ISBN 1-86508-654-1
272 pages

Acknowledgements; Conventions and Abbreviations; Introduction; maps; photos; tables; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index

Appendices: 9th Division Casualties; Honours and awards to the 9th Division

   Mark Johnston's new illustrated history of the Australian 9th Division in World War Two takes an interesting and unusual approach to presenting the unit's story. Despite having at least one photograph on every page, this is by no means a simple photo album. Instead, this is a written history, but a history written around a series of carefully chosen images. The pictures have no captions, but the narrative itself describes each photo and, as the text moves from shot to shot, the descriptions carry the division's history forward step by step.
   Eight pages introduce the division, explain its organizational structure, and list all the senior commanders. The first chapter includes photos of the early days of the division training in Australia and arriving in the Western Desert while the text explains each photo, in the process narrating the unit's formation and movement.
   Two lengthy chapters on the first siege of Tobruk are propelled by numerous photos, all of them fresh and well-chosen. Johnston narrates the siege with details from all the photographs, noting, for example, in one snapshot that one man was later killed in New Guinea, another died at Tel el Eisa, and a third was killed at El Alamein. Among the unusual photos is one of supplies being transported along a light railway line to be stored in a cave inside the Tobruk perimeter.
   From Tobruk the division and the book move to Syria for a short chapter, then back to the desert to El Alamein for their climactic contribution to the war against Rommel. Here's an example of how the narrative and the photos entwine:

   The Australian official historian, Barton Maughan, described the events of 10 July as a turning point in the desert war, and indeed in the entire war in the west. This exaggerates the day's importance, but it was a day of great achievement for the 9th Division, including not only the infantry, but also the artillerymen and machine-gunners, many of whom were fighting their first battle. They had captured important ground and a key intelligence unit, had inflicted more than 1000 casualties at a cost of fewer than 100 men, and had destroyed up to 22 tanks.
   Photograph 5.6 is a superb illustration of a 25-pounder gun of 2/8th Field Regiment in action in July. This regiment and the 2/7th had served in Egypt, rather than Tobruk, in 1941. They had been based at Mersa Matruh, where Brigadier Ramsay had been in charge of artillery defences. Individual guns and batteries had been in various actions during their five-month period there, but for each 10 July was their first action as a Regiment. The official caption says this photograph was taken on 12 July, while the regiment's own sources, including men who were there, say it was 10 July. The latter is almost certainly correct, given that the gun has not even been dug in. Soon after the photograph was taken, the gun itself was hit. The gunshield was holed, the range cone damaged and both tyres deflated. The crew continued firing. Sergeant Ian Hay, with his back to us, was awarded the Military Medal for subsequent fighting at Alamein. For the Division's three artillery regiments 10 July was an exhausting and exhilarating day as they fired concentrations of an intensity unparalleled in their experience. The 2/12th's guns, for example, fired 2236 rounds on that day, while the 2/8th's were said to be glowing red. In the days that followed, the guns repeatedly broke up enemy attacks. They themselves were attacked from the air and by enemy shelling, and were usually dug into wide pits with camouflage nets.

   Following the victory at Alamein, the 9th's splendid reputation was sealed, but the unit—and the book—still had far to go. The division sailed for Australia, but they were not long to tarry there, moving to New Guinea in September 1943. Johnston continues their story with more new photos, devoting about forty pages to these less well-known 9th Division operations against the Japanese.
   Following New Guinea, the 9th conducted amphibious landings on Borneo, going ashore at multiple locations in 1945. These operations are little known outside Australia, but the photos of flame-throwers, destruction, and casualties prove that the division was always in the middle of the action.
   Most of the unit histories arriving here are either text histories with a few photographic illustrations, or else photo histories with a few brief captions. That Magnificent 9th is a different animal, an interesting blend of text and photos that succeeds very nicely. Recommended.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Allen & Unwin.
   Thanks to Allen & Unwin for providing this review copy.