Australian home front during World War II
Although most Australian civilians lived far from the front line, the Australian home front during World War II played a significant role in the Allied victory and led to permanent changes to Australian society.
During the war the
Menzies Government
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.[2]
Earle Page as leader of the Country Party and John Curtin as leader of the Labor Party both pledged support to the declaration, and Parliament passed the National Security Act 1939. A War Cabinet was formed after the declaration of war, initially composed of Prime Minister Menzies and five senior ministers (RG Casey, GA Street, Senator McLeay, HS Gullet and World War I Prime Minister Billy Hughes). When Page still refused to join a government under Menzies, he was replaced by Archie Cameron as leader of the Country Party on 13 September 1939, allowing the conservative parties to re-form a Coalition by March 1940.[3]
The recruitment of a volunteer military force for service at home and abroad was announced, the Second Australian Imperial Force, and a citizen militia was organised for local defence. Menzies committed to provide 20,000 men to augment British forces in Europe, and on 15 November 1939 announced the reintroduction of conscription for home-defence service, effective 1 January 1940, freeing volunteers for overseas service.[4]
By June 1940, Germany had overrun the
Jews seeking to escape the Nazis such as two-year-old
With the 1940 election looming, a Royal Australian Air Force crash at Canberra Airport in August 1940 resulted in the death of the Chief of the General Staff and three senior ministers.[3] The Labor Party meanwhile experienced a split along pro- and anti-Communist lines over policy towards the Soviet Union for its co-operation with Nazi Germany in the invasion of Poland. At the 1940 federal election in September, the UAP–Country Party Coalition and the Labor parties each won 36 seats and the Menzies Government was forced to rely on the support of two Independents to continue in office.[15]
Menzies proposed an all party unity government to break the impasse, but the Labor Party refused to join.[3] Curtin agreed instead to take a seat on a newly created Advisory War Council in October 1940.[15] Cameron resigned as Country Party leader in October 1940, to be replaced by Arthur Fadden, who became Treasurer and Menzies unhappily conceded to allow Page back into his ministry.
In January 1941, Menzies flew to Britain to discuss the weakness of Singapore's defences and sat with
After Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, Australian trade unions supported the war. Australian Women's Army Service was formed in August 1941 as a non-medical support service for the military.
In August 1941, Cabinet decided that Menzies should travel back to Britain to represent Australia in the War Cabinet, but this time the Labor caucus refused to support the plan. Menzies announced to his Cabinet that he thought he should resign and advise the Governor-General to invite Curtin to form Government. The Cabinet instead insisted he approach Curtin again to form a war cabinet. Unable to secure Curtin's support, and with an unworkable parliamentary majority, Menzies resigned as prime minister and leader of the UAP on 29 August 1941. He was succeeded as prime minister by Fadden, the leader of the Country Party, who held office for a month. Billy Hughes, then aged 79, replaced Menzies as leader of the UAP. The two independents crossed the floor, bringing down the Coalition government, and enabling Labor under Curtin to form a minority government.
Curtin government
Eight weeks after the formation of the Curtin government, on 7 December 1941 (eastern Australia time), Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the US naval base in Hawaii. On 10 December 1941, the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse sent to defend Singapore were sunk by Japan. British Malaya quickly collapsed, shocking the Australian population. British, Indian and Australian troops made a disorganised last stand at Singapore, before surrendering on 15 February 1942. On 27 December 1941, Curtin demanded reinforcements from Churchill, and published an historic announcement:[16]
"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."[17]
Curtin predicted that the "
U.S. President
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 U.S. 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 Port Moresby from the north.[16]
The Australian Women's Land Army was formed on 27 July 1942 under the jurisdiction of the Director General of Manpower to combat rising labour shortages in the farming sector.
