Australian Army during World War II

Wartime changes

After World War I, Australia disbanded the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). By 1921, Australia was back to having a small regular army. This army was known as the Permanent Military Forces (PMF).

A larger, part-time militia force also existed. It was known as the Militia until 1942, and the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1943.

The purpose of the PMF was to instruct and lead the CMF if war came to Australian shores. The 2 forces were tasked together with deterring any invasion of Australia.

On 3 September 1939, prime minister Robert Menzies announced Australia's entry into the war. The announcement was broadcast on every national and commercial radio station in Australia.

Within weeks, the Australian Government made 2 important changes.

The first change came 11 days after the declaration of war. On 14 September 1939, the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) was created.

The second change was the reintroduction of compulsory military training as national service. This was announced on 20 October 1939 and came into effect on 1 January 1940.

Australian Military Forces

What is now considered the Australian Army was made up of several forces during World War II. These combined forces were generally referred to as the Australian Military Forces (AMF) between 1916 and 1980. Although 'Australian Army' wasn't the official name of Australia's land warfare force until 1980, we refer to the AMF as the Australian Army or the Army throughout this website.

The Army had 5 main component forces during World War II.

Table note: Total enlistment figures have a cut-off date of 28 February 1946. Sources: Long, GM (1961) Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 1 – Army, Volume I – To Benghazi (1961 reprint), Chapter 1 – Between the wars; AWM (2020) 'Conscription during the Second World War, 1939–1945'; AWM (2019) 'Australia under attack: Australia’s home guard'; AWM (2019) 'Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS)'.

The Army had various combat, combat support and non-combat corps during the war, which gives an idea of the different roles people served in.

Combat and combat support corps

• Armoured Corps (including Cavalry and the Australian Tank Corps)
• Artillery Corps
• Infantry Corps
• Engineers Corps
• Signals Corps
• Survey Corps.

Non-combat service and support corps

• Catering Corps
• Chaplains Department
• Corps of Military Police
• Dental Corps
• Educational Corps
• Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
• Instructional Corps
• Intelligence Corps
• Legal Corps
• Medical Corps
• Nursing Corps
• Ordnance Corps
• Pay Corps
• Psychology Service
• Service Corps
• Staff Corps
• Transportation Corps
• various Army Bands (the Army Band Corps formed after World War II).

The Order of Battle described the Army's divisions, commands and military districts. During the war, the Army's structure changed several times.

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Recruitment and conscription

The 2nd AIF was created in September 1939 for deployment overseas.

The initial deployment of the AIF raised within 2 months was 20,000. Many of these recruits came from the CMF.

The government used a combined strategy of national service and voluntary enlistment to increase numbers in both the AIF and CMF as the war progressed.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Army recruited around 726,800 people, of whom about 55% (around 400,000 people) served overseas.

National service

In late 1939, the government introduced military training as national service. As more Australians enlisted in the AIF, national service was needed to maintain the CMF's strength.

Unmarried men who were turning 21 had to do 3 months of compulsory military training.

Due to the restrictions of the Defence Act, these national servicemen could only serve in Australia or its territories, including Papua and New Guinea.

In February 1943, the government amended the Defence Act. This permitted national servicemen to serve in a wider area, the South-Western Pacific Zone (SWPZ), including some overseas regions.

Enlistment

Voluntary enlistments were initially slow. This changed when France fell to the Germans in June 1940.

By July 1940, more than 100,000 men had enlisted to serve in the AIF. Most of these recruits saw their first service in the Middle East.

A second surge in enlistments happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Age limits for AIF recruitment were set in enlistment standards. Soldier recruits had to be aged 20 to 35, but officers and some non-commissioned officers (NCOs) could be older. The standards were progressively relaxed in 1940, 1941 and 1943 to accept older and younger recruits to meet the Army's needs.

Anyone younger than 21 needed written consent from a parent before enlisting in the AIF. Many got around this, sometimes by enlisting under a different name or birthdate.

When Norm Dillon was 20, his father had to sign his attestation form before he could enlist in the AIF.

Many lied about their age to enlist. Some were over the age limit, and many were underage. Private Ronald Baden Thomas was only 15 when killed at Ambon on 20 February 1942.

If discovered, soldiers’ ages were sometimes overlooked. Capable, over-age men were less likely to be questioned. Unsuitable underage boys were more likely to be sent home.

A change in 1942 meant that AIF volunteers under 20 on enlistment had to complete 6 months of training before joining an army unit.

Veteran Bill Campbell felt like part of the Army during basic training after enlisting in Perth.

Where the Army served

The Army was involved in 3 main global theatres of war:

• the Middle East and Africa
• Europea and the Mediterranean
• the Pacific. 

Many Australians also served in the defence of the home front.

Mediterranean and North African campaigns

The first Australian Army troops to serve overseas in World War II were sent to the Middle East. Three Australian Divisions, the 6th, 7th and 9th, served in the Middle East and in North Africa at:

• Siege of Tobruk in 1941
• Syrian Campaign in 1941
• Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942
• advance through Libya and the Tunisian Campaign from 1942 to 1943.

