On 3 January 1941 the 6th Division launched an attack on
Bardia, which was quickly taken for the loss of 130 killed and 326
wounded. Two days later, the 6th was outside Tobruk, well into
Cyrenaica. Tobruk, a major Italian fortress, was attacked on 21 January
and captured the next day, with 49 Australians killed and 306 wounded.The retreating enemy was pursued relentlessly and by 6 February, the 6th
Division had reached Benghazi. On 9 March the 9th Division
began to relieve the 6th. In two months an Italian Army of ten
divisions, some 1300 guns and 400 tanks had been destroyed.
Change was soon to occur, with advance elements of the German Afrika
Korps landing in North Africa during late February. Their advance forced the withdrawal of British and Dominion troops from
most of their recently captured territory in Cyrenaica. By 11 April, the 9th
Division, 18th Infantry Brigade and British armoured and
artillery units were besieged in Tobruk, with German forces as far forward
as the Egyptian frontier.
Tobruk was heavily attacked on 30 April but,
although a salient was forced on the defences, the garrison held firm.
Another attack on 16 May was similarly defeated while the salient was
steadily reduced by intense patrolling. During September and October the
Australians were relieved for a well-earned rest. Some 3000 casualties had
been sustained and 941 taken prisoner.
Further east, following a coup d’etat by Rashid Ali in early May,
Iraq abrogated its treaty with Britain. The Iraqi Army was quickly
defeated by British and Kurdish troops and the internal situation
stabilised. However, the risk of German intervention, not just in Iraq but
in areas under Vichy French control; made it strategically necessary to
take control of Syria as well.
Syria was invaded on 8 June by the
7th Division (less 18th
Brigade in Tobruk), together with one Indian and two Free French brigades.
The attack followed three routes: the direct road to Damascus, through the
mountains to the Damascus/ Beirut road at Zahle, and the coast road to
Beirut. The Vichy French fought courageously, but by 15 June the allied
force had reached the line Kiswe-Merdjayoun-Jezzine-Sidon.
strong Vichy counter-attack in the vicinity of Merdjayoun, Damascus was
captured on 21 June. Fighting continued until 12 July when the Vichy
French were granted an armistice. This campaign resulted in 1600
Australian casualties, including 416 killed in action.
In addition to their military reversals in North Africa in February and
March 1941, the Italians were in danger of being driven out of Greece. On
1 March 1941 German forces had entered Bulgaria and, on 6 April,
Yugoslavia. Allied assistance had been ordered to Greece, and by 3 April a
British armoured brigade and the ANZAC Corps (most of the 6th Australian Division and the New Zealand Division
) had arrived. On 10
April elements of this force made contact with the Germans some fifteen
kilometres south of the Yugoslav.
Outnumbered and with the enemy in total
control of the air, the force was forced back through the Aliakmon and
Thermopylae Lines to Athens area. Resistance finally collapsed but the
skill and resolution of the Navy ensured that almost every fighting unit
was evacuated, by 28 April, to Egypt or Crete.
On 20 May Germany launched a parachute and airborne attack on Crete.
Awaiting them was an 'ad hoc' mixed force of British, New Zealand,
Australian and Greek troops, most recent evacuees from Greece, with little
heavy equipment and almost no air support. By 26 May the position of the
outnumbered allies was hopeless and evacuation ordered. Despite crippling
losses the Navy saved 15,000 troops. A further 12,000 including 3000
Australians could not be evacuated and were taken prisoner.
Following the entry of Japan into the war on 7 December 1941, the 6th
and 7th Divisions returned to Australia. The 9th
Division remained in the Middle East. Late in May 1942 reinforced Axis
forces began to advance in the Western Desert, and by 20-21 June had
recaptured Tobruk. They were finally halted by three days of intense
fighting at the El Alamein defensive positions, only some 90 kilometres of
Alexandria., The 9th Division, then in Syria awaiting transport
to Australia, was hurried forward to El Alamein. On 30 August the Axis
forces again attacked but were defeated at Alam el Halfa. The German
General von Mellenthin was later to describe this action as 'the turning
point of the desert war’.
