Download Mapping the Australian experience of World War 2

FOCUS QUESTION
Where did Australians fight
in World War 2?
ACTIVITY
2
Mapping the Australian experience of World War 2
Your task
To produce a map showing where Australians fought in
World War 2. This map may also be illustrated – e.g. with
photographs showing some of the key actions
surrounding the map.
Using the evidence
1 Read through Source 2.1, the outline or overview of
the war. Using an atlas, mark on the blank outline map
(Source 2.2) the places underlined in the narrative.
2 From the summary, discuss what you think might
have been the best things, and the worst things, about
living through the war?
3 Working in groups, list five questions you would ask
of somebody who had been involved in the war in one of
the areas. You should have four different lists of five
questions, one set for each ‘front’.
4 Discuss your questions in class. At the end of your
discussion, revise your list so that you have the ten best
questions for each front.
5
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
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Now answer these questions about the war.
Why did Britain go to war?
Why did Australia join?
Why do you think Britain, alone among the nations
of Europe, was not invaded by Germany?
A major part of the war was the struggle in the
Atlantic between German submarines and convoys of
ships from the United States carrying supplies to
Britain. Why would this have been such an important
battle area? Why would the entry of Russia into the
war have had such an important effect on the war?
Why did Japan enter the war?
Why did the USA?
Why was Port Moresby so important in the Pacific
War?
Why would Australians have put troops in places
such as Ambon and Timor?
The Japanese conquest of Asia and the Pacific put
great strain on her supply lines. Explain what this
means.
Why would Japan’s and America’s aircraft carriers
have been so important in fighting the Pacific War?
Many merchant ships were sunk in the waters around
Australia. Why do you think the merchant ships were
in those waters? Why do you think they would have
been attacked by German and Japanese submarines?
Why was Germany defeated?
Why was Japan defeated?
Source 2.1
An overview of the war
…’
1939 – ‘Australia is at war
nding its territory.
During the 1930s Germany was expa
Britain and
nd.
Pola
de
In 1939 it threatened to inva
they would
ded,
inva
any
Germ
if
France warned that
ember, and
Sept
1
on
de
inva
did
any
Germ
declare war.
war.
ared
decl
on 3 September Britain and France
in Australia were
Australia was a British nation. People
were also very
opposed to German expansion, but they
Government
sh
Briti
the
closely tied to Britain. When
unced that
anno
zies
Men
ster
Mini
e
declared war, Prim
.
war’
at
also
was
‘Australia
to make a
With the coming of war, Australia had
nce (there was
defe
e
hom
after
look
to
ther
decision: whe
power), or to
its
a fear that Japan might try and expand
pledged its
had
n
Japa
commit troops to help England.
that it was
ralia
Aust
red
assu
had
neutrality, and England
at
l base Singapore
secure from Japan – the British nava
rds Australia. So
towa
would stop any Japanese advance
War.
pean
Euro
a
to
Australia committed itself
a war, and in
Australia was not well-prepared to fight
Menzies
ster
Mini
e
this early part of the war Prim
e an
whil
l’
Usua
As
s
ines
stressed that it was ‘Bus
d. The
lope
deve
were
em
syst
ly
supp
and
effective force
of the
rol
cont
the
r
Royal Australian Navy was put unde
; and
men
ing
train
and
iting
British; the Army began recru
e.
Forc
Air
l
Roya
the
help
to
ised
RAAF men were prom
The War in Europe
In the summer of 1940, German force
s quickly overran
much of Europe. By mid 1940, England
was the only
European nation still fighting against
Germany. In the
Battle of Britain, Germany’s Luftwaffe
tried to control the
skies so it could launch a sea-borne
invasion of Britain.
However this tactic failed. Germany conc
entrated on
bombing British cities, while the Briti
sh attacked German
supply centres.
Australian RAAF volunteers were sent
to Britain in large
numbers, mostly as bomber and fight
er crews. These men
flew hundreds of dangerous missions
eventually striking at
the heart of Germany itself. When Russ
ia and the USA
entered the war during 1941, Germany
faced
overwhelming opposition. On D Day,
6 June 1944, the
Allies launched an invasion of Europe
from the west. At
the same time Russia pushed towards
Germany from the
east. Germany finally surrendered on
8 May 1945.
Source 2.1
Continued
The War in North Africa, the
dle East
Mediterranean and the Mid
in North Africa, the
Australians played an important role
between 1940
Mediterranean area and the Middle East
and 1942.
e in the
Royal Australian Navy ships were activ
from 1940, and
Navy
n
Italia
the
nst
agai
n
anea
Mediterr
The ships took
uk.