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Sections of the Army had initially been training to deploy to France. When France fell to the Germans in 1940, these troops went to other areas, including the Mediterranean region. Most of the Australian troops came from the 6th Division. This included infantry, artillery, engineers, medical and other units.

Major events involving the Australian Army in the Mediterranean included:

• Defence of Greece in 1941
• Defence of Crete in 1941.

Australian Army personnel were also present at some of the lesser-known battles and operations, such as those in Cyprus in 1941.

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United Kingdom

A small number of Australian Army troops took part in the Defence of Britain.

Two Australian brigades were part of the British mobile reserve between June 1940 and January 1941. These were the 18th Brigade and the newly formed 25th Brigade. This garrison force was made up of members from the:

• 18th Australian Infantry Brigade
• 2/3rd Field Regiment
• 2/1st Anti-Tank Regiment
• 2/1st Machine Gun Regiment
• 2/1st Field Park Company
• 2/3rd Field Ambulance.

Reinforcements were taken from the 6th Division from:

• Signals Corps
• Army Service Corps
• Ordnance Corps.

Three other Australian companies served in the United Kingdom (UK) around the same time. These 3 companies were:

• 2/1st Forestry Company from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia
• 2/2nd Forestry Company from Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia
• 2/3rd Forestry Company from Victoria.

Further recruits created a Headquarters unit in England in July 1941. Together, this force was called the Australian Forestry Group UK. It served in England and Scotland between 1940 and 1943.

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Pacific theatre

Members of the Australian Army saw some of the most intense action of the war in the Pacific theatre. These included the South West Pacific campaigns and the South-East Asia and Burma campaigns.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to Australia declaring war on Japan. The capture of the entire 8th Division after the Fall of Singapore in 1942 was a disaster. After Singapore, people's worry about the Japanese advance through the Pacific increased. Major land and sea battles were fought throughout the region in which Australian troops were often heavily involved.

Important Australian Army land engagements against the Japanese in the Asia-Pacific region include:

• Fall of Singapore in 1942
• Kokoda Track in 1942
• Battle of Milne Bay in 1942
• Wau-Salamaua Campaign in 1943
• Borneo Campaign in 1945.

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Australian Army personnel were also present at some of the lesser-known battles and operations. Some of these include operations in:

• Burma from 1942 to 1944
• Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1942
• China with Tulip Force in 1941 and 1942.

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Australian home front

The Army played a large role in Australia's home defence during World War II.

Major homefront events involving the Army included:

• Bombing of Darwin and northern Australia in 1942 and 1943
• Attacks on Sydney and the east coast in 1942
• Cowra Breakout in 1944.

Volunteer Defence Corps

Modelled on the British Home Guard, the VDC was run by the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (now the RSL) from June 1940.

General Henry (Gordon) Bennett was appointed officer commanding the VDC in July 1940.

World War I veterans were the first to volunteer for the new organisation. By 1942, the VDC had grown to 45,000 members, including:

• veterans
• volunteers unfit for other services
• older men
• those in reserved occupations.

VDC members were trained in weapons handling, unarmed combat and protecting strategic infrastructure. This 'home guard' also operated anti-aircraft batteries (guns and crew) and played a vital role in reporting enemy aircraft and vessels off the coast of Australia.

The government took control of the VDC in May 1941.

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Australian Women's Army Service

The AWAS was an important non-medical women's auxiliary service in World War II. Formed in 1941, AWAS members served in non-combat roles, freeing men for fighting units.

AWAS members served in important roles, including in the:

• Artillery Corps
• Intelligence Corps
• Signal Corps.

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After the war

Around 1 million people enlisted to serve in Australia's armed forces in World War II. This was more than double the number from World War I and larger than at any other time in Australia's military history.

Between 1939 and 1945, some 691,000 men and 36,000 women enlisted in the Australian Army.

Over 30,000 Australians were captured as prisoners of war (POWs) fighting against the Germans, Italians and Japanese. Of these, some 28,000 were from the Army.

In the aftermath of the war, hundreds of thousands of Australians needed to reintegrate into Australian society. This included a large number of Army veterans and former POWs.

Demobilisation

Australia had been actively reducing its military during the final years of the war. The Army released around 50,000 soldiers between October 1943 and August 1944. Many of these were then employed in the civilian war effort.

The official demobilisation of the armed forces, including the Army, began on 1 October 1945. Demobilisation of Australia's wartime armed forces continued until 15 February 1947.

In the 2 months after the war, former POWs and some soldiers with a long period of service were sent home and discharged. A large percentage of women with children, serving in the nursing and medical corps, were also quickly discharged.

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Modernising the Army

Postwar, the government decided Australia needed a larger regular army in peacetime. This led to some reorganisation:

• PMF became the Australian Regular Army in September 1947
• CMF was re-raised in July 1948 as the Australian Citizen Military Force (reserve force).

This formation continues to the present day with:

• Australian Army
• Australian Army Reserve.

Since 1980, the combined forces have been called the Australian Army.