December 6, 2019 ▸ History, Places, War & Conflict

EPISODE 435: Australia: WWII

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at a topic that has been high on the fan-voted list: Australia in World War Two. In spite of Brad not believing they did anything to help the war, there is a lot of evidence on the contrary. The story of Australia in WWII is one that not many Americans will know about, but it is one tied in to our own war in the Pacific. It is a story of being abandoned by Britain, fighting in every single war front, transforming their entire nation, and watching for the looming threat of permanent Japanese invasion.

On September 3, 1939, Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies declared war on Germany and her allies in a now famous speech to all of Australia. They were the first of the UK’s territories to declare such a war, even though it was highly unpopular, and the nation wasn’t ready for it. Australia only had a handful of old weapons from World War One, and the nation wasn’t recovered from the depression yet. But they stood by Britain and threw all in. Britain, however, did not stand by them, and Winston Churchill ultimately took all their troops and did practically nothing to help them once Japan entered the war a few years later.

The United States offered them help, however, in the form of a quarter of a million troops and building bases like the infamous Pine Gap. The US needed platforms to launch their war against Japan, so it’s not like they didn’t stand to gain, but the US and Oz formed a strong pair and fought through Pacific together.

Australian war fighters battled some of the worst fights in the Pacific, and they helped everywhere from Germany to Italy to the war for gasoline in the deserts of northern Africa against the likes of Rommel. The nation transformed after Japan attacked them through bombings and submarine attacks in 1942. They started to ration, men were sent off to fight, and women were given jobs previously unavailable to them.

One of the hardest fights was something called the Kokoda Track Campaign. This jungle warfare against the Japanese taught the Aussies and the Yanks how to fight this particular enemy and secured Australia from being conquered. There were controversies such as a thing called the Brisbane Line (a supposed plan to abandon the northern half of the country to the Japanese) and a conspiracy-ridden story of the sinking of the ship called the Sydney. If you love WWII, you don’t think Australians are real, or just want to hear us swear about Nazis in bad Australian accents, then this one is for you.

Visit our Sources:

http://www.awmlondon.gov.au/australians-in-wwii

https://theaussieadventuresofworldwartwo.weebly.com/reasons-for-entering-the-war.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-15/victory-in-the-pacific-australias-role-in-ending-wwii/6692558

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_World_War_II

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/second-world-war

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/life-australia-world-war-two.html

http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/explore-history/australia-wwii/home-wii/americans-australia

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/15790

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Line

http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/sydney/history-hmas-sydney-ii/conspiracies-surrounding-hmas-sydney-ii

War Announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZedhB6Olvk