The Cocos Islands Mutiny by Noel Crusz

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book edges and corners, particularly to front cover right corners, now protected with book tape. Highlighting and pencil annotations to inside. Previous owner has stamped inside front cover and synopsis page.

A significant World War Two mutiny occurred on the night of 8 May 1942 in a lonely atoll in the Indian Ocean in a setting of intrigue, rebellion and the blood and tears of war.

Japanese naval forces were at the peak of their southward thrust. While the battle of the Coral Sea raged, gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands off Australia's north-west coast attempted to arrest their British commanding officer and compel him to surrender to the Japanese.

One soldier was killed and another wounded, but the mutiny failed, and seven men were condemned to death. Ultimately, three soldiers were hung, becoming the only Commonwealth troops to be executed for mutiny in World War Two.

Through extensive research over many years, Noel Crusz has uncovered a story that the military had sought to keep secret. Certainly, it is a story of the gravest of military crimes. Still, it is also a story of poor leadership, racism, and a seriously flawed court martial against a background of changing attitudes to colonialism and the growing desire for self-government and independence throughout Asia. (publisher blurb)