Skip to main content
  • dva.gov.au
  • anzaccentenary.gov.au

The Anzac Portal

Home
Home
  • Home
  • History
    • Conflicts
      • Gallipoli and the Anzacs
      • Australians on the Western Front
      • Australia and the Second World War
      • The Thai–Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass
      • The Kokoda Track
      • Australian involvement in South-East Asian conflicts
      • The Korean War
      • Australia and the Vietnam War
    • Special features
      • Veterans' stories
      • Great War memories
      • Victoria Cross recipients
  • Education
    • Education
      • Year 9 History resources
      • Year 10 History resources
      • Anzac Day resources for primary schools
      • All education resources
    • Competitions
      • Anzac Day Schools' Awards
    • Curriculum units
    • Online activities
      • Coming Home: An investigation of the Armistice and Repatriation
      • Keeping the Peace: Investigating Australia's contribution to peacekeeping
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Documents
    • Images
    • Publications
      • 1916—Fromelles and the Somme
      • 1917—Bapaume and Bullecourt
      • 1917—Ypres
      • 1918—Amiens to Hindenburg Line
      • 1918—Villers-Bretonneux to Le Hamel
      • A Bitter Fate—Australians In Malaya & Singapore
      • Ancestry—Stories of multicultural Anzacs
      • Audacity—Stories of heroic Australians in wartime
      • Australian Flying Corps
      • Australian Light Horse—Palestine 1916–1918
      • Bomber Command
      • Candour: Stories in the words of those who served 1914—18
      • Chinese Anzacs
      • Comradeship—Stories of friendship and recreation in wartime
      • Curiosity—Stories of those who report during wartime
      • Decision—Stories of Leadership in the Services
      • Devotion—Stories of Australia's Wartime Nurses
      • Forever Yours
      • Gallipoli
      • Greece and Crete
      • Home Front
      • Laden, Fevered, Starved—the POWs of Sandakan
      • Memories and Memorabilia
      • North Africa and Syria
      • North Beach Gallipoli 1915
      • Operation Jaywick
      • Resource—Stories of innovation in wartime
      • Royal Australian Navy
      • Royal Australian Navy in the Atlantic and Mediterranean
      • The sinking of the Centaur
      • United Kingdom
      • Valuing our veterans
      • World Wide Effort: Australia's Peacekeepers
    • Videos
  • Conduct an event
    • Multimedia
    • Resources
    • Sample Speeches
  • Resources
    • #1MS (1 Minute's Silence)
    • 60th Anniversary of the Korean War
    • 70th Anniversary Tobruk 1941
    • 70th Anniversary of the battles for Greece and Crete
    • 70th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign
    • 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin
    • 95th Anniversary of the landings on Gallipoli
    • ADSA 2019 Poster
    • Anzac Centenary School Link Program
    • Anzac Day poster
    • Anzac Day poster
    • Australia and the Vietnam War
    • Australian Prisoners of War
    • Australian Women in War
    • Australians at War Film Archive
    • Australians on the Western Front
    • Centenary of the Flanders Offensive
    • Centenary of the Royal Australian Navy
    • Centenary of the Sinai–Palestine campaign
    • Centenary of the Somme
    • Commemorating Australian Forces in the Vietnam War
    • Commemorating Australian forces in the Korean War
    • Commemorating Australian forces in the Vietnam War 1962–1975
    • Commemorating Australian prisoners of war on the Burma–Thailand Railway
    • Commemorating the Centenary of the Gallipoli Landings
    • Commemorating the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation
    • Commemorating the first convoy of Australian troops to the First World War
    • Commemorating the return of Australian forces from Afghanistan
    • Discovering Anzacs Exhibition Tips and Tools (Learn Area)
    • Discovering Anzacs School and Community Toolkit (Learn Area)
    • Discovering Anzacs Video Tutorials and Timeline (Learn Area)
    • Gallipoli and the Anzacs
    • Great Debates: The Anzac Legend
    • Great Debates—Conscription
    • Here they come—A day to remember
    • INTERFET—International Forces for East Timor
    • Indigenous Service
    • Investigating Gallipoli
    • Kokoda: Exploring the Second World War campaign in Papua New Guinea
    • Korea—A Cold War conflict (1950–1953)
    • M is for Mates—Animals in Wartime from Ajax to Zep
    • Remembering Them app—Education Activities
    • Remembrance Day Posters 2018
    • Remembrance day
    • Schooling, Service and the Great War (Primary Resource)
    • Schooling, Service and the Great War (Secondary Resource)
    • Symbols of Commemoration Cube Education Activities (Secondary)
