Description
This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales
with numerous contributions by others.
7.5.3 World War II
[I have included this as it was originally posted by Kym. I am aware of
flame ware that went on over some of the figures here, but please don't
go flaming me over it. If someone wants to send me an opposing view, I'll
include it for completeness, but don't argue with me over the content
without providing your own figures - I'll ignore it - SW]
[KH]
The following are notes gleaned from here and there regarding
Australia's part in WWII. Typically I have tried to stick to "facts"
with no note taken of political events or historical opinion albeit
the former are of primary importance. Where politics or personal bias
have entered I make no apology. ;-)
A brief history of WWII from the Australian perspective
-------------------------------------------------------
Sep 3 39. GB declares war on Germany and Menzies says "so is
Australia". Australia provides 1 div initially but public pressure
eventually means 4 are sent.
Feb 40. The 6th div 2 AIF reaches Palestine to reinforce the 8th Brit
Army. The 7th div is dispatched to Syria, the 8th to Malaya and the
9th to N Africa.
19 Mar 40. RG Casey goes to Washington as a "provider of Australian
opinion on world-wide events".
27 May 40. Menzies supports appeal by Britain to US for aid.
14 Jun 40. Menzies writes to Roosevelt:
"At this moment the eyes of the whole liberty-loving world are turned
to you and your great people. I believe that even now, if the United
States, by a magnificent and immortal gesture, could make available
to the Allies the whole of her financial and material resources,
Germany could be defeated. The effect on the spirit of France would be
trasfiguring, and the whole of the English-speaking peoples of the
world would, by one stroke, be welded into a brotherhood of world
salvation. On behalf of the people of Australia and the future of this
land, I appeal to you for the fullest measure of co-operation and
help". In response to requests from Britain Roosevelt sent materiel to
aid GB. It also geared up its own armed forces in response to Japanese
expansion in the Pacific.
19 Jul 40. Sydney sinks the Bartolomeo Colleoni in the Mediterranean.
Feb 41. One Australian brigade is sent to Singapore.
Jan 41. 6th div attacks Italian positions in N Africa and captures
Tobruk and Benghazi. 10 Italian divs effectively cease to exist by
March.
18 Feb 41. 8th div lands at Singapore.
Mar 41. 6th div goes to Greece to protect against German
invasion. They are eventually forced to Crete and captured on June 2
after surviving attack from May 20 by German paratroops and gliders.
3000 Australians from 6th and 7th div become POWs.
June 41. The SU joins the Allies against Germany after German
Operation Barbarosa invades the SU after Germany's previously "non
aggression pact".
19 Nov 41. Sydney sunk off WA by German commerce raider.
7 Dec 41. Japan attacks Pearl Harbour in an attempt to sink US Pac
fleet. US declares war on Japan. At this time Australian troops are
fighting in Malaya to prevent the Japanese advance. As historians
have said before the attack by the Japanese achieved what the allies
had failed to do -- force the US into an active role in the
war. Roosevelt declared war on both Japan and Germany and prepared to
defend the US interests in the Pacific.
Dec 8 41. HK and Singapore are bombed and the Philippines is attacked.
Of greater concern to Curtin than Pearl was the Japanese attack on the
Malayan coast and Singapore. As a result of the attacks on British
territory Australia was at war with Japan.
10 Dec 41. The British battleships Repulse and Prince of Wales are
sunk off Malaya. With this went Australia's hopes the British navy
could keep Australia safe. Britain also said it was unable to aid
Australia because of the war in Europe and Australia began to look
more to the US for aid against the Japanese.
25 Dec 41. Honk Kong falls.
27 Dec 41. PM John Curtin calls on the US to help Australia against
the Japanese. Subsequently, the Australian and US govts disagreed
about the direction of the war. The US ignored British and Australian
requests for an independent Pacific after the war and resisted their
attempts at making decisions regarding the future of Japan. In
Australia large numbers of US servicemen caused a variety of
responses. Initial curiosity gave way to resentment as local service
industries such as pubs and hotels catered for US tastes much to the
dismay of local patrons. Tensions came to a head on more than one
occasion. The "Brisbane riots" -- a street battle between Aussie and US
servicemen -- left an unknown number dead and wounded. Little news of
such events was released during the war.
