Content on World War II 1939-1945

This page lists content tagged with "World War II 1939-1945"

Anzac Day Posters 2011 (Poster)

70th Anniversary of the Battles for Greece and Crete The poster features an image of four Australian soldiers at the Acropolis while on leave in Athens. The soldiers arrived in Greece in time to see…

Anzac Day Posters 2012 (Poster)

70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin On 19 February 1942, Japanese aircraft bombed Darwin, killing hundreds of service personnel and civilians. This was the first of a series of almost 100…

Anzac Day Posters 2013 (Poster)

During World War II almost 10,000 Australian prisoners of war worked on the construction of the Burma–Thailand Railway in appalling physical conditions. Construction of the notorious Hellfire Pass…

Armoured fighting vehicles - Australian made! (Video)

Army Salvage (Video)

Army: Victory in the Pacific Day Poster 2020 (Poster)

We've created this poster to commemorate those who served in the Australian Army, the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and the Citizen Military Forces (militia) during World War II. For more than 5…

Arnold Alexander Lockyer

Deeply regret to inform you that your husband 80471 Sergeant Arnold Alexander Lockyer is missing but believed to have lost his life as a result of air operations. Stop.

Around the clock at American Service Club (Video)

Story of an American recreation centre in Melbourne, Vic.

Arthur Gould (Oral history)

Arthur James Murch

Early life Arthur Murch was born on 8 July 1902 in the Sydney suburb of Croydon.

Arthur Loudon - World War II veteran (Oral history)

Arthur Loudon - World War II veteran (Video)

Arthur Loudon enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force in January 1943 at the age of 19

Arthur Roden Cutler

Sir Arthur Roden Cutler is remembered for his lifelong military, diplomatic and community service.

Arthur Seaforth Blackburn

Early lifeArthur Seaforth Blackburn was born in Walkerville, South Australia, in November 1892. He was the youngest of 7 children.

Arthur Stanley Gurney

West Australian, Arthur Stanley Gurney, embarked for the Middle East in July 1941. He was killed in action 12 months later.

Atom Bomb Damage, Hiroshima (Video)

ATOMIC BOMB—A Terrible Weapon (1945) newsclip (Image)

This article tells us about the fear caused by the use of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War. You can use newspapers as a primary source in research to…

Attacks on Northern Australia 1942 to 1943

The initial raidsThe planes came over in perfect formation and let us have it... The noise was terrific.

Attacks on Sydney and the east coast in 1942

The Japanese had bombed Darwin on 19 February 1942 and then Broome 2 weeks later. In May, they turned their attention to Australia's east coast.

Aussies Arrive In Britain (1940) newsreel (Video)

In December 1940, the first Australian aircrews trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) began to arrive in Britain. In this newsreel footage, we see Australian EATS graduates arriving at…

Aussies evacuate Tobruk (Video)

Australia Aids Coastal Watch AKA Flying Boat Patrols (1940) newsreel (Video)

No 10 Squadron RAAF served in the United Kingdom from the start of the war. It participated in the Battle of the Atlantic and played a vital role in defending the British coast throughout the war.…

Australia and America Drive Japanese from Lae! (1943) newsreel (Video)

This United News footage records the opening of the Allied attack on Japanese forces at Lae, New Guinea. This is where Australian ground troops met with American paratroopers to help secure the area…

Australia helps Russia prepare for winter (Video)

Sheep skins shipped to Russia to help clothe Soviet troops

Australia Under Attack lesson (Online lesson), (Worksheet), (Educational)

This self-contained lesson helps secondary students learn about wartime attacks on Australia in 1942 and 1943. Students explore the historical context, key events and the impact of the attacks on…

Australia Under Attack: In Their Own Words (Online lesson), (Video), (Student activity), (Educational)

How would you feel if Australia was under attack? Hear from 5 Australians about their experiences of the air and naval attacks in World War II.

Australia's Article XV squadrons and the Empire Air Training Scheme

Empire Air Training SchemeWhen 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.

