History Guild

History is Complicated – SOE in Burma

by History Guild | Jun 28, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
It was estimated by Force 136 that they recruited around 20,000 indigenous personnel for operations in Burma. A few hundred of them are on my Men of SOE Burma page, compiled by going through several files of training cards. While the research for that page has provided excellent insight into a cross section of the many Burmese peoples who served with SOE, most of the 20,000 will remain unaccounted for because there is no record of them. Sadly, this means that their service will never be recognised outside of their own families.

39th Militia Battalion and the Kokoda Track – Part 2

by History Guild | Jun 16, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 10 minutes
After the retreat from Kokoda, the battered survivors of B Company, 39th Battalion regrouped at the small village of Deniki. Major Allan Cameron, a 30th Brigade staff officer, arrived shortly after at Deniki on 4th August. Disgusted by the apparently ‘unsoldierly’ appearance of B Company, he jumped to the conclusion that these men must have run away from the fighting and had abandoned Kokoda for no reason. He sent them further back to Isurava in disgrace, depriving the remainder of the 39th of the only troops with battle experience. This wouldn’t be the last time that a textbook tactical withdrawal would be mistaken for cowardice. Cameron then decided that Kokoda must be recaptured.

39th Militia Battalion and the Kokoda Track – Part 1

by History Guild | Jun 7, 2022 | Military History | 0

Reading time: 10 minutes
The 39th Militia Battalion from Victoria bore the brunt of the early fighting against the Japanese on the Kokoda Track.

PEARL HARBOR AND AMERICA’s ENTRY TO WAR

by History Guild | Dec 7, 2021 | Military History, Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
The commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor also marks the United States’ entrance into the Second World War, forever changing the course of the ultimate conflict.

The Test of Time: The Oldest Companies Still in Operation and Why They Survived

by History Guild | Nov 29, 2021 | Political and Economic History | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
Today’s biggest companies are considered young, especially when compared to some of the oldest companies in the world. While companies like Microsoft and Apple are well on their way to reaching five decades old, that doesn’t come close to the more than 200 years some others have been around for. Several companies have stood the test of time for hundreds of years, the oldest of which dates to 563 CE.