Australia’s Real Baptism of Fire is Greg Raffin’s definitive account of Australia’s first military engagement in the First World War, as Australian forces took control of German colonial territories in New Guinea just five weeks after the declaration of war and seven months before the Gallipoli campaign. His book details the lives of the Australian men who took part in the conflict and the actions of their young nation in uncertain times.
 
‘Australia’s Real Baptism of Fire blends general history with biography and human interest particularly well. The book revisits the military event that gave Australia colonial authority over New Guinea. The resolution of the conflict extinguished German control, establishing New Guinea as a British dominion administered by Australia. The book examines a little known chapter in Australia’s military history when Australian naval forces were engaged in military conflict seven months before the landing at Gallipoli. It is well researched and provides the reader with detailed biographies... an interesting read!'
 
Roger Bell, Emeritus Professor, History, UNSW, Sydney
 
'When Greg Raffin got in touch to mention his project to chronicle this hugely interesting but mostly overlooked initial episode of Australia’s war in 1914–18, I was both intrigued and delighted. Intrigued, because as a retired military man, I realised that while it was so significant to Australians then and now, very few people today knew anything about it; delighted, because even though the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force heading off to New Guinea was a national effort, it sallied forth from Sydney in August 1914 very much led by the new Royal Australian Navy. In that regard, I want to recommend to you all that Greg Raffin’s book is a major contribution to our knowledge beyond the historical norm, beyond Australia’s involvement at Gallipoli, the Western Front and the Middle East. I hope we can appropriately commemorate the moment described in the book, in 2014.'  
 
Extract from foreword by General Peter Cosgrove AC MC (Rtd), Chair of the NSW Centenary of Anzac Advisory Council