Editing History of Australia (section)

==Second World War==
{{Main|Australia in World War II|Axis naval activity in Australian waters|Proposed Japanese invasion of Australia during World War II}}

===Defence policy in the 1930s===
[[File:Menzies Churchill WW21941.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister [[Robert Menzies]] and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] in 1941]]

Until the late 1930s, defence was not a significant issue for Australians. At the [[1937 Australian federal election|1937 elections]], both political parties advocated increased defence spending, in the context of increased Japanese aggression in China and Germany's aggression in Europe; however, there was a difference in opinion about how the defence spending should be allocated. The [[United Australia Party]] government emphasised co-operation with Britain in "a policy of imperial defence". The lynchpin of this was the British naval base at [[Singapore Naval Base|Singapore]] and the [[Royal Navy]] battle fleet "which, it was hoped, would use it in time of need".<ref>John Robertson (1984) ''Australia goes to War, 1939–1945''. p. 12. Doubleday, Sydney. {{ISBN|0-86824-155-5}}</ref> Defence spending in the inter-war years reflected this priority. In the period 1921–1936 totalled £40&nbsp;million on the [[Royal Australian Navy]], £20&nbsp;million on the [[Australian Army]] and £6&nbsp;million on the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (established in 1921, the "youngest" of the three services). In 1939, the Navy, which included two heavy cruisers and four light cruisers, was the service best equipped for war.<ref>Department of Defence (Navy) (1976) ''An Outline of Australian Naval History''. p. 33 Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. {{ISBN|0-642-02255-0}}</ref>

[[File:HMAS Sydney (AWM 301473).jpg|thumb|The light cruiser {{HMAS|Sydney|1934|6}}, lost in a [[Sinking of HMAS Sydney|battle]] in the Indian Ocean, November 1941]]

Fearing Japanese intentions in the Pacific, Menzies established independent embassies in Tokyo and Washington to receive independent advice about developments.<ref name="primeministers.naa.gov.au">{{cite web|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/in-office.aspx#section1|title=Primeministers.naa.gov.au|publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au|access-date=14 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113103332/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/menzies/in-office.aspx|archive-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> [[Gavin Long]] argues that the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] opposition urged greater national self-reliance through a buildup of manufacturing and more emphasis on the Army and [[Royal Australian Air Force|RAAF]], as Chief of the General Staff, [[John Lavarack]] also advocated.<ref>Gavin Long (1952) ''To Benghazi. Australia in the War of 1939–1945''. Vol. 1. Series One; Army. pp. 22–23. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.</ref> In November 1936, Labor leader [[John Curtin]] said "The dependence of Australia upon the competence, let alone the readiness, of British statesmen to send forces to our aid is too dangerous a hazard upon which to found Australia's defence policy."<ref>John Robertson (1984) p. 12</ref> According to John Robertson, "some British leaders had also realised that their country could not fight Japan and Germany at the same time." But "this was never discussed candidly at...meeting(s) of Australian and British defence planners", such as the [[1937 Imperial Conference]].<ref>John Robertson "The Distant War: Australia and Imperial defence 1919–1914." In M. McKernan and M. Browne (1988) p. 225</ref>

By September 1939 the Australian Army numbered 3,000 regulars.<ref>John Robertson (1984) p. 17</ref> A recruiting campaign in late 1938, led by Major-General [[Thomas Blamey]] increased the reserve militia to almost 80,000.<ref>Gavin Long (1952) p. 26</ref> The first division raised for war was designated the 6th Division, of the 2nd AIF, there being 5 Militia Divisions on paper and a 1st AIF in the First World War.<ref>John Robertson (1984) p. 20. Thus Australian battalions of World War II carried the prefix 2/ to distinguish them from battalions of World War I</ref>

===War===
[[File:Australian troops at Milne Bay.jpg|thumb|Australian troops at Milne Bay, Papua. The Australian army was the first to inflict defeat on the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] during World War II at the [[Battle of Milne Bay]] of August–September 1942.]]
[[File:Aust soldiers Wewak June 1945.jpg|thumb|An Australian light machine gun team in action near [[Wewak]], [[Papua New Guinea]], in June 1945]]