On 23 October the 8th Army attacked at El Alamein, the
battle reaching a climax a week later. An attack by the 9th
Division north toward the sea gained ground which successfully held
against heavy German counter-attacks. After intense effort British
armoured forces then broke out through the corridor originally secured by
the 9th Division and by 9 November the Axis forces were in full
retreat. This success released the 9th Division to return to
Australia, where it arrived in February 1943. Australian losses for the
whole period of the El Alamein operations from 7 July were 5809, including
1225 dead, 3638 wounded and 946 taken prisoner.
World War II - South East Asia 1941-42
Following September 1940 when Japanese forces entered northern
Indo-China, the Australian Government had become most concerned about the
security of Singapore. From October 1940, the British and Dominion
garrison there was steadily strengthened, including the 8th
Division (less one brigade) which arrived in February 1941. In accordance
with an agreement with the Netherlands East Indies made in early 1941,
Australian battalion groups were landed at Ambon and Timor by mid-December
The Pearl Harbour attack was not the only Japanese operation in early
December 1941. Japanese forces landed in Thailand and Malaya and attacked
the Philippines. They advanced quickly, capturing Rabaul by 23 January
1942 and accepting the capitulation of Singapore on 15 February. Both
Timor and Ambon were overrun by the Japanese by 23 February 1942 (
although some 300 Australians continued to harass them in Timor until
withdrawn between December 1942 and February 1943). By 12 March the
Japanese had taken Java.
Australian casualties in the campaign were 18,940, including 1,789
killed and 1,306 wounded
World War II - South West Pacific 1941- 42
Elsewhere in the Pacific the Japanese advance had been equally
dramatic, reaching Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea by 8 March 1942.
Following a Japanese landing in the Philippines on 10 December 1941,
Bataan surrendered on 9 April 1942 and Corregidor a month later.
Fortunately the US Navy, supported by ships of the RAN, turned back a
Japanese convoy headed for Port Moresby at the Battle of the Coral Sea on
5-8 May. After a further naval defeat at Midway on 4-6 June, the Japanese
attempted an overland attack against Port Moresby.
In December 1941 Australia's seven militia divisions were mobilised
and, early in January 1942, Australia agreed to redeploy the 1st
Australian Corps (6th and 7th Divisions ) from the
Middle East to the Far East. At about the same time the Port Moresby
garrison was strengthened by two militia battalions and other units. The
destination of 1st Australian Corps was changed to Australia
following the fall of Singapore.
In March-April 1942 the United States formed the South West Pacific
Command and, with Australia’s agreement, General Douglas MacArthur was
appointed supreme commander, with General Sir Thomas Blamey as his
Commander Allied Land Forces.
The Japanese continued their campaign to seize New Guinea and on 21-22
July 1942 landed two infantry regiments with supporting troops at Gona and
quickly moved inland to the northern start of the Kokoda Track. They
planned to advance across this tortuous path and take Port Moresby from
the north. The small Australian forces in the Buna/Gona area, and later
the 39th Battalion coming up the Track to reinforce Kokoda
fought a desperate rearguard action but were pushed all the way across the
mountains to Isurava. On 23 August, the 21st Brigade of the 7th
Division was sent into action on the Track. Fierce fighting continued but
after a desperate struggle the Australians withdrew closer to Port
Meanwhile Milne Bay had been reinforced by Army and RAAF units under
the command of Major General Cyril Clowes, which pre-empted a Japanese
landing force attempt to capture the Bay as additional base from which to
advance on Port Moresby. The Australian Army and Air force worked together
to defeat the Japanese amphibious force. Two weeks after landing the
Japanese withdrew their survivors. This was the first time in the Pacific
War that a Japanese amphibious force had been defeated.113
By 2 November the reinforced Australians had retaken Kokoda and on 11
November Japanese fighting units were forced to abandon Oivi. By 13
November the Australians had reached the Kumusi River. The battle for the
Kokoda Track was over, although Japanese units continued to resist
strongly in the extremely difficult terrain adjoining the coast around
Buna, Gona and Sanananda until mid-January 1943.
World War II - South West Pacific 1943-45
Allied intentions for 1943 included plans to recapture the Solomons as
far as southern Bougainville, the New Guinea coast as far as Madang and
the west coast of New Britain. The establishment of airfields on Kiriwina
and Woodlark Islands was also planned. A defensive posture was to be taken
against any possible attack against northern Australia from the
Merauke-Torres Strait area.
