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The Australians were impossible to predict because instead of attacking from the front or the flank, they were always coming from upside down

"BANZAI!!!" "QUEENSLANDAHHHHHHH!!!" You be the judge

You know you're screwed when the bushes start speaking Japanese, trees start speaking Vietnamese, mountains start speaking Albanian, snow starts speaking Finnish, and the white guy with a gun has an Australian accent.

My grand father fought in Kokoda against the Japanese, his told me some scary story’s of lack of ammunition while being out numbered, yet they still managed to hold the line, sometimes it was so bad he had use Japanese rifles just to defend himself, he told me one story how he went over just to grab rifle, but unfortunately it only had two shots, he done it 3 times just to fight and the story’s of leeches bigger then you can think off after the war he became a paramedic his truly my hero and the definition of a warrior he lied about his age and he wasn’t even in the regular army the only experience he had was shooting rabbits.

I love the visual style, reminds me of some good old flash games!

“G’day bois.” Best opening of a gun I’d even seen. (Edit)

Given that the Australian recruits that drove the Japanese back were still very green, they did an amazing job. The Allied command had ordered the battalion commander to send his troops into Gallipoli-style charges. Major Bill Potts, himself a Gallipoli veteran knew better. Under his command, not only did they stand a better chance of survival, they drove them back a LOT faster than the Allied command were expecting. Major Potts was relieved of his command for insubordination, yet his troops would have followed him to hell and back.

Fun fact, did you know that the Australians were a militia force because new guinea was an Australian territory, and they were called 'choccos' by Australian soldiers as they thought they would melt in the heat of battle. Yet the militia won. It's like a reverse Gallipoli.

Just to think these Aussies the Japanese encountered during this skirmish were reservist soldiers and not even the regular Infantry!

People forget that the original Kokoda track soldiers were mainly reservists fighting with WW1 equipment. The real Australian professional army arrived later in the battle as much of the Aussie army was in North Africa facing Rommel. My father fought in New Guinea and he said the Japanese were good soldiers.

As someone who is half Australian, half Japanese, it was great experiencing my identity engage in suburban jungle fighting with itself.

My grandfather fought alongside Australians at New Guinea, he said they were the finest jungle fighters he had ever seen in his life, superior to the Japanese both at jungle and night fighting. He remarked that some Japanese units outright broke and ran when fighting the Australians.

Even as an Australian, that gun showcase was the most Australian thing I've seen

Any discussion of these clashes between Australian and Japanese forces has to include the contribution of the locals, nick named the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels"

Half of my grandmothers family passed away during the battle of Port Moresby. Respect and love to all the diggers who fought valiantly, allowing her to survive until now ❤️

What they did to P.O.W.s was a fucking disgrace, and they call themselves noble? Those that managed to survive the beheadings and being used for bayonet practice, whilst being forced to work until you died of disease or starvation, those men who came home were never the same again, many turning to drink, and dying way before their time. My grandad fought them in Burma, but never spoke about what he did or saw, and succumbed to the effects of alcohol long before he reached old age, we buried him at 50.

Definitely Finish Squad vs Russian Squad

That Owen gun commercial was great, with the accent and everything.

Austrailians were their own “code talkers” as nobody else could understand them.

Imagine hunting the ANZACs on some island when the jungle says G'day mate.

Cue TF2's "Meet the Sniper" theme song.

I can imagine the Australians would think on the go and adapt quickly to any situation that presents itself. They underestimate the fighting spirit of an Aussie.

The Japanese never got to Port Moresby, so there was no street fighting, as described in your introduction.

You need your own TV show. The level of depth in these videos are crazy. Really makes me appreciate we can get these videos for free. Thank the sponsors!

Japan never invaded mainland Australia because they were afraid of their neighbor’s Bob Semple Tank

"Heaven is Java, hell is Burma, but no one returns alive from New Guinea" -IJA Soldiers

“and still be ready to beat Tojo and his goons back to the Islands” Brilliant

Anyway, I'm glad we are both on the same side now.

Dear armchair historian, please give us an episode about the Falklands conflict

One factor not apparently considered here was the use by the Australians of local Papuans in the Papuan Infantry Battalion. These people has thousands of years experience in the jungle, and attached as scouts to Australian units, meant the Japanese had zero chance. I remember as a cadet at school, seeing boys from PNG, thinking I would not want to come up against them.

The only channel we can't be mad about sponsorships.. actually makes them entertaining, and it's clear the money has improved the channel's animations exponentially - love them!!

It’s worth noting that in actual fact the Aussies mounted many more ambushes than the Japanese in the early part of the campaign. This was because the Australians were performing a fighting withdrawal until reinforcements could arrive fresh off the ship from fighting Rommel in North Africa.

