Content on World War II 1939-1945

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

The Art of Remembrance short film (Video)

Explores the role of paintings and sketches that represent the experiences of Australia's service personnel and how visual art can help us learn more about Australia's military history. Rated PG (…

The Australian Prisoners' Accounts

Experiences as prisoners of the Japanese.

Helen McCallum (Video)

The interview excerpts here are drawn from over two thousand interviews with Australian war veterans conducted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Gordon Bailey (Video)

The interview excerpts here are drawn from over two thousand interviews with Australian war veterans conducted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Eric Williams (Video)

The interview excerpts here are drawn from over two thousand interviews with Australian war veterans conducted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Arthur Gould (Video)

The interview excerpts here are drawn from over two thousand interviews with Australian war veterans conducted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Paul Cullen (Video)

The interview excerpts here are drawn from over two thousand interviews with Australian war veterans conducted by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

The Australians

The largest group were Australians, 56,000 of whom were at one time or another either in Papua or involved in air and sea operations there.

The Battle for Wau (Video)

The Battle of the Beachheads

The final battle involving Australian troops in 1942 was the Allied attack on the Japanese beachheads in northern Papua – Buna, Gona and Sanananda.

The Battle of the Beachheads: December 1942

The balance of forces shifted in December...

The Battle of the Beachheads: January 1943

By January 1943 it was apparent that the six-month Japanese occupation of Papua was about to end...

The Battle of the Beachheads: November 1942

Anxious to seize the Japanese base in the Gona-Buna area before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements the Allies attempted a coup de main - a sudden bold attack - that would have

The Battle of the Coral Sea

Very excellent news has been received.

The Boomerang

The Australian troops in the Markham-Ramu Valley campaign, and elsewhere in New Guinea, were supported by Allied aircrews.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

… as for the bridge on the River Kwai, it crossed the river only in the imagination of its author.

The Building of Hellfire Pass

The Burma-Thailand railway was built in 1942–43 to supply the Japanese forces in Burma, bypassing the sea routes that were made vulnerable when Japanese naval strength was reduced in the Battles of…

The Burma-Thailand railway in operation

The main traffic centres on the line are spots of considerable activity, with reversing triangles and many locomotive shelters.

The Burmese

By participating in the project [the Burma-Thailand railway] the Burmese could really be doing something that could widen their future, and so we agreed

The carrier battle

American accountsAs a result of the loss of the Shoho, damage to the Shokaku, and heavy loss of pilots and aircraft from both their land-based and their carrier

The Coastwatchers 1941-1945

The first coastwatching organisation was established in 1919 by Captain J G Clare, RAN, who believed there was a need to develop a network of observers to monitor the islands to Australia's north.

The decisive moment

Battle of Gorari Oivi-Gorari 10 November 1942 As a result of the decisive defeat suffered by the Japanese at Oivi-Gorari they abandoned their plan to take Port More

The dedication and commemoration service at the Australian War Cemetery, Balikpapan, 2 December 1945 (Video)

The dedication and commemoration service at the Australian War Cemetery, Balikpapan, 2 December 1945.The service was attended by representatives of all units of the 7th Australian Division. [AWM…

The dedication ceremony at the Labuan War Cemetery (Video)

The defence of Moresby

The Japanese made their first air raid on Port Moresby in the Australian territory of Papua on 3 February 1942.

The destruction of the railway

Foreign Office view is that the railway should be sold to the Siamese at the best possible price obtainable which should include compensation for the labour employed on the construction

The dixie

Every man who worked on the railway, in whichever section, would have an automatic passport to Heaven. They have all done the requisite stretch in Hell.

The drive on Beirut (Video)

An official film taken by war photographer and cinematographer Frank Hurley showing the drive on Beirut by the Australian 7th Division during the Syrian campaign in 1941.

The enemy

Around 12 000 Japanese and 800 Korean soldiers worked on the Burma-Thailand railway as engineers or guards. They were some of over five million soldiers who served with the Imperial Japanese Army…

The far east

Although the focus for Australia's defence for most of 1942 was the south-west Pacific Area, numerous Australians fought the Japanese in Burma and the Indian Ocean.

THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS (1943) newsclip (Image)

This article tells us about the results of a federal election during the war.

The final hours...

Sergeant Jack O'Donnell, 10th Australian General Hospital (AGH), kept a diary during his imprisonment.

The floating of Dunlop's ashes down the Kwae Noi (Video)

The floating of Dunlop's ashes down the Kwae Noi was the first such ceremony at Home Phu Toey, Thailand. When the ex-POW Keith Flanagan, a close colleague of Dunlop who had founded the Burma Thailand…

The fox

On 7 September 1940, the first hastily built buildings at the Hay internment camp in western New South Wales were occupied by more than 2500 predominantly Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

The half-penny slouch hat

Since time immemorial soldiers have filled in idle moments with an astonishing variety of activities, ranging from playing board games to making handcrafts using whatever material was readily…

The Japanese

Like the Australians until late 1942, Imperial Japanese Army units tended to be recruited by region...

The Japanese besieged—the Battle of the Beachheads: Buna, Gona, Sanananda

From mid-November 1942 to the end of January 1943, the Australians and the Americans reduced the Japanese base in the Gona-Buna-Sanananda area. Called the Battle of Buna-Gona this three month…

The Japanese guard takes a ride: Expressions - Commemoration through Art (Student activity), (Fact sheet), (Educational)

A printable activity sheet to help develop students' understanding of wartime artworks. Australian printmaker and painter Vaughan Murray Griffin created this artwork in 1945. In World War II, Griffin…

The Japanese on the railway

Little is known of the experience of Japanese engineers and guards who worked on the

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…

The Kokoda Track

The Kokoda track region appears much as it did in 1942 when the Australian soldiers fought there. Along the track, trenches and rusted weapons can still be seen.

The landings at Borneo

The Borneo campaign of 1945 was one of the most complex operations involving Australian land, air and sea forces in the war.

The Many Days of Anzac short film (Video)

A history of Anzac commemoration in Australia. This documentary film dives into the ABC archives of Anzac Day coverage to tell the story of how Australians created Anzac traditions and rituals by…

The marches

Approximately 455 prisoners of war (POWs) left Sandakan in the first march. They left the camp in different groups between January and March 1945.

The Markham and Ramu Valleys 1943-1944 (Book)

This commemorative publication is a part of the series; Australians in the Pacific War. It encourages Australians to learn more about the difficult campaigns waged in Papua New Guinea between 1943…

The New Front Line (Video)

The New Front Line - a video produced by the Department of Home Security. [AWM F01763]

The New Guineans

The great majority of the 18,000 New Guineans who participated in the campaign did so as carriers of supplies for the Allies, though 800 men from the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the Royal Pap

The old war horse

The Battle of Surigao Strait 25 October 1944At Terowie railway station, 220 kilometres north of Adelaide, South Australia, is a plaque.

The problem of supply

There is a natural tendency in writing about war to concentrate on the fighting soldier who risks his life and, if he survives, has exciting stories to tell...

The RAAF in Malaya

On 7 December 1941, Royal Air Force Command in Malaya had an operational strength of 164 first-line aircraft with 88 others in reserve.
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