MacArthur didn't have much idea about some things...WW2 in PNG, for example.
Kokoka Track - Never Saying Die
On the 29th August the Japanese broke through the Australian lines forcing the Australian Battalions to withdraw towards Alola and then to withdraw to Templeton's Crossing. This was followed by a further withdrawal to the major supply point of Myola.
News of the withdrawals reached Australia and the hierarchy expected the Japanese to soon claim victory. American General Douglas MacArthur announced that:
"the Australians have proven themselves unable to match the enemy in jungle fighting. Aggressive leadership is lacking."
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Ah yes, the teen etc volunteers.
Poorly trained, poorly armed...up against the crack Japanese army experienced in jungle fighting.
MacArthur-ilk's "aggressive leadership"...baaah!
Gotta work smarter than that if one wishes to survive;
Kokoka Track - Never Saying Die
Australian general Thomas Blamey fancied himself as a World War II answer to General John Monash. Like Monash, he wanted to push his hand into the enemy throat and keep it there so that it could never gain the ascendancy.
While such aggression proved useful for Monash to break the trench warfare of the Western Front, it was inappropriate for the jungle warfare of Papua New Guinea.
Had those under his command obeyed his orders, then it would have led to the futile infantry charges that Monash considered to be so wasteful. Adapting to the conditions, the Australian soldiers acted like Monash by ignoring inappropriate instructions.
Instead of charging at the enemy in a blitzkrieg approach, they changed the warfare to a running battle of attrition. The Japanese strength was sapped by keeping them on the offensive, lengthening their supply lines, and contaminating any food they captured. It was a strategy that won the Australians the battle. Although the Australians won, the victory came at the cost of Blamey's ego.
To find some self-esteem, on the 9th of November 1942, Blamey addressed the 21st Infantry Brigade on the parade ground and informed them that they had been beaten by inferior forces and that no soldier should be afraid to die. He then said that:
"it's the rabbit who runs who gets shot, not the man holding the gun."
Just as some of Blamey's battle strategies were ill conceived, it was an ill conceived idea to address men who had spent two months in jungle warfare and label them cowards. Not only did it fail to motivate soldiers or inspire respect for commanding officers, it amounted to a huge safety risk for Blamey. Many officers later said that Blamey was lucky to escape with his life.
When Blamey later visited the wounded in hospital, many nibbled lettuce, while wrinkling their nose in mock of him 
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God love em, they helped save those who were left in Australia from being Japanese laundry slaves, sex slaves, or worse.