The
Curtin went on to lead federal Labor to its greatest win with two thirds of seats in the House of Representatives and over 58% of the two-party preferred vote at the 1943 federal election in August.[citation needed] Labor won 49 seats to 12 United Australia Party, 7 Country Party, 3 Country National Party (Queensland), 1 Queensland Country Party, 1 Liberal Country Party (Victoria) and 1 Independent. The Labor Party also won all 19 of the seats contested for the Senate.[20]
Concerned to maintain British commitment to the defence of Australia, Prime Minister Curtin announced in November 1943 that
As the end of the war approached, Curtin sought to firm up Australian influence in the South Pacific following the war but also sought to ensure a continuing role for the British Empire, calling Australia "the bastion of British institutions, the British way of life and the system of democratic government in the Southern World". In April 1944, Curtin held talks on postwar planning with President Franklin Roosevelt of the US and with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain and gained agreement for the Australian economy to begin transitioning from military to post-war economy. He returned to Australia and campaigned for an unsuccessful
Prime Minister Curtin suffered from ill health from the strains of office. He suffered a major heart attack in November 1944. Facing the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia opposition led by Robert Menzies, Curtin struggled with exhaustion and a heavy work load – excusing himself from Parliamentary question time and unable to concentrate on the large number of parliamentary bills being drafted dealing with the coming peace. Curtin returned to hospital in April with lung congestion. With Deputy Prime Minister Frank Forde in the United States and Ben Chifley serving as acting prime minister, it was Chifley who announced the end of the war in Europe on 9 May 1945.[16]
When Curtin died towards the end of the Second World War in July 1945, Forde served as prime minister from 6–13 July, before the party elected Ben Chifley as Curtin's successor.[22] Following his 1945 election as leader of the Labor Party, Chifley, a former railway engine driver, became Australia's 16th prime minister on 13 July 1945.[23] The Second World War ended with the defeat of Japan in the Pacific just four weeks later. Curtin is widely regarded as one of the country's greatest prime ministers.[24] General MacArthur said that Curtin was "one of the greatest of the wartime statesmen".[25]
Air raids
The Japanese air force made 97 air raids against Australia over a 19-month period starting with Darwin in February 1942 until 1943. The Darwin area was hit 64 times. Horn Island was struck 9 times, Broome and Exmouth Gulf 4 times, Townsville and Millingimbi three times, Port Hedland and Wyndham twice and Derby, Drysdale, Katherine, Mossman, Onslow, and Port Patterson once.[26]
Military production
Production of selected weapons for the Australian Army[27]
Weapon | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | Wartime total |
Lee–Enfield .303 rifle | n/a | 20 942 | 79 858 | 101 600 | 145 900 | 47 060 | 15 690 | 411 050 |
Vickers MMG | n/a | 846 | 1 971 | 33 56 | 2 224 | 1 993 | 1 046 | 11 436 |
Bren LMG | 1 077 | 5 615 | 6 812 | 3 152 | 778 | 17 434 | ||
2 pounder AT gun
|
576 | 924 | 80 | 1 580 | ||||
6 pounder AT gun
|
192 | 708 | 900 | |||||
17 pounder AT gun
|
128 | |||||||
25 pounder field gun
|
193 | 877 | 313 | 552 | 1 905 | |||
25 pounder field gun (short) | 112 | 75 | 32 | 219 | ||||
Bofors 40 mm AA gun
|
11 | 186 | 75 | 18 | 290 | |||
3.7 inch AA gun
|
40 | 138 | 185 | 131 | 3 | 497 | ||
Owen SMG | 102 | 15 096 | 21 555 | 8 710 | 45 463 | |||
Austen SMG
|
2 283 | 16 565 | 1 057 | 19 905 | ||||
2-inch mortar
|
1 283 | 717 | 2 000 | |||||
3-inch mortar
|
1 444 | 932 | 837 | 93 | 3 006 | |||
4.2 inch mortar
|
1 | 70 | 229 | 300 | ||||
Machine-gun carrier | 1 544 | 2 251 | 1 084 | 104 | 4 983 | |||
Sentinel tank | 25 | 40 | 65 | |||||
Rover Light Armoured Car | 238 | |||||||
Dingo scout car | 245 |
Australian aircraft production during World War II[28]
Aircraft | 1939–40 | 1940–41 | 1941–42 | 1942–43 | 1943–44 | 1944–45 | Wartime total |
Beaufort | 76 | 285 | 312 | 27 | 700 | ||
Beaufighter | 3 | 281 | 329 | ||||
Wirraway | 75 | 225 | 320 | 30 | 60 | 717 | |
Wackett | 13 | 187 | 200 | ||||
Boomerang | 105 | 102 | 43 | 250 | |||
Mustang
|
4 | 18 | |||||
Tiger Moth | 8 | 453 | 508 | 66 | 35 | 1 070 | |
Dragon | 87 | 87 | |||||
Mosquito | 6 | 82 | 115 |
See also
- Australian women during World War II
- Australian Women's Army Service
- Australian Women's Land Army
- Home front during World War II
- Military history of Australia during World War II
- Military history of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War
- Military production during World War II
- Volunteer Air Observer Corp
Notes
- ISBN 9780522844597.