Chinese Nationalist vs Chinese Communist vs Japanese infantry squads in a future video, please!

Edit : How to win again Australia Rule one : Make Alliance with emus, spider, deadly toad, and buldog ants Rule two : destroy their Vegemite and flip-flop supplies Rule three : destroy the bob sample tanks before landed in Australia Rule four : Train your hand grip in case Australia become upside down Rule five : make Bali become your prison so when an Australian captured you can bribe them to go to bali with exchange of information

As a British citizen am it's proud to learn about the dear old friend our friends inww2 rip in all of them

I love this style of video! Can't wait to see more!

White Army vs Red Army : Russian Civil War : Include Orthodox Christian references for historical accuracy

As an American, I’ll say we love our Aussie brothers & sisters!

Never let your mate's down is a major factor in any conflict that involves Aussies

Keep in mind that us Aussies don’t use the word squad but rather section.

Aussie's have always punched above their weight in any war

Japanese when the situation becomes desperate: welp, let's charge to our death despite us having ammo in our guns

Great episode! I really enjoy the vs squads series

My Great-Grandfather was a Lieutenant during New Guinea, Godspeed

Japanese soldier: pulls out katana Aussie: THATS NOT A KNIFE, * pulls out the biggest hunting knife ever* THIS IS A KINFE

Japanese: we have one of the strongest army in the world. Australian: that's nothing with our secret weapon. * Emus have joined the chat *

I didnt expect to see these type of videos back !

Really like how the animation quality has improved while still keeping the original style.

How bout a video about British vs Italian Squads in the North African theatre. (After Rommel took control)

The owen gun was actually still used by australian troops in vietnam

We need more of this series!

Both my grandfathers fought in PNG, one on a minesweeper and the other driving an ammunition truck up to where the troops were and driving the wounded back. Some of the stories he'd tell about them creating makeshift bridges over massive drops in the treacherous mountains made you wonder how he got back alive. It's our inventiveness to make things up on the fly that works in our favour. Both of them praised the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea for their courage and assistance.

Fun Fact: The owen gun was made by a 24 year old named Owen Evelyn in 1939 and wasn't accepted because the Australian government didn't like the idea of submachine guns. He put it away in a sugar bag until it was found by his neighbor and he soon talked to Owen's father who explained the gun and then Owen who at the time was about to be deployed to the middle east. Soon after trials with the gun, it was accepted by the Australian army

It would be nice to see some "Filipino guerrillas vs Japanese squads in 1944"

I like the animations and voiceovers. The Aussie ones capture the accent of the time.

Most people don’t realize that the Owen gun was the most reliable allied smg

japanese: ah I do love drinking green tea without getting disturbed Australians: *g' day*

the japanese never got to port moresby but they could see the lights in the distance at night

Funny fact is that the Japanese sometimes urinated on their ammo to “poison” the bullets, but due to the heat and speed of a bullet it wouldn’t even stay on so they ultimately fell sick because they were handling bullets wet with piss

I was in The Royal Australian Infantry - 5/7RAR and proud of it!

Japanese NCO: BANZAI!! Assistant Section Commander: Oi, me Owen gun goes brrrrr

A very well done episode, as usual. I’d love to hear the slang that was used by both sides in numerous conflicts.

As the japanese troops stepped in, hoping for an easy victory, they suddenly heard an australian warcry "That helmet's gonna make a nice bowl for your brains!"

Next one could be Finnish vs Russian?

My grandfather told me the locals we’re really good a spotting ambushes and often alerted soldiers when entering the area giving diggers opportunity to get the drop on ambushers

Could you please do a video on the landings and capture of Lae? That’d make my year, as my great grandfather was there. Thanks mate.

I love how many people dismiss this video because of the Port Moresby scenario, this series of videos is literally built on hypothetical scenarios.

Yes. Thank you so much for breaking the stereotype that we Aussies got our arses kicked until the Americans came to help. I appreciate this video so much because The Australian story of the Second World War never really gets mentioned.

Japanese: "our tactical superiority" *charges in big groups with stabbing weapons at professional soldiers armed with multiple automatic weapons*

@The Armchair Historian Would love to see your take on the entire WW2 Pacific campaign. Particularly the early stages in New Guinea. Some of the toughest/ most grueling conditions of the war and some interesting stories that arent often explored. Thanks

Really liking this animation style, has a lot of personality

I just want to say thank you for making this video. My grandfather fought the Japanese in New Guinea during the Second World War and it makes me proud to see him and his mates being recognised for their contribution in the Pacific theatre.

