WORLD WAR TWO

World War Two.

Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War. They fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific. The Australian mainland came under direct attack for the first time, as Japanese aircraft bombed towns in north-west Australia and Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbour.

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WORLD WAR TWO KATANNING HONOUR ROLL

Katanning’s Honour Board is located in the foyer of the Katanning Town Hall. You can see all the names on that Honour Board HERE.

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SECOND WORLD WAR
1939 – 1945

From The Australian War Memorial Website

On 3 September 1939, Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies announced the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station in Australia.

Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War. They fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, as well as against Japan in south-east Asia and other parts of the Pacific. The Australian mainland came under direct attack for the first time, as Japanese aircraft bombed towns in north-west Australia and Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbour.

On 7 May 1945 the German High Command authorised the signing of an unconditional surrender on all fronts: the war in Europe was over. The surrender was to take effect at midnight on 8–9 May 1945. On 14 August 1945 Japan accepted of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender. For Australia it meant that the Second World War was finally over.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) participated in operations against Italy after its entry into the war in June 1940. A few Australians flew in the Battle of Britain in August and September, but the Australian army was not engaged in combat until 1941, when the 6th, 7th, and 9th Divisions joined Allied operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Following early successes against Italian forces, the Australians suffered defeat with the Allies at the hands of the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa. In June and July 1941 Australians participated in the successful Allied invasion of Syria, a mandate of France and the Vichy government.

At sea off Crete in the Mediterranean, 19 July 1940:
Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni under attack from HMAS Sydney near Cape Spada

Up to 14,000 Australians held out against repeated German attacks in the Libyan port of Tobruk [2] where they were besieged between April and August 1941. After being relieved at Tobruk, the 6th and 7th Divisions departed from the Mediterranean theatre for the war against Japan [2] [3]

Japan entered the war in December 1941 and swiftly achieved a series of victories, resulting in the occupation of most of south-east Asia and large areas of the Pacific by the end of March 1942.

Singapore fell in February, with the loss of an entire Australian division. After the bombing of Darwin [2] that same month, all RAN ships in the Mediterranean theatre, as well as the 6th and 7th Divisions, returned to defend Australia. In response to the heightened threat, the Australian government also expanded the army and air force and called for an overhaul of economic, domestic, and industrial policies to give the government special authority to mount a total war effort at home.
The 9th Division remained to play an important role in the Allied victory at El Alamein in October 1942 before it also left for the Pacific. By the end of 1942 the only Australians remaining in the Mediterranean theatre were airmen serving either with 3 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) or in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

North Africa, 6 January 1941:
Australian troops advance into Bardia.

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THE WAR IN NEW GUINEA

Remembering the war in New Guinea

In March 1942, after the defeat of the Netherlands East Indies, Japan’s southward advance began to lose strength, easing fears of an imminent invasion of Australia. Further relief came when the first AIF veterans of the Mediterranean campaigns began to come home, and when the United States assumed responsibility for the country’s defence, providing reinforcements and equipment. The threat of invasion receded further as the Allies won a series of decisive battles in the Coral Sea, at Midway, on Imita Ridge and the Kokoda Trail, and at Milne Bay and Buna.

Further Allied victories against the Japanese followed in 1943. Australian troops were mainly engaged in land battles in New Guinea, the defeat of the Japanese at Wau, and clearing Japanese soldiers from the Huon peninsula. This was Australia’s largest and most complex offensive of the war and was not completed until April 1944. The Australian army also began a new series of campaigns in 1944 against isolated Japanese garrisons stretching from Borneo to Bougainville, involving more Australian troops than at any other time in the war. The first of these campaigns was fought on Bougainville and New Britain, and at Aitape, New Guinea. The final series of campaigns were fought in Borneo in 1945. How necessary these final campaigns were for Allied victory remains the subject of continuing debate. Australian troops were still fighting in Borneo when the war ended in August 1945.

Milne Bay, Papua, September 1942: a Bofors gun position manned by the 2/9th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Australian Artillery, at Gili-Gili airfield. In the background a Kittyhawk is about to land.

While Australia’s major effort from 1942 onwards was directed at defeating Japan, thousands of Australians continued to serve with the RAAF in Europe and the Middle East. Although more Australian airmen fought against the Japanese, losses among those flying against Germany were far higher. Australians were particularly prominent in Bomber Command’s offensive against occupied Europe. Some 3,500 Australians were killed in this campaign, making it the costliest of the war.

