Curtin's Cowboys by Richard Walker and Helen Walker - 1989: Australia's Secret Bush Commandos

In very good condition - has markings from use - due to differing weights in books, postage maybe adjusted at checkout.

They called them 'Curtin's Cowboy's, an organised bunch of bushrangers', 'the most notoriously undisciplined unit in the Australian Army'. They called themselves the 'Nackeroos'. They were the 500-man North Australia Observer Unit.

The hitherto-untold history of this unit reads like a 'Boys Own' adventure - a unique factual story which reveals as much about panic and paranoia in Australia in 1942 as it does about the pioneering spirit and remarkable endurance of a curious mixture of young hand-picked volunteers.

In response to Japanese successes in our near north and the bombing of our northern towns, a special observer unit was created - trained and equipped to observe and report all the information that they could gather about the Japanese invasion force. This unit patrolled the vast north, from the Kimberleys most remote and hostile country in the continent. Had the Japanese landed in force, these men would have stayed behind enemy lines, operating from secret hide-outs, reporting the enemy's position and movement.

Here is a story from the time when no one in Australia had any idea which way the tide of the war would run, the story of young Australians having to grow up fast in an environment they thought they knew but didn't...

Richard and Helen Walker have pieced this account together from personal interviews with over 100 veterans, supplemented with secret diaries and pictorial records. Richard Walker is a producer and director of television documentaries for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Helen Walker is a writer.