22 Jan 42. Rabaul falls in Australian New Guinea. 23K Australian
troops become Japanese POWs by March 42 with the subsequent losses of
Timor and Ambiona.
15 Feb 42. Singapore falls. 17K more Australians become POWs.
Australian troops are recalled from the Middle East and N Africa.
19 Feb 42. Japan attacks Australian mainland with air-raids comparable
to those at Pearl. Headlines of the time read "Invaders now 650 miles
from Darwin".
According to the now "authorative" figure the number killed during the
2 air-raid attacks on Darwin was 243. However, this doesn't include
the numbers killed on foreign vessels in the harbour at the time of
the raids. Official reports at the time put the dead at 9.
Apparently the number of Japanese aircraft used in the first raid
exceeded even in absolute terms the attack on Pearl Harbour. Pearl was
a city and Darwin a village. Some exaggerated reports in 1921 put the
population of Darwin at around 1,400.
Mar 42. MacArthur arrives in Darwin after his defeat in the
Philippines. He demands and is given control of Australian forces. In
April he is made Allied Supreme Commander in the Pacific. He has final
say over what information is given to the press and there is some
carping from that quarter regarding same.
May 4-8 42. Battle of the Coral Sea involving US and Aus navies.
Prevents Japan from taking Pt Moresby.
1 Jun 42. Japan attacks Sydney with minisubs. A number of casualties
and boats sunk. The "authorative" figure put the Aussie dead at 19. All
subs were sunk.
23 June 42. The Japanese land at Gonu and advance to Pt Moresby.
Aug 42. US marines in the Solomons. But until June 43 they were not in
sufficient strength to prevail over Japanese forces.
26 Aug 42. Japan attempts to land at Milne Bay in NG. An earlier Aussie
landing prevents its success. The ensuing battle is a severe defeat
for Japan.
29 Sep 42. Australians advance and capture Ioribaiwa Ridge. After this
victory the Australian forces are not defeated by the Japanese in NG
or elsewhere. Subsequent combined US and Australian ops on E coast of
NG bypass Gona and Buna mop up other Japanese forces.
15 Jan 43. The US navy involved at Guadal canal.
25 Jan 43. Japanese troops surrender to Australians ending the Kakoda
Trail Campaign.
3 Mar 43. Battle of Bismark Sea involves USAF and RAAF.
Nov 43. Japanese raids are no longer a threat to Australia.
After this time MacArthur develops the "island-hopping strategy"
whereby islands are bypassed where they present no advantage to the
allies. This tactic avoids un-necessary losses at the time, but the
bypassed islands must later be mopped up. The US now plans to move to
the Philippines and makes clear there is no place for Australia in
this campaign. Australian troops are therefore sent to "mop
up". Australian casualties were heavy during this phase and Aussie
commanders were frequently critical about the value of such battles.
Oct 44. US reaches Leyte Is in the Philippines. But the Is is not
under US control until mid Sep 45.
May 45. Australian troops operating in N Borneo.
2 May 45. Australian attack Tarakan.
9 May 45. Australians capture Tarakan. Elsewhere it's VE day.
10 June 45. Brunei and Labuan attacked by Australian troops.
1 July 45. Australians attack Balikpapan meeting stiff resistance.
Japanese suffer significant casualties. While significant, Australian
casualties are not as high.
6 Aug 45. Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
9 Aug 45. Atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
15 Aug 45. Japan surrenders. VJ day.
Aug 45. Bypassed islands must be mopped up. Some of this dirty work is
left to the Australians.
---
Australian casualties.
War population round 7.6 mn. 30K were killed in WWII, 95K wounded.
Together this reps 1.7% of the population. Altogether there were 1 mn
Australians serving in the forces including 66K servicewomen. 23K
Australians were captured and were POWs. The number of Australians to
face Japanese forces exceeded the numbers of Americans.
According to exact figures from "Australian Political Facts" by
McAllister et al:
served killed wounded
WWII 1939-45 993,000 26,951 23,214
US casualties.
Wartime population round 145 mn. Around 15 mn served, 11.5 mn went
overseas, 1/4 mn faced Japanese troops. A total of 1 mn casualties
including 304K killed representing 0.7% of the population.
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