#Making history the second world war series

Two-thirds of those taken prisoner were captured by the Japanese during their advance through south-east Asia in the first weeks of 1942. Over 30,000 Australian servicemen were taken prisoner in the Second World War and 39,000 gave their lives. Some 3,500 Australians were killed in this campaign, making it the costliest of the war. Australians were particularly prominent in Bomber Command's offensive against occupied Europe. Athough more Australian airmen fought against the Japanese, losses among those flying against Germany were far higher. 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.

Australian troops were still fighting in Borneo when the war ended in August 1945. How necessary these final campaigns were for Allied victory remains the subject of continuing debate.

#Making history the second world war series

The final series of campaigns were fought in Borneo in 1945. The first of these campaigns was fought on Bougainville and New Britain, and at Aitape, New Guinea. 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. This was Australia's largest and most complex offensive of the war and was not completed until April 1944. 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. 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.ДЇurther Allied victories against the Japanese followed in 1943. 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. 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. 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. After the bombing of Darwin that same month, all RAN ships in the Mediterranean theatre, as well as the 6th and 7th Divisions, returned to defend Australia. Singapore fell in February, with the loss of an entire Australian division. 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. 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. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) participated in operations against Italy after its entry into the war in June 1940. For Australia it meant that the Second World War was finally over. On 14 August 1945 Japan accepted of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender. The surrender was to take effect at midnight on 8вЂ“. On the German High Command authorised the signing of an unconditional surrender on all fronts: the war in Europe was over. 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. 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.

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.ДЄlmost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War.