Told for the first time, this is the epic story of the Milne Bay campaign of 1942 - which saw Japanese land forces suffer their first defeat of the war - and has properly been called the RAAF's forgotten finest hour. September 1942 marked the high-point of Axis conquest in World War II. In the Pacific, Japan's soldiers had seemed unstoppable. However, the tide was about to turn. On Sunday, 6 September 1942, Japanese land forces suffered their first conclusive defeat at the hands of the Allies. At Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, a predominantly Australian force - including 75 Squadron (fresh from their action in 44 DAYS) - fought for two weeks to successfully defend a vital airstrip against a determined Japanese invasion. The victorious Australian army units were crucially supported by two locally-based squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks. The Battle for Milne Bay and victory for the Allies was a significant turning point in the Pacific War, but while it received worldwide publicity at the time, it has since been largely forgotten... It deserves to be remembered.

Prologue: A jungle runway -- 1. A peculiar battle -- 2. The obscure outpost -- 3. The race for a base -- 4. The build-up -- 5. Where are the Japanese? -- 6. Field takes charge -- 7. An unexpected arrival -- 8. The Kittyhawks arrive -- 9. Problems with the camp -- 10. The pilots settle in -- 11. Silent Cyril -- 12. Japanese plans -- 13. Nippon's Marines -- 14. Strike from the air -- 15. First blood at Goodenough Island -- 16. Battle lines -- 17. Invasion -- 18. Blood on the water -- 19. The landing -- 20. The Kittyhawks strike -- 21. To KB mission -- 22. Changing orders -- 23. The RAAF's worst loss -- 24. The fight for KB mission -- 25. The bloody track -- 26. The Kittyhawks depart -- 27. Reinforcements -- 28. No. 3 strip -- 29. The greatest battle -- 30. The counterpunch -- 31. The end for the Japanese -- 32. The webb report -- Epilogue: Tokyo, 2018.