half years of harsh work, beatings, disease and starvation on Ambon and the Chinese island of Hainan. Along with the brutal conditions came a crisis of leadership, with Australian officers accused of devising their own systems of punishment. The prisoners of Ambon were tormented by two catastrophic raids by 'friendly' Allied air forces. Over 800 men were captured; only 302 returned home.

Acclaimed historian Joan Beaumont tells the full story of this tragedy and its aftermath. An account of suffering, death, endurance and memory, the story of Gull Force is one that must not be forgotten.

About the Author

Joan Beaumont is Professor Emerita at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. She is one of Australia's pre-eminent scholars on Australian prisoners of war and is the author of Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War, the critically acclaimed account of Australia's experience of the First World War, which was joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Australian History and winner of the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History. She is also the author of Australia's Great Depression: How a Nation Shattered by the Great War Survived the Worst Economic Crisis It Has Ever Faced and co-editor with Allison Cadzow of Serving Our Country: Indigenous Australians, War, Defence and Citizenship.