Description

Title: White Over Green – The 2/4th Battalion

Author: Unit History Editorial Committee, Cecil Chrystal, D.B. Cade, J.S. Copland, J.J Huston, P.R. Jackson, K.C. Moses, E.D. Wren, R.J. Morris

Condition: Very Good Plus 

Edition: 1st Edition

Publication Date: 1963

ISBN: Nil

Cover: Hard Cover with Dust Jacket – 364 pages

Comments: The concise history of the 2/4th Battalion 1939 to 1945. This book has never been reprinted.

This book has been written by members of the 2/4th Battalion themselves and gives many interesting and personal accounts and experiences of the Battalion members who trained and lived together and engaged the enemy over a period of six years.  The story tells of the formation of the Battalion in 1939, and traces the movements from embarkation in January 1940. Touches of humour are introduced when the very raw recruits commence initial training, and personal anecdotes bring back memories of a lighter side to the serious training. The early campaigns of the unit were in the Middle East in 1941 – the first desert victory to Benghazi, followed by engagements in Greece and Crete, and a descriptive account of Battalion life and actions in these areas is presented. 

The story of the Costa Rica is a graphic account dealt with in a separate chapter.  From the Middle East, the unit returned to Australia, and then fought in New Guinea prior to disbandment in September 1945 – the extreme contrast from desert warfare to jungle fighting is well handled. To those who were in the 2/4th Battalion, this story, will naturally, be more personally memorable that to the others, but all who read it, it will carry the always irresistible appeal of man’s struggle with circumstance.  

Because the 4th battalion from the 1914-18 War did not complete its own History, and as the two Battalions are so closely connected, a brief account of this Battalion is also included which will hold many graphic reminiscences for the reader. This inclusion sets a firm seal to the proud association between the “Old 4th” and the 2/4th. 

Includes Nominal Roll

Includes Awards and Roll of Honour