- ISBN 0-85885-072-9
- ^ a b c d "In office - Robert Menzies". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ^ Long (1961). p. 39.
- ^ F.K. Crowley, ed., Modern Australia in Documents: 1939–1970 (1973) 2: 23–24
- ^ F.K. Crowley, ed., Modern Australia in Documents: 1939–1970 (1973) 2: 29–30, 35–36
- ^ "Wartime internment camps in Australia". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ^ De Jong-Duldig, Eva (8 August 2017). "Driftwood: escape and survival through art". National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Eva De Jong-Duldig - Escape and survival through art". SBS German.
- ^ Phil Mercer (April 29, 2022). "Australian Musical Charts Family's Escape from Nazis in Europe". Voice of America.
- ^ Katz, Deborah (September 4, 2019). "Holocaust Footnotes: Escaping To Singapore". The Jewish Press.
- ^ Miriam Cosic (April 29, 2022). "Melbourne’s newest musical a multi-generational European family saga," Plus61J.
- ^ Melinda Mockridge (2014). "Art behind the wire: the untold story of refugee families interned in Australia during the Second World War," Victorian History Library.
- ^ a b "To the other side of the world," National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism.
- ^ a b "Before office - John Curtin". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d "In office - John Curtin". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ^ Cited in Frank Crowley (1973) Vol 2, p.51
- ^ Beaumont (1996). p. 17.
- ^ "Midget Submarines history at". Home.st.net.au. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Elections - John Curtin". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ISBN 9780522847178.
- ^ "Francis Forde". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ISBN 9780522845129.
- ^ "John Curtin". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ General Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences, Heinemann, London, 1967. Page 258.
- ^ ["Air raids on the Australian mainland". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ Beaumont (2001), p 321.
- ^ Beaumont (2001), p 453.
References
- ISBN 0-17-006408-5.
- Barrett, John. "Living in Australia, 1939–1945." Journal of Australian Studies 1#2 (1977): 107–118.
- Beaumont, Joan (2001). Australian Defence: Sources and Statistics. The Australian Centenary History of Defence. Volume VI. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554118-9.
- Butlin, S.J. (1955). War Economy, 1939–1942. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
- Butlin, S.J.; Schedvin, C.B. (1977). War Economy, 1942–1945. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. ISBN 0-642-99406-4.
- Darian-Smith, Kate. On the home front: Melbourne in wartime, 1939–1945 (Oxford University Press, 1990)
- Davis, Joan. "'Women's Work' and the Women's Services in the Second World War as Presented in Salt," Hecate (192) v 18#1 pp 64+ online Salt was the magazine of the Australian Army Education Service in the Second World War", with a circulation of 185,000
- Hasluck, Paul (1952). The Government and the People 1939–1941. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
- ISBN 978-0-642-99367-0.
- McKernan, Michael (1983). All in! Australia During the Second World War. Melbourne: Thomas Nelson Australia. ISBN 0-17-005946-4.
- McKernan, Michael (2006). The Strength of a Nation. Six years of Australians fighting for the nation and defending the homeland during WWII. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74114-714-8.
- Mellor, D.P. (1958). The Role of Science and Industry. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 4 – Civil. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
- Saunders, Kay. War on the homefront: state intervention in Queensland 1938–1948 (University of Queensland Press, 1993)
- Spear, Jonathan A. "Embedded: the Australian Red Cross in the Second World War." (PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007) online.
- Spizzica, Mia. "On the Wrong Side of the Law (War): Italian Civilian Internment in Australia during World War Two." International Journal of the Humanities 9#11 (2012): 121–34.
- Willis, Ian C, "The women's voluntary services, a study of war and volunteering in Camden, 1939–1945" PhD thesis, School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 2004. online
Primary sources
- Year Book Australia, 1944–45 (1947) online, highly detailed statistics plus essays
- Year Book Australia, 1946–47 (1949) online, highly detailed statistics plus essays
Further reading
- Hempenstall, Norma (compiler) (2021), When the Americans came to town : Enlarged revised edition, with new information and many more photographs (Enlarged and revised ed.), Capricorn Coast Historical Society Inc — describes the impact of US troops on Central Queensland during World War II
External links
- Australian War Memorial Home front: Second World War