AUSTRALIA'S FIRST MAJOR VICTORY IN WAR (1940) newsclip (Image)

This article is about HMAS Sydney's victory over Italian ship Bartolomeo Colleoni in the Second World War.

Australia's Home Defence 1939-1945 (Book)

This publication is a part of the series; Australians in the Pacific War. It briefly shares the history of Australia's defence against the Japanese from 1939-1945.

Australia's home front during World War II

War closer to homeDuring the first 2 years of World War II, little changed for Australians at home. Unlike people in Europe, Australians faced no direct attacks until 1942.

Australia's involvement in World War II from 1939 to 1945

On Sunday 3 September 1939 at 9:15 pm, Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies announced on radio that Australia was at war with Germany. It would be 6 years before Australia was at peace again.

Australia's Prime Minister Speaks (1942) newsreel (Video)

With Japan's entry into the war and the bombing of Darwin, Prime Minister John Curtin and his government put Australia on a total war footing. In this newsreel footage, we see the Prime Minister of…

Australia's Troopship (1939) newsreel (Video)

In March 1939, before war's outbreak, Australian militiamen were sent north to Darwin, as part of the Darwin Mobile Force. Their mission was to defend the northern approaches to the country should a…

Australian Army during World War II

Wartime changesAfter World War I, Australia disbanded the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

Australian horsemen at home in the Kelly Gang

The Kelly Gang was one of the most unusual Allied fighting units during World War II. Made up from an assortment of 70 or so men mainly from C Squadron, 6th Division Cavalry, they rode on captured…

Australian military service in and around Australia in World War II

Japan enters the warIn late 1941, Japan entered the war with the invasion of Malaya (then a British territory) and the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December.

Australian POWs in Ambon and Hainan

Australians capturedAmbon, Borneo, Hainan and New Britain were the sites of some of the greatest disasters for Australian prisoners of the Japanes

Australian POWs in Borneo

Arrival in BorneoI became aware it was a one-way trip when we started to hear shots, and you felt that there was no hope for anyone that fell out.

Australian POWs in Burma

Arrival at BurmaIt was a gigantic Via Dolorosa of the halt, the lame and the blind ...

Australian POWs in Changi, Singapore

Arrival at ChangiAh, Changi! You were heaven to us then![Stan Arneil, One Man's War, Sydney Alternative Publishing Cooperative, 1980, p 155]

Australian POWs in Formosa, Korea and Manchuria

Arrival at Formosa, Korea and ManchuriaIt was cold, by jeez it was cold, no vegetation, just flat uninteresting Manchurian plains. Then we saw the camp barracks.

Australian POWs in Japan

Arrival in JapanWhile all our hopes during the long years of captivity had been to see an Allied victory, we were apprehensive about our chances of surviving an invasion of Jap

Australian POWs in Java and Sumatra

Camps in JavaThe thought of the day is that all men en masse are shites (or super shites) … I would dearly have loved to see a few people with socialist convictions watching th

Australian POWs in New Britain and Timor

New Britain and TimorThen there was nothing. Dead silence. All I got was a telegram saying he was missing.

Australian POWs in Thailand

Dunlop ForceOur emaciated, cadaverous bodies were covered in rags, we were all barefooted with bandages covering our ulcers and we were almost all rotten with malaria and beri

Australian Prisoners of War (Student activity), (Educational)

This educational resource provides teachers and students with activities to investigate Australian Prisoners of War using the stories from the Australians at War Film Archive.

Australian Prisoners of War 1941-1945 (Book)

This is a part of the series, Australians in the Pacific War. It gives a narrative and pictorial account of life in POW camps north of Australia during World War II. Includes Changi, the Burma-…

Australian prisoners of war in Asian camps

Captured by the Japanese

Australian prisoners of war in Europe

Prisoners of the ItaliansItaly had 12 hospitals and over 70 POW camps for Allied prisoners. Throughout Italy, the main camps were:

Australian prisoners of war in World War II

Brief history of Australian prisoners of warAustralians have become prisoners of war (POWs) in most major conflicts of the 20th century.

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