The Battle for Australia has been commemorated since 2008. Today, it will be eighty years to the day Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that Australia was at war. On this day, we acknowledge the bravery and sacrifice of more than one million service personnel and civilians who defended Australia during the Second World War. More than 39,000 Australians died in the conflict and around 30,000 Australians were taken prisoner. While most of those who became prisoners of the Germans and Italians ultimately returned home, more than one-third of prisoners of the Japanese died in captivity.
By 1942, Japanese military success in the Pacific had brought WWII much closer to Australia. In the years that followed, Australia was subject to attack by Japanese forces on at least 97 different occasions, commencing with the devastating Bombing of Darwin 19 February 1942.
Battle for Australia Day also honours those fought at sea and on land in the Pacific during a series of decisive engagements. Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel Darren Chester is encouraging all Australians, from those who lived through the war to those who are only just learning about it, to remember all Australians who served during the Second World War..
A crucial part of the Second World War was fought on Australia’s doorstep, and those living in its northern reaches experience it first-hand. Pause today and give thanks to those who volunteered to stem the aggression that had conquered so much of the Pacific, but would never be allowed to take root on Australian soil.
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