By now, as in World War I, Australia was facing acute manpower problems
from maintaining an Army of twelve divisions - a far larger number in
proportion to population than Britain, America or Japan. Battle casualties
and a high rate of tropical disease, particularly malaria and dysentery that had reduced the Army by the equivalent of a division.
The provisions of the Defence
Act, preventing conscripts from serving outside Australian territory,
compounded the manpower problem. Many militia units were already
designated as AIF since three-quarters of their strengths were volunteers.
In February 1943, an Act was passed allowing the militia to serve anywhere
in the South West Pacific Area below the equator.
By early 1943 the Japanese had heavily reinforced the Lae-Salamaua area
and were exploiting to the south-east through Mubo to Wau, but were forced
back to Mubo. In early March enemy attempts to reinforce Lae were defeated
in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
By 14 July, the 3rd Division had cleared Mubo and then laid
siege to Salamaua, held by the substantially reinforced Japanese 51st
Division. Salamaua fell on 11 September and Lae, following operations by
the 7th and 9th Divisions to its west and east, fell
on 16 September.
The 7th Division continued the offensive, moving up the
Markham Valley and the Ramu River, to occupy Dumpu by 4 October. Although
heavy fighting developed on Shaggy Ridge in the Finisterre Mountains to
the north, Japanese resistance collapsed by the end of January 1944.
Meanwhile, on 22 September, the 9th Division had made a further
landing north of Finschafen. Bitter fighting followed, particularly for
the possession of Satelberg which did not fall until 24 November. By 8
December, the Japanese were in retreat, Sio falling on 15 January 1944.
The three AIF divisions were withdrawn for rest and retraining, being
replaced by the 3rd, 5th and 11th Militia
Allied successes opened the way for a US invasion of the
As Australia’s national strategy was focussed on clearing Japanese
forces from New Guinea, Australian forces were used to relieve the US
garrisons in these territories. Due to manpower problems, the relieving
Australian forces were much smaller than the US garrisons.
The ensuing Australian campaigns have since been the subject of much
debate. From October 1944 onwards the 3rd Division and two
independent brigades were moved to the Solomons, the 5th
Division was allotted to New Britain and the 6th Division to
Aitape, while the 8th Brigade continued its operations in the
Madang-Sepik River area.
Plans for 1945 committed I Corps (7th and 9th
Divisions) to operations to the west of the American invasion of the Philippines, to capture areas in Borneo suitable as naval and air bases
for future operations, to capture and hold the Borneo oil installations
and re-establish the Netherlands East Indies Government in Borneo.
On 29 November, the unofficial policy of live-and-let-live between the
American and Japanese forces on Bougainville was broken by the 3rd
Division offensives to the north, across the centre and to the south of
the Island. These continued, against periodic strong resistance and
counter-attacks by the Japanese, through the first half of 1945.
On New Britain, operations against the main Japanese positions across the
Gazelle Peninsula were launched by the 5th Division, initially
from Jacquinot Bay where it arrived in early November 1944. From mid-March
the Division had reduced the Japanese garrison to such an extant that
operational requirements were reduced to active patrolling forward of the
Meanwhile in New Guinea, the 6th Division developed its
operations eastward along the coast from Aitape and through the Torricelli
Ranges towards Wewak, which was secured by the end of May; operations
continued against the Japanese forces which had withdrawn into the Prince
Alexander Ranges until fighting ended in August 1945.
Operations on Borneo commenced eight days before the fighting in Europe
ended. On 1 May 1945 the 9th Division landed at Tarakan and
against heavy opposition secured the airfield. However obstinate
opposition by the Japanese continued around Tarakan until the enemy
withdrew on 14 June, being pursued relentlessly until the ceasefire in
The 9th Division, on 10 June, was committed to capturing Brunei
following landings at Labuan, the Muara Islands and Brunei Bluff. On 1
July, on the other side of the island, the 7th Division landed
at Balikpapan in the largest amphibious assault undertaken by the
Australians. After heavy fighting, the enemy withdrew on 21 July.
World War II Army Casualties
From over 724 000 enlistments, with almost 400,000 serving outside
Australia, there were over 18,000 deaths, 22,000 wounded and over 20,000
prisoners of war, mainly from the early stage of the war with Japan.