Belinda Murrell: Bringing Australian History To Life | Page 38

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA AND ITS ALLIES

WAGE WAR

OVER HALF A MILLION AUSTRALIANS SERVED IN THE MILITARY DURING WORLD WAR II, OUT OF A
POPULATION OF ABOUT SEVEN MILLION. LIKE MANY OF THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED, AUSTRALIAN
CITIZENS THREW THEMSELVES INTO SUPPORTING THE WAR EFFORT, ENDURING YEARS OF HARDSHIP,
RATIONS AND THE LOSS OF 40,000 OF OUR OWN.

FAST FACTS
✓ Australia declared war on Japan on 8 December
1941 after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor. At Pearl
Harbor, more than 2400 people were killed and a further
1280 were injured.
✓ There were more than ninety-seven bombing
raids on Australia by the Japanese. The first and most
devastating attack on Darwin was on 19 February 1942,
followed by a second attack later that day. In these
raids, more than 243 people were killed and almost 400
wounded.

Image courtesy of the Australia War Memorial.

✓ There were more bombs dropped on Darwin on
19 February 1942 than were dropped on Pearl Harbor.
The attack was carried out by the same force that
attacked Pearl Harbor several weeks before.

Australians from all walks of life contributed to the war effort. The media gave it blanket
coverage, while many teenagers from as young as fifteen or sixteen, both boys and girls,
lied about their age to join the armed services or the women’s auxiliary services. Over
65,000 Australian women served in the armed forces.

In addition to the lives lost in
the 1942 bombings of Darwin,
eight Australian ships were sunk
and most of the civil and military
facilities destroyed.

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✓ The Germans surrendered in Europe on 7 May 1945
after six years of war; however, the Japanese refused to
surrender. In July, t H[YYXY\