    • Symbols of Commemoration Cube—Education Activities (Primary school resource)
    • The Flanders Poppy—A symbol of remembrance
    • The Nominal Roll of Australian Korean War Veterans
    • The Nominal Roll of Australian Vietnam War Veterans
    • The Nominal Roll of Australian World War 2 Veterans
    • The Sinking of HMAS Sydney
    • The War that Changed Us Education Activities
    • Their Spirit, Our History
    • Wartime Snapshots No. 24: Commemorating the centenary of the Armistice
    • Wartime snapshot #23—1918-2018: Centenary of the Final Campaigns
    • We Remember Anzac (Primary Resource)
    • We Remember Anzac (Secondary Resource)
    • We'll Meet Again
  • Gallipoli and the Anzacs
  • Australians on the Western Front
  • Australia and the Second World War
  • The Thai–Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass
  • The Kokoda Track
  • Australian involvement in South-East Asian conflicts
  • The Korean War
  • Australia and the Vietnam War
  • Australia and the Second World War
  • Events
  • Resources
  • Australia and the Second World War
  • Events
    • Libya and the Siege of Tobruk 1941
      • Bardia
      • Remembering Jack
    • Greece and Crete April–May 1941
    • Syria and Lebanon June 1941
      • Frank Hurley
    • Japanese advance (December 1941–March 1942)
      • Invasion of Malaya
        • The 'maimed and bloodstained' group: Parit Sulong
        • Stick to your post
        • The RAAF in Malaya
      • Fall of Rabaul
        • Left to their fate...
        • A miserable scene
        • Hungry and ... cold
      • Fall of Singapore
        • Ordered to leave
        • The final hours...
        • Unconditional surrender
      • Fall of Ambon
        • Driver Doolan...
        • Massacred at Laha ...
        • A life nobly given forever remembered
      • Fall of Timor
        • 'Badly need boots, quinine, money and Tommy-gun ammunition'
        • 'Ted was the sort of boy who would do anything for his mates'
        • Men of Timor
      • Fall of Java
        • Qantas in Java
        • Blackburn VC
        • 'Perth and Yarra sunk during Java action'
      • The defence of Moresby
        • Lost...and found...and lost
        • SS Macdhui
        • The 'Moresby Microbes'
    • Australia under attack 1940–1945
      • Air raids
        • Broome
      • Sydney Harbour
      • Coastal menace
        • City of Rayville
    • Coral Sea, Kokoda and Milne Bay May–September 1942
      • The Battle of the Coral Sea
        • The RAN at the Battle of the Coral Sea
        • The carrier battle
      • Kokoda
        • Fuzzy wuzzy angels
        • Thank God for the Salvos
        • Track 'n teeth
        • Remembering Isurava
      • Milne Bay
        • Maiogura
        • Polly
    • El Alamein October–November 1942
      • Ali Baba and his 20,000 thieves
    • Little-known operations 1939–1945
      • POWs in Eritrea
      • Cutting cables
      • The far east
      • Parer's last reel
    • Beachhead Battles (Papua 1942–1943)
      • The Battle of the Beachheads
        • Ben's diary
        • Medics attacked
        • Starving
    • The Japanese retreat 1943–1944
      • Bloody ridges: Wau-Salamaua
        • 'Bull' Allen
        • 'A war of rain and blood' – Ivor Hele's New Guinea art
      • To Shaggy Ridge
        • The Boomerang
      • Huon Peninsula—Rats in New Guinea
      • Island hopping
    • War at sea 1939–1945
      • Ironbottom Sound
      • Kamikaze
        • The old war horse
      • Landings
      • Lost at sea
        • HMAS Sydney
        • HMAS Parramatta
        • HMAS Matafele
    • Air war Europe 1939–1945
      • Australians in Bomber Command
      • Coastal command
        • Bill Moore
      • Fighter command
    • Last battles
      • Jungle Island
      • Long green shore
        • Aitape-Wewak campaign – Indian POWs
      • In the shadows of Bougainville
      • Return to the Philippines
      • The landings at Borneo
        • Black magic
        • Wally Dyer
    • Victory (8 May 1945/15 August 1945)
      • Death camp
      • 'A' bomb
        • British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF)
      • Surrender
      • Coming home
      • War crimes
      • A family at war: the Lucas family
  • Resources
    • All in—The Australian homefront 1939–1945
      • Emergency: home defence
        • Yanks down under - 'Over-sexed, over-paid and over here'
      • From wool to wirraways
      • Living with war
        • More war work
      • Leaving home
      • Indigenous service
      • Aliens
        • Break out
        • The fox
      • A town at war
    • The Coastwatchers 1941–1945
      • Supply drops
      • Cornelius 'Con' Page
    • Australian Prisoners of War 1940–1945
      • The dixie
      • Gunner Cleary
        • The marches
      • Found
      • Forced marches

