The Books of Lex McAulay (1939-2025)

[Edward]

Books written by Lex McAulay of Maryborough, Queensland

Alexander Hugh David McAulay
(1939-2025)
Historian, Researcher, Author, Publisher, Vietnam Veteran and Husband "a genuine bloke"

World War II

Into the Dragon's Jaws. The Fifth Air Force Over Rabaul, 1943
(Champlin Fighter Museum Press, Mesa 1986)
148 pages w/ b&w illustrations throughout and maps - paperback

Against All Odds: Royal Australian Air Force Pilots in the Battle for Malta, 1942
(Hutchinson Australia 1989)
242 pages w/ b&w photos, appendices, including RAAF Claims and index - hardback

Battle of the Bismarck Sea
(St Martins Press, New York 1991)
226 pages w/ b&w photos - hardback

Six Aces: Australian Fighter Pilots 1939-45
(Banner Books 1991)
342 pages w/ b&w photos - card covers
- Les Clisby DFC – Hurricane pilot of RAF 1st Squadron destroyed 14 German aircraft during the blitzkrieg of 1940 and was the first RAAF ace of the Second World War.
- Tony Gaze DFC – Flew Spitfires over France and was shot down and escaped. Flew Meteor jets at end of war.
- Jack Storey DFC – RAAF Hurricane pilot of no. 135 Sqdn in Burma.
- Butch Gordon DFC – Beaufighter pilot with 31 Squadron RAAF in Darwin.
- Mervyn Shipard DFC – Beaufighter pilot with RAAF 69 and 89 Squadrons.
- Charles Scherf DSO, DFC – Mosquito pilot with 418 Squadron who destroyed 25 German aircraft in 1944.
- Max Cotton flying shipping strikes in the Westland Whirlwind off occupied France

Blood and Iron: The Battle for Kokoda 1942
(Hutchinson Australia, Milsons Point, NSW 1991)
(Arrow Books, Milsons Point, 1992) - paperback
432 pages w/ 16 pages of b&w plates, 7 maps, appendices, acknowledgements, sources, bibliography and index - hardback

To The Bitter End. The Japanese Defeat at Buna and Gona 1942 - 1943
(Random House Australia, Sydney, 1992)
327 pages - hardback

Four Aces. RAAF Fighter Pilots Europe and North Africa 1941-44
(Banner Books, Maryborough, Qld., 1998)
144 pages w/ b&w photos - hardback
The careers of four young RAAF pilots: Nicky Barr (3 Sqdn), Hugo Armstrong, Peter Panitz and Dickie Williams

MacArthur's Eagles: The U. S. Air War over New Guinea, 1943-1944
(Naval Institute Press 2004)
408 pages w/ b&w photos - hardback

We Who are about to Die: The Story of John Lerew DFC - A Hero of Rabaul 1942
(Banner Books - Maryborough, Qld 2007)
208 pages w/ colour & b&w photos, diagrams, maps and index - paperback

Battle of the Bismarck Sea: 3 March 1943
revised edition of 1991 book
(Banner Books - Maryborough, Qld 2008)
262 pages w/ b&w photos, appendices (Japanese ships and cargoes; USAAF and RAAF Squadrons and lists of air crews, bombing analysis) and index - paperback

The Australian Experience in the Vietnam War

The Battle of Long Tan: The Legend of ANZAC Upheld
(Hutchinson Australia, 1986 & 1987)
(Arrow 1987) - paperback
187 pages - hardback

The true, detailed, fully researched account of a dispersed company of one hundred Australians fighting for their lives, holding off a force of some two thousand five hundred Vietnamese.
This book tells the story of the Battle of Long Tan, and the men who fought it -- a moving story of great courage in the face of overwhelming odds. The author's research has been painstaking.The detailed, highly readable narrative is richly interwoven with numerous first-hand descriptions and comments by many of the soldiers present at the engagement. These accounts contribute a vivid personal dimension to a remarkable story.

The Battle of Coral: Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral - May 1968
(Hutchinson Australia 1988)
(Arrow Books Ltd, 1990) - paperback
361 pages - hardback

A detailed and masterly account of the biggest unit level battle involving Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War. For twenty-six days during May and June 1968 the 1st Australian Task Force fought a series of actions around Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral, northeastof Saigon. An overnight switch in war tactics, from patrolling and ambushing to close combat action, where, for the first time in a long while, tanks and artillery support came into their own. The A trained fighting force with more than their share of bravery, whose skills and sacrifice stopped the North Vietnamese in their tracks. Lex McAulay's brilliant account of reconstruction is one of the most important books on the Australian soldiers' involvement in the Vietnam War.

Contact: Australians in Vietnam
(Hutchinson Australia 1989)
147 pages w/ hundreds of b&w photos, appendices and Roll of Honour.

Pictorial history of what the years 1962-72 were really like for Australian servicemen and women in the field and behind the lines as well as at the bars, on the streets and at leisure.

In The Ocean's Dark Embrace: Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diving Team 3 (USN EODMUPAC Team 21 & 35) Vietnam 1967-71
(Banner Books 1997)
196 pages - hardback

During the Vietnam War the Vietcong mined many ports, harbours and rivers to disrupt the flow of necessary supplies of their opponents. Together with the Americans, The Royal Australian Clearance Diving Team 3 worked tirelessly from 1967 to 1971 to remove this danger.

Blue Lanyard, Red Banner: The Capture of the Vietcong Headquarters By 1st Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment Operation CRIMP 814 January 1966
(Banner Books - Maryborough, Qld 2005)
245 pages w/ b&w plates, appendices, bibliography and index - hardcover

Australian and American forces captured a Vietcong regional headquarters in January 1966. The American forces were the US 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) and the Australians were the 1 RAR.

When the Buffalo Fight [novel]
(Bantam Books 1987)
paperback

The Great War

Fort Street Fighter Pilot: The True Story of Ron Adair - Foundation Member of 1 Squadron Australian Flying Corps
(2020)