When I did my jungle warfare training with Aust Army (a long time ago). There was a great focus on booby traps, proper ways to clear a village, patrolling and jungle fighting tactics and so on. It was some tough training. On several occasions I took some action that resulted in an instructor screaming at me, 'Your *** dead'. I learned a lot. Watching your video made me really appreciate that this training we received was really born of very hard lessons, learned by those who had gone before us.

Thanks for calling it the Kokada Track I appreciate it. Diggers was a good reference as well.

The hard lessons learned in ww2 by the Aussies in Jungle fighting eventually helped them in the long run. They then went on to fight in Malaya and Indonesia among other jungle environments then to Vietnam where the experience passed down over the decades helped them greatly. It also resulted in tensions between US and Aus forces because of the way the US fought and conducted patrols was extremely "poor" in the eyes of Aussie diggers which led to them getting their own area to control and secure

Japanese narrator: "the surest display of your tactical superiority-" Me: now *that's* comedy!

I would like Prussian vs french troops. Or Finland vs Russia in the Winter War

Please do more like this! reminds me of Deadliest Warrior.

I love your animations they are awesome!

Wow. Im surprised not more ppl aren't watching live. I love this channel

Yet again no history regarding armchairs. I am deeply disappointed with his channel and his team. I am thinking about filling a class action lawsuit for false advertising if you want to join on. /s Edit: I do not know what the digity darn is going on in the comments Edit 2: Have a great day!

Cool video, really interesting 👍

As an Australian learning this at school this helped me

Thanks

Italians vs Brits? North African Campagin is not really talked about

Owen submachine gun is a excellent weapon. Its top-loading magazine is naturally jam-proofed. With the help of Earth's gravity, feeding is so smooth. The worst disadvantage of the Japanese troops at WW2 was the lack of sufficient firepower in close-quarter battle. This is because their high command was often stupid enough not to understand the need of submachine gun in modern warfare. Japan produced only 8000 subgun on their own(type 100 of 8mm Nanbu rounds). Even though its unit production cost is far less than Arisaka Rifle. Their Arisaka Rifle was also unfit for rapid fire. Its bolt operation is too tight. You can never load & eject the rounds as it is shouldered(in contrast, British SMLE Rifle allows anyone 10-shots rapid fire from the shoulder with minimal training). Their army training doctrine made things far worse: Excessive emphasis of bayonet assault. So many of their frontline men were wasted while carelessly charging entrenched allied troops heavily armed with automatic weapons. During the fierce battle in the Pacific, Japanese soldiers were shocked by the immense power of autoloaders. And not a few of then started to use M-1 carbines and Thompson Subguns they captured in warzones. Even though their top command was dominated by dumb asses, there were some smart high-ranking officers with good foresight. When their paratroopers stormed Pelembang(oil-yielding province of Indonesia), in 1942, all of them were bearing automatics including 600 Thompsons they seized in earlier battle in the Philippines.

“Dead set fair dinkum rip snorter” is probably the most Australian thing I’ve heard forever

The virgin Japanese uniform Vs The chad Australian cargo shorts

We australians are real proud of kokoda, those soldiers were mostly kids, and everyone thought that they couldn't handle themselves.

My grandfather fought on the Kokoda Trail as a radio man . Your video dishonors him with your inaccuracies!

My grandfather was a captain in the Boganville campaign. The day after the Japanese signed the surrender, he got two of his men and they went and raided the quarters of General Masatane Kanda who signed Japans surrender to the Australians. Killing several Japanese soldiers who were guarding the building even though the surrender had been signed. The world was very different back then. When is was 14 my grandfather gave me general Kandas walking stick, which I still have. You can see the walking stick in photos of the general online. They also toon a bunch of other stuff which is still in our family. Sadly those small trinkets didn’t make up for the severe PTSD and alcoholism that followed his return.

Next Match? Japan vs Russia in the early war in Manchuria, I think it was. Then Italians vs US in Sicily French Resistance vs German Occupation forces

How about a lesser known match up? Ex. French vs Italian Polish vs Germans British vs Japanese Finnish vs Soviet Americans vs Japanese Yugoslav vs German

Really solid videos

The Australians may not have had numbers but they were darn brave and well trained

Waiting for all the australians/japanese to turn up and tell him he can't make this video as he is neither one of them.

They always talk about the trees speaking Vietnamese but they never talk about when the trees speak Japanese.

Love the animations

39th Battalion and the other Battalions in New Guinea save Australia. My grandfather serve in the 39th as a Sub-Machine Gunner, he was one of the few members that where able to walk out under his own power after the Kokoda campaign.