You are here

  • Home
  • History
  • Conflicts
  • Australia and the Second World War

Events

Libya and the Siege of Tobruk 1941

Libya and the Siege of Tobruk 1941

In 1941, Australians fought in land and air campaigns in Egypt and Libya in North Africa. Three AIF divisions - the 6th, 7th and 9th - fought in those countries.

Greece and Crete April–May 1941

Greece and Crete April–May 1941

In March 1941, Robert Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia, with the concurrence of his Cabinet, agreed to the sending of Australian troops to Greece.

Syria and Lebanon June 1941

Syria and Lebanon June 1941

After the surrender of France in June 1940, the French colonies of Lebanon and Syria passed into the control of the pro-German Vichy French government.

Japanese advance (December 1941–March 1942)

Japanese advance (December 1941–March 1942)

Landing first on the north-east coast of Malaya on 8 December 1941, Japanese troops took just 70 days to crush the British Empire forces in Malaya and Singapore, which was surrendered on 15 February 1942.

Australia under attack 1940–1945

Australia under attack 1940–1945

The Japanese first attacked the Australian mainland on 19 February 1942 when they launched a devastating air raid on Darwin in the Northern Territory

Coral Sea, Kokoda and Milne Bay (May–September 1942)

Coral Sea, Kokoda and Milne Bay (May–September 1942)

The Japanese had no plans to invade Australia during the Second World War but they did plan to cut Australia's supply line with America by establishing bases in the south-west Pacific islands. In early May 1942, an American carrier force intercepted a Japanese carrier force in the Coral Sea and, after a fierce aerial battle—the Battle of the Coral Sea—the Japanese turned back.

El Alamein October–November 1942

El Alamein October–November 1942

Between 1940 and late 1942 the British Empire and Dominion forces struggled against the German and Italian 'Axis' forces in North Africa as the Axis forces tried to capture the Suez Canal and take control of the Middle East oilfields.

Little-known operations 1939–1945

Little-known operations 1939–1945

Several thousand Australians served in locations remote from the main areas of Australian operations during World War II. They served in places like China, Russia, the Faroe Islands, Madagascar, Burma, the West Indies, Iraq, Kenya, the Azores and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

Beachhead Battles (Papua 1942–1943)

Beachhead Battles (Papua 1942–1943)

The last battle of 1942 involving Australians was for the Japanese beachheads at Buna, Gona and Sanananda in northern Papua. The Allies expected the battle would be easily won but underestimated Japanese strength and resolve and grossly overestimated Allied capabilities.

The Japanese retreat 1943–1944

The Japanese retreat 1943–1944

By early 1943, Japanese forces still held most of New Guinea, including the main coastal settlements of Lae and Salamaua. Australians defeated a Japanese force at Wau in late January and early February 1943.

War at sea 1939–1945

War at sea 1939–1945

During World War II, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships carried troops, escorted merchant ships, carried out bombardments and provided support for Allied operations in the Mediterranean, the North Sea and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Air war Europe 1939–1945

Air war Europe 1939–1945

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircrews were among the first Australians to head overseas to Britain's aid. Between 1939 and 1945, they flew in both Australian and British squadrons with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Coastal, Bomber and Fighter Commands.

Last battles

Last battles

During the last years of the war with Japan, thousands of Australian men and women served in Australia's largest military campaigns in the islands north of Australia: on the mainland of Papua New Guinea and its islands of Bougainville and New Britain, and in Borneo.

Victory (8 May 1945/15 August 1945)

Victory (8 May 1945/15 August 1945)

By the beginning of 1945 Australians had been at war for over five years. Now they believed that the Allies would be victorious and that both the war in Europe and the war with Japan would end.

  • Home
  • History
  • Education
  • Multimedia
  • Conduct an event
  • Resources
  • Site info
  • Research tips
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Events
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Links
  • Bibliography

Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to us on YouTube