Singapore Straits Settlements, 19 September 1945: members of 2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion, prisoners of war of the Japanese, in Changi prison.

Over 30,000 Australian servicemen were taken prisoner in the Second World War and 39,000 gave their lives. Two-thirds of those taken prisoner were captured by the Japanese during their advance through south-east Asia in the first weeks of 1942. While those who became prisoners of the Germans had a strong chance of returning home at the end of the war, 36 per cent of prisoners of the Japanese died in captivity.

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OUR WOMEN IN
WORLD WAR TWO

Nurses had gone overseas with the AIF in 1940. However, during the early years of the war women were generally unable to make a significant contribution to the war effort in any official capacity. Labour shortages forced the government to allow women to take a more active role in war work and, in February 1941, the RAAF received cabinet approval to establish the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force [2] (WAAAF).

At the same time, the navy also began employing female telegraphists, a breakthrough that eventually led to the establishment of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) in 1942. The Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) was established in October 1941, with the aim of releasing men from certain military duties in base units in Australia for assignment with fighting units overseas. Outside the armed services, the Women’s Land Army (WLA) was established to encourage women to work in rural industries. Other women in urban areas took up employment in industries, such as munitions production. Read more

MORE READING

The Experiences of
PRIVATE CHRIS FRANCIS KEALLEY

Prior to World War II I was farming. I enlisted on the 10^th November 1939. Two thousand two hundred and thirty days later (2230 days) later I went back farming. I had joined up in Katanning after a recruitment drive. We were sent by train to the Northam Camp, Western Australia, where we joined the 2/11 Battalion. Continue reading

Overview of WW11

“Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that as a result, Australia is also at war.”
Prime Minister Robert Menzies Continue Reading

A Bitter Fate—Australians In Malaya & Singapore

In December 1941 Japanese forces landed at Malaya and began a rapid advance southwards towards Singapore. Australians were among the Allied forces fighting to halt the advance. On 15 February 1942 the city fell to the Japanese, and more than 130,000 British and Allied troops were taken prisoner of war, including some 15,000 Australians. More than 1100 other Australians were either confirmed dead or listed as missing in action, and hundreds of others remained unaccounted for. Continue reading

Century of Service series
Decision—Stories of Leadership in the Services

We all make decisions every day – they shape the lives we lead. In times of war, decision-making can take on a greater significance. Many Australians over the past century of service have demonstrated leadership with the decisions they have made. Continue reading.

Copyright Notice
© Commonwealth of Australia 2012
Sections of this work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial, educational and educational institutional use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved.
For further information contact:
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
GPO Box 9998
Canberra ACT 2601
02 6289 1111

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WORLD WAR TWO
NOMINAL ROLL
Australian War Memorial

Over 520 people from Katanning and surrounding districts, and well beyond, enlisted for World War Two (WW11) in Katanning. Due to such a large number I have only listed those whose registered place of birth was Katanning. CLICK HERE

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KATANNING BOYS AT
TRAINING CAMP – 1939

THE BOYS IN CAMP:
Katanning Detachment
11th Battalion in Training.

Great Southern Herald
18 November 1939

Some nought-o-naught militiamen of the Katanning Detachment, 11^th Battalion, entrained on November 10th for one month’s continual training in the metropolitan area, and from “Somewhere in Melville” comes news of their activities. Continue reading

KATANNING BOYS IN CAMP:
The First Week Passes

Great Southern Herald
25 November, 1939

Militiamen from the Katanning detachment of the 11th Battalion have now settled down to life under canvas and are thoroughly enjoying every minute of their training. The first week has passed and they are used to camp conditions and familiar with their fellow trainees. Continue reading

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OUR BUGLE CALLS

Corporal Matthew Creek of the Royal Military College Band plays The Last Post at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition that mark the phases of the day. In military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day’s activities. It is also sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.
Shot and edited by Mr Kon Velanis Defence Digital Media

The following sound files courtesy of the
Australian Army Band, Brisbane

Click to play

WW11

World War Two. World War Two. World War Two. World War Two. World War Two. World War Two.