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Australia entered World War II on 3 September 1939. On 14 September Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that 40,000 members of the Militia would be called up for training and a 20,000-strong expeditionary force, designated the Second Australian Imperial Force, would be formed for overseas service. Like its predecessor, the Second AIF was a ...
World War II cost thousands of Australian lives and consumed a large portion of the national income. During the war, 27,073 members of the Australian military were either killed, died of wounds or died while prisoners of war. Of these, 9,572 were killed in the war against Germany and Italy and 17,501 in the war against Japan.
The following is a list of Australian divisions in World War II, including all divisions raised within the Australian Army during World War II. A total of 15 such formations were established by the army during the war; of these, four infantry divisions served as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force, along with one armoured division.
The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army.Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the Australian Military Forces. [2]
Members of the 9th Division during a formal parade in late 1942. The structure of the Australian Army changed considerably during World War II.At the outbreak of war the Army comprised a small regular component and a large, but ill-trained and equipped, militia force.
As a result, the majority of Australia's military weapons and equipment were initially imported from the United Kingdom or the United States. However, as the war progressed, many of these imported items were gradually replaced by locally produced versions, as Australia's industrial capacity expanded to meet the demands of the conflict.
In 1939, following the start of World War II the Australian Government created the Second Australian Imperial Force which would see combat in North Africa and the Pacific. This list covers individual units, above or equivalent to a battalion, which were created or maintained after 1914, by either being militia units that were amalgamated and/or ...
At the outset of the World War II, due to the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) which prohibited sending the Militia to fight outside of Australian territory, [13] [Note 3] [Note 4] the decision was made to raise an all volunteer force to serve overseas. Initial operations were conceived to be likely in the Middle East, France and later ...