On 3 September 1939, the prime minister, [[Robert Menzies]], made a national radio broadcast: "My fellow Australians. It is my melancholy duty to inform you, officially, that, in consequence of the persistence by Germany in her [[invasion of Poland]], Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war."<ref>Frank Crowley (1973) ''Modern Australia in Documents 1939–1970''. p. 1. Wren Publishing, Melbourne. {{ISBN|978-0-17-005300-6}}</ref>

Thus began Australia's involvement in the six-year global conflict. Australians were to fight in an extraordinary variety of locations, including withstanding the advance of German [[Panzer]]s in the [[Siege of Tobruk]], turning back the advance of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] in the [[New Guinea Campaign]], undertaking bomber missions over Europe, engaging in naval battles in the Mediterranean. At home, Japanese attacks included mini-submarine raids on Sydney Harbour and very heavy air raids on and near the Northern Territory's capital, [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]].<ref>John Robertson (1984) pp. 9–11</ref>

The recruitment of a volunteer military force for service at home and abroad was announced, the [[2nd Australian Imperial Force]] and a citizen militia organised for local defence. Troubled by Britain's failure to increase defences at Singapore, Menzies was cautious in committing troops to Europe. By the end of June 1940, France, Norway, Denmark and the Low Countries had fallen to [[Nazi Germany]]. Britain stood alone with its [[dominion]]s. Menzies called for "all-out war", increasing federal powers and introducing conscription. Menzies' minority government came to rely on just two independents after the [[1940 Australian federal election|1940 election]].<ref>David Littlewood,  "Conscription in Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada during the Second World War," ''History Compass''  18#4 (2020) [https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12611 online ]</ref>

In January 1941, Menzies flew to Britain to discuss the weakness of Singapore's defences. Arriving in London during [[The Blitz]], Menzies was invited into [[Winston Churchill]]'s [[United Kingdom coalition government (1940–1945)|British War Cabinet]] for the duration of his visit. Returning to Australia, with the threat of Japan imminent and with the Australian army suffering badly in the [[Battle of Greece|Greek]] and [[Battle of Crete|Crete]] campaigns, Menzies re-approached the Labor Party to form a War Cabinet. Unable to secure their support, and with an unworkable parliamentary majority, Menzies resigned as prime minister. The coalition held office for another month, before the independents switched allegiance and [[John Curtin]] was sworn in as prime minister.<ref name="primeministers.naa.gov.au"/> Eight weeks later, Japan [[attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]].

[[File:9 Div Tobruk(AWM 020779).jpg|thumb|left|A patrol from the 2/13th Infantry Battalion at Tobruk in North Africa, (AWM 020779). The 1941 [[Siege of Tobruk]] saw an Australian garrison halt the advance of Hitler's Panzer divisions for the first time since the commencement of the war.]]

From 1940 to 1941, Australian forces played prominent roles in the fighting in the [[Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II|Mediterranean theatre]], including [[Operation Compass]], the [[Siege of Tobruk]], the [[Balkans Campaign (World War II)|Greek campaign]], the [[Battle of Crete]], the [[Syria–Lebanon Campaign]] and the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]].

A garrison of around 14,000 Australian soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant General [[Leslie Morshead]] was besieged in [[Tobruk, Libya]], by the German-Italian army of General [[Erwin Rommel]] between April and August 1941. The Nazi propagandist [[Lord Haw Haw]] derided the defenders as 'rats', a term the soldiers adopted as an ironic compliment: "[[The Rats of Tobruk]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/tobruk/|title=Encyclopedia &#124; Australian War Memorial|publisher=Awm.gov.au|access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> Vital in the defence of Egypt and the [[Suez Canal]], the siege saw the advance of the German army halted for the first time and provided a morale boost for the [[British Commonwealth]], which was then standing alone against Hitler.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

The war came closer to home when {{HMAS|Sydney|1934|6}} was lost with all hands in [[Sinking of HMAS Sydney|battle]] with the German raider ''Kormoran'' in November 1941.

