World War 2
Tobruk
When did the event occur? The battle of Tobruk was fought between the 9th of December, 1940 and the 9th of February, 1941. The battle of Tobruk was fought between the allies, including Australian troops and the Italians and Germans. The Italian and German forces outnumbered the allies 4 to 1. Why/How was Australia involved? Australia was involved in the battle of Tobruk as part of the allied forces in North Africa. The Australian 19th brigade joined the 7th armoured division on the advance to Tobruk. The 16th, 17th and 18th brigades from the Australian 6th division also joined the allies in the battle of Tobruk. Over 800 Australians were either killed, wounded or captured. What is the significance to Australia? · Approximately 750 Australian soldiers were killed in action in the battle of Tobruk. · The Australians showed great courage by not surrendering. · The Australian soldiers fighting in the battle of Tobruk were called the rats of Tobruk by radio host Williams Joyce. · The Australians managed to capture lots of prisoners. · The port of Tobruk was a key area of the country because it was important to send supplies to Europe. Kokoda When did the event occur? The Kokoda track campaign was a battle that was fought between the 21st of July and the 16th of November, 1942. It was fought between the allied forces (Australia and America) and the axis forces (Japanese). Why/How was Australia involved? The countries that were involved in the battle of Kokoda were the United States of America and Australia. They were fighting the Japanese. The first Australian forces were the Papuan Infantry Battalion and the Australian 39th battalion. The Australian reinforcements were from the 53rd battalion, the 30th brigade and the 21st brigade. Over 600 Australians were killed and over 1000 were wounded in action. What is the significance to Australia? · Over 600 Australians were killed fighting for their country on the Kokoda track. · The Australian soldiers managed to kill over 6,000 Japanese which is 10 times the number of Australians that lost their lives. · It was the first time Australia had been involved in Guerrilla warfare. · Is described as the most important battle in Australia’s World War 2 campaign. The Kokoda track was 96 kilometers long and the Australian’s had to walk along this with fear of being attacked by the Japanese. Bombing of Darwin When did the event occur? The bombing of Darwin took place on the 19th of February, 1942. The Japanese bombed Darwin because Darwin was growing in military presence and it was used as a base to launch attacks at the Japanese. Why/How was Australia involved? The bombing of Darwin was one of the few occasions where fighting in World War 2 impacted Australian soil. Over 250 Australians were killed in the bombing of Darwin. What is the significance to Australia? · The bombing of Darwin killed more than 250 people. · Almost 250 aircraft attacked Darwin. · The bombing of Darwin destroyed the water supply and stopped the supply of electricity. · The reason Japan attacked was because Australia was growing in military representation and because Darwin was a good aircraft base for planes attacking Japan. · More than half of Darwin’s population had to bu evacuated out of the city. |