Tobr
supported Australian troops at
t, frequently
nigh
by
ps
troo
supplies to the besieged
affe.
Luftw
an
Germ
the
from
k
attac
under heavy
Middle East early
Australian troops had been sent to the
ating Italian
defe
in
ul
essf
succ
very
in 1940. They were
forces in Syria.
troops at Benghazi, and Vichy French
an troops who
Germ
the
The biggest test came against
strategically
a
uk,
Tobr
of
port
were trying to take the
y thousands
man
ding
inclu
ps,
troo
d
Allie
.
important area
off repeated
hold
to
of Australians, dug in and were able
had
ans
Germ
and determined attacks. The
s as ‘rats’ in
contemptuously referred to the defender
title with pride,
this
on
took
ns
ralia
Aust
the
–
their holes
Australians
uk’.
Tobr
and called themselves the ‘Rats of
at the
ans
Germ
the
ating
were prominent also in defe
.
1942
in
ein
Battles of El Alam
Greece and Crete
Australian troops were sent to defend
they were forced
n
paig
cam
s
strou
in 1941, but in a disa
and thousands
to retreat, with the loss of many dead
taken prisoner.
The War in Asia and the Pac
ific
The Pacific War began because Japa
n was trying to
obtain supplies of raw materials - such
as rubber and tin
- which were vital to its industrial expa
nsion. It was also
seeking to create a great Empire in Asia
. It launched
invasions of Thailand and Malaya, and
attacked the
American naval base at Pearl Harbor
in Hawaii. The
United States was the only country with
sufficient naval
power to oppose Japan in the Pacific
– but the Japanese
missed their most vital target in the
Pearl Harbor attack,
the American aircraft carriers.
The Japanese soon fought their way
down the Malayan
Peninsula to Singapore, the supposed
ly mighty British
fortress which would stop them. Sing
apore fell in
February 1942 and thousands of Allie
d troops, including
over 15,000 Australians, became priso
ners of the
Japanese. The Japanese advance towa
rds Australia was
eventually stopped in New Guinea, first
by our own
soldiers and then with the help of Ame
rican forces. The
Japanese invasion fleet was defeated
in the naval Battles
of the Coral Sea and Midway; their army
suffered its first
major defeats at Milne Bay, Buna and
Gona early in
1943; throughout the remainder of the
war they suffered
defeats in New Guinea and Borneo; yet
it was not until
15 August 1945 before the tenacious
Japanese
surrendered after atomic bombs were
dropped on the
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
s
The War on the Home Front and in Australian Water
At home, men and women were conscripted into
industries essential to the war effort. Women had a role as
nurses in the services, but as increasing numbers of men
were sent overseas to fight, women were allowed and
encouraged to join the Air Force, Army and Navy in new
support roles. Engineers and labourers were conscripted
into the Civil Construction Corps to construct landing
strips, and to build roads to carry supplies to the northern
front at Darwin. Women did essential work in factories but
most did not receive equal pay, although they did the same
work as men. Wives, sisters and mothers, aided by the
Women’s Land Army, took up the burden on farms as
thousands of farmers went overseas. However the main
role for most women continued to be that of home maker,
a job made much harder and more demanding by the
blackouts, rationing, shortages and the tragedies of
wartime life.
Wartime difficulties and shortages generally brought
Australians together, but there were tensions caused by
‘black market’ operators, wartime restrictions, the
presence of the ‘free spending’ American forces and
the strikes on the wharves and in the coal mines. At
times of greatest crises – such as the bombing of
Darwin and the shelling of Sydney and Newcastle by
Japanese submarines – some Australians acted
selfishly by hoarding goods, or ignoring what was best
for the community as a whole. But most Australians on
the home front did voluntary work, accepted shortages
and discomforts, and supported the troops in the
struggle for victory.
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Source 2.2
0
5000km
18
World map outline