With most of Australia's best forces committed to fight against Hitler in the Middle East, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the US naval base in Hawaii, on 8 December 1941 (eastern Australia time). The British battleship {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} and battlecruiser {{HMS|Repulse|1916|6}} sent to defend Singapore were sunk soon afterwards. Australia was ill-prepared for an attack, lacking armaments, modern fighter aircraft, heavy bombers, and aircraft carriers. While demanding reinforcements from Churchill, on 27 December 1941 Curtin published an historic announcement:<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite web|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/curtin/in-office.aspx|title=Primeministers.naa.gov.au|publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au|access-date=14 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117203302/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/curtin/in-office.aspx|archive-date=17 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> "The Australian Government... regards the Pacific struggle as primarily one in which the United States and Australia must have the fullest say in the direction of the democracies' fighting plan. Without inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom."<ref>Cited in Frank Crowley (1973) Vol 2, p. 51</ref>

[[File:Curtinmacarthur.jpg|thumb|US General [[Douglas MacArthur]], Commander of Allied forces in the Pacific, with Prime Minister [[John Curtin]]]]

British Malaya quickly collapsed, shocking the Australian nation. British, Indian and Australian troops made a disorganised [[Fall of Singapore|last stand at Singapore]], before surrendering on 15 February 1942. Around 15,000 Australian soldiers became prisoners of war. Curtin predicted that the "battle for Australia" would now follow. On 19 February, [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] suffered a devastating [[Air raids on Darwin, 19 February 1942|air raid]], the first time the Australian mainland had ever been attacked by enemy forces. For the following 19 months, [[Air raids on Australia, 1942–43|Australia was attacked from the air]] almost 100 times.

[[File:POWs Burma Thai RR.jpg|thumb|left|Dutch and Australian [[Prisoner of war|PoWs]] at Tarsau, in [[Thailand]] in 1943. 22,000 Australians were captured by the Japanese; 8,000 died as POWs.]]

Two battle-hardened Australian divisions were already steaming from the Middle East for Singapore. Churchill wanted them diverted to Burma, but Curtin refused, and anxiously awaited their return to Australia. US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] ordered his commander in the Philippines, General [[Douglas MacArthur]], to formulate a Pacific defence plan with Australia in March 1942. Curtin agreed to place Australian forces under the command of General MacArthur, who became "Supreme Commander of the South West Pacific". Curtin had thus presided over a fundamental shift in Australia's foreign policy. MacArthur moved his headquarters to Melbourne in March 1942 and American troops began massing in Australia. In late May 1942, Japanese [[midget submarine]]s sank an [[HMAS Kuttabul (ship)|accommodation vessel]] in a daring raid on [[Attack on Sydney Harbour|Sydney Harbour]]. On 8 June 1942, two Japanese submarines briefly shelled Sydney's eastern suburbs and the city of Newcastle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/japsubs/midgetsubs.htm|title=Midget Submarines history at|publisher=Home.st.net.au|access-date=29 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413131337/http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/japsubs/midgetsubs.htm|archive-date=13 April 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In an effort to isolate Australia, the Japanese planned a seaborne invasion of [[Port Moresby]], in the Australian [[Territory of New Guinea]]. In May 1942, the [[United States Navy|US Navy]] engaged the Japanese in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] and halted the attack. The [[Battle of Midway]] in June effectively defeated the Japanese navy and the Japanese army launched a land assault on Moresby from the north.<ref name="ReferenceA3"/> Between July and November 1942, Australian forces repulsed Japanese attempts on the city by way of the [[Kokoda Track campaign|Kokoda Track]], in the highlands of [[New Guinea]]. The [[Battle of Milne Bay]] in August 1942 was the first Allied defeat of Japanese land forces.

[[File:Kaiapit flags 057510.jpg|thumb|Australian soldiers display Japanese flags they captured at [[Battle of Kaiapit|Kaiapit]], New Guinea in 1943.]]

