.... If it wasn't the first it was very close to it, the first time the Japanese were actually "turned back on land" . A very bitter and intense campaign, with virtually no prisoners taken . ( By then word was well and truly out regarding the treatment POW's received at at the hands of the Japanese ) ...... As regards to the Owen Gun, it won out over both Thompson, Sten and "Austen" in trials, when the Kokada Campaign opened, there were just not sufficient Owens for them to be as widely distributed as the area Commanders wished, thus the use of Thompson's courtesy of stocks already held and the US supply lines. As a side note, currently there's a body recovery ( remains) underway to recover the remains of an RAAF Bomber Crew ( Halifax Bomber I think ) all in all, a clearly defining moment in Australian History. Had not the Japanese been defeated, made possible by the US Navies Victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway, then Australia would have faced more Bombing of Darwin and probably , a Japanese Invasion . The Government of the day, had already prepared a contingency plan to abandon the Northern half of Australia and withdrawn and defend the Southern half. Thanks largely to US efforts and material aid, Papua New Guinea was as far as it went, but certainly from an Australian perspective, close , very close ! ....... David K
