Description
Title: Spearheads of Invasion
Author: Lieutenant Commander W.N.Swann, K.B.E, C.B,
Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st Edition
Publication Date: 1953
ISBN: N/A
Cover: Hard Cover without (missing) Dust Jacket – 307 pages
Comments: The story of HMAS Westralia’s involvement in the landing operations as Arawe, Hollandia, Leyte, Lingayen, Tarakan, Brunei Bay and Balikpapan.
HMAS Westralia (F95/C61) was an auxiliary cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Scottish shipbuilder Harland and Wolff and completed in 1929, Westralia was operated by the Huddart Parker company until 1939, when she was requisitioned for service with the RAN as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). Fitted with guns and commissioned in early 1940, Westralia was initially used to escort convoys in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In November 1940, the largest mutiny in RAN history occurred aboard the ship, with 104 men charged.
In 1943, Westralia was converted into a Landing Ship, Infantry (LSI). The ship was used to transport units of the United States Army and United States Marine Corps, and took part in numerous amphibious landings. After being used to repatriate personnel at the end of the war, Westralia was decommissioned in 1946. Before she could be returned to her owners, the vessel was requisitioned again, this time for use as a troop transport supporting the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). Westralia was not commissioned again, and operated by a merchant navy crew until 1951, when she was returned to Huddart Parker. In 1959, the ship was sold to the Asian and Pacific Shipping Co Ltd for use as a livestock carrier. Initially operated as Delfino, she was renamed Woolambi in 1960, before being sold for scrap in 1961.
Previous owner’s name on the front end paper.