Meanwhile, in North Africa, the [[Axis Powers]] had driven Allies back into [[Egypt]]. A turning point came between July and November 1942, when [[9th Division (Australia)|Australia's 9th Division]] played a crucial role in some of the heaviest fighting of the [[First Battle of El Alamein|First]] and [[Second Battle of El Alamein]], which turned the [[North Africa Campaign]] in favour of the Allies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/el_alamein/reading.asp|title=Encyclopedia &#124; Australian War Memorial|publisher=Awm.gov.au|date=23 October 1942|access-date=14 July 2011|archive-date=14 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514060532/http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/el_alamein/reading.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Battle of Buna–Gona]], between November 1942 and January 1943, set the tone for the bitter final stages of the [[New Guinea campaign]], which persisted into 1945. The offensives in Papua and New Guinea of 1943–44 were the single largest series of connected operations ever mounted by the Australian armed forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/23/new-guinea-offensive/|title=Wartime Issue 23 – New Guinea Offensive &#124; Australian War Memorial|publisher=Awm.gov.au|access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> On 14 May 1943, the [[AHS Centaur|Australian Hospital Ship ''Centaur'']], though clearly marked as a medical vessel, was sunk by Japanese raiders off the Queensland coast, killing 268, including all but one of the nursing staff, further enraging popular opinion against Japan.<ref>[http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2008/05/14/the-sinking-of-the-centaur/ The sinking of the ''Centaur'' | Australian War Memorial<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/centaur/ Centaur (Hospital ship) | Australian War Memorial<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Australian prisoners of war]] were at this time suffering severe ill-treatment in the Pacific Theatre. In 1943, 2,815 Australian Pows died constructing Japan's [[Burma-Thailand Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/stolenyears/ww2/japan/burmathai/|title=Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war &#124; Australian War Memorial|publisher=Awm.gov.au|access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> In 1944, the Japanese inflicted the [[Sandakan Death March]] on 2,000 Australian and British prisoners of war—only 6 survived. This was the single worst war crime perpetrated against Australians in war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/stolenyears/ww2/japan/sandakan/|title=Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war &#124; Australian War Memorial|publisher=Awm.gov.au|date=20 May 1945|access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref>

MacArthur largely excluded Australian forces from the main push north into the Philippines and Japan. It was left to Australia to lead [[amphibious assault]]s against Japanese bases in [[Borneo campaign (1945)|Borneo]]. Curtin suffered from ill health from the strains of office and died weeks before the war ended, replaced by [[Ben Chifley]].

Of Australia's wartime population of seven million, almost one million men and women served in a branch of the services during the six years of warfare. By war's end, gross enlistments totalled 727,200 men and women in the [[Australian Army]] (of whom 557,800 served overseas), 216,900 in the RAAF and 48,900 in the RAN. More than 39,700 were killed or died as prisoners of war, about 8,000 of whom died as prisoners of the Japanese.<ref>Jan Bassett (1986) pp. 228–29. Also see Gavin Long (1963) '' The Final Campaigns'', Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 1, Volume 7, pp. 622–37. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.</ref>

===Australian home front===
{{Main|Australian home front during World War II}}
[[File:Victory job (AWM ARTV00332).jpg|thumb|Australian women were encouraged to contribute to the war effort by joining one of the female branches of the armed forces or participating in the labour force.]]
[[File:Darwin 42.jpg|thumb|The [[Bombing of Darwin]], 19 February 1942. [[Air raids on Australia, 1942–43|Japanese air raids on Australia]] during 1942–43 killed hundreds of servicemen and civilians, while [[Axis naval activity in Australian waters]] threatened shipping between 1940 and 1945.]]

While the Australian civilian population suffered less at the hands of the Axis powers than did other Allied nations in Asia and Europe, Australia nevertheless came under direct attack by Japanese naval forces and aerial bombardments, particularly through 1942 and 1943, resulting in hundreds of fatalities and fuelling fear of Japanese invasion. [[Axis naval activity in Australian waters]] also brought the war close to home for Australians. Austerity measures, rationing and labour controls measures were all implemented to assist the war effort.<ref>[http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/homefront/ Home front: Second World War | Australian War Memorial<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Australian civilians dug air raid shelters, trained in civil defence and first aid, and Australian ports and cities were equipped with anti-aircraft and sea defences.<ref>[http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/underattack/underattack/ Australia under attack | Australian War Memorial<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The Australian economy was markedly affected by World War II.<ref>Bolton cited in John Close "Australians in Wartime" in Ray Willis et al. (eds.) (1982) p. 209</ref> Expenditure on war reached 37 per cent of GDP by 1943–44, compared to 4 per cent expenditure in 1939–1940.<ref>John Robertson (1984) p. 198.</ref> Total war expenditure was £2,949&nbsp;million between 1939 and 1945.<ref>Gavin Long (1973) ''The Six Years War'' p. 474. Australian War Memorial, Canberra. {{ISBN|0-642-99375-0}}</ref>

[[File:He's coming South.jpg|thumb|left|1942 Australian propaganda poster. Australia feared invasion by [[Imperial Japan]] following the invasion of the Australian [[Territory of New Guinea]] and [[Fall of Singapore]] in early 1942.]]

Although the peak of army enlistments occurred in June–July 1940, when more than 70,000 enlisted, it was the [[John Curtin|Curtin Labor government]], formed in October 1941, that was largely responsible for "a complete revision of the whole Australian economic, domestic and industrial life".<ref name="John Robertson 1984 p. 195">John Robertson (1984) p. 195</ref> Rationing of fuel, clothing and some food was introduced, (although less severely than in Britain) Christmas holidays curtailed, "brown outs" introduced and some public transport reduced. From December 1941, the Government evacuated all women and children from Darwin and northern Australia, and more than 10,000 refugees arrived from South East Asia as Japan advanced.<ref>John Robertson (1984) pp. 202–03</ref> In January 1942, the Manpower Directorate was set up "to ensure the organisation of Australians in the best possible way to meet all defence requirements."<ref name="John Robertson 1984 p. 195"/> Minister for War Organisation of Industry, [[John Dedman]] introduced a degree of austerity and government control previously unknown, to such an extent that he was nicknamed "the man who killed Father Christmas".

In May 1942 uniform tax laws were introduced in Australia, ending state governments' control of income taxation. "The significance of this decision was greater than any other... made throughout the war, as it added extensive powers to the Federal Government and greatly reduced the financial autonomy of the states."<ref>Frank Crowley (1973) Vol 2, p. 55</ref>

Manufacturing grew significantly because of the war. "In 1939, there were only three Australian firms producing machine tools, but by 1943 there were more than one hundred doing so."<ref>John Close "Australians in Wartime" in Ray Willis et al. (eds.) (1982) p. 210</ref> From having few front line aircraft in 1939, the RAAF had become the fourth largest allied Air force by 1945. A number of aircraft were built under licence in Australia before the war's end, notably the [[Bristol Beaufort|Beaufort]] and [[Beaufighter]], although the majority of aircraft were from Britain and later, the US.<ref>John Robertson (1984) pp.189–90</ref> The [[CAC Boomerang|Boomerang fighter]], designed and built in four months of 1942, emphasised the desperate state Australia found itself in as the Japanese advanced.

Australia also created, virtually from nothing, a significant female workforce engaged in direct war production. Between 1939 and 1944 the number of women working in factories rose from 171,000 to 286,000.<ref>John Close "Australians in Wartime" in Ray Willis et al. (eds.) (1982) p. 211</ref> Dame [[Enid Lyons]], widow of former Prime Minister [[Joseph Lyons]], became the first woman elected to the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in 1943, joining the Robert Menzies' new centre-right [[Liberal Party of Australia]], formed in 1945. At the same election, [[Dorothy Tangney]] became the first woman elected to the [[Australian Senate|Senate]].