On Saturday, August 15, we as a nation will pause, remember, and commemorate the end of World War Two in the Pacific on 15 August 1945. Originally known as V-J day later altered to V-P day, Victory in the Pacific. On that day, the Japanese Government signed the surrender document, ending all hostilities and bringing to an end the terrible worldwide conflict resulting in millions of lives lost, both military and civilian.
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For Australians, it meant that the Second World War was finally over. Seventy-five years later, as we face unprecedented challenges presented by a global pandemic, we can look back and take heart from the trials and tribulations suffered by the generations before us leading up to that terrible conflict.
Australia suffered 60,000 killed in action in World War One and many more thousand wounded who carried mental and physical scars for the rest of, their often, short lives. What is not so well known is that in the 15 years after the First World War, another 61,000 died from war-caused injuries.
The Spanish Flu of 1919-20 killed another 15,000 Australians. Followed by the 1929 Great Depression that hit Australia with a vengeance, creating unemployment that reached 30 per cent of the work force. There was no JobKeeper or JobSeeker in that era, instead the swagman or bagman tramped the roads of Australia seeking work for payment or simply a meal.
They were a generation that knew more hardship than help, and accepted the responsibility of not only defending Australia but assisting to defend the rest of the world. Australia's Navy, Army and Air Force served in all theatres of the conflict around the globe.
Australian's were asked to hold the Port of Tobruk for a few weeks to allow the British troops to fall back to a defensive line at El Alamein. The German Panzer forces at the time were undefeated around the world, led by one of Germany's best military leaders, General Rommel. The German's met their match against the Australians, they held Tobruk for nine months. The break-out from El Alamein was led by Australians forces, and despite terrible causalities, they were successful.
The Battle of Britain saw Australian pilots in the front line and later in Bomber Command, half of our aircrew were killed in action but they never wavered from their responsibilities.
In the Pacific, Australian troops fought a fighting retreat down the Malayan Peninsular until the surrender at Singapore. Then suffered long years of imprisonment, mistreatment, and forced slave labour. Almost a third of the men died from starvation, physical abuse, and lack of basic medical treatment.
At Milne Bay, Australian troops supported by American engineers, built a base and defeated the Japanese invading force. Assisted by the Australian Air Force they inflicted the first defeat of Japanese forces anywhere in the Pacific region.
The battle of the Kokoda Track is well known. The Japanese were fighting to take Port Moresby, we were fighting to defend it and Australia. Australian troops fought the Japanese to a standstill, and held the line within sight of Port Moresby. The Japanese Army did not have the word retreat in their military vocabulary.
The Japanese were ordered to advance to the rear. Many thousands of our troops were involved in that historic battle, but one unit deserves a special mention. The 39 th Battalion, a Militia or Nasho Battalion, was the first unit to engage the Japanese invading forces at the other end of the Kokoda Track, the northern end. Less than a thousand inexperienced and poorly equipped Australian reservists fought a numerical superior detachment of elite Japanese soldiers in an attempt to halt their advance. They fought to slow the advance until they were relieved by battle hardened Australian soldiers coming home from the Middle East conflicts.
The 39 th Battalion were pulled back to rest and rebuild their depleted numbers. They were flown back into the battle, over the Owen Stanley Range, and were sent in to dislodge the Japanese troops who had dug-in to their final defensive strong point, Buna-Gona. The final assault on the Japanese stronghold of Gona was planned for 8 December 1942, with the main thrust to be provided by the 39th Battalion. This was to be the last attempt at taking Gona from the Japanese. The day closed with the Japanese position reduced to a small enclave that was taken the following day, after which the Australian Commanding Officer Ralph Honner sent the victorious and now famous message "Gona's gone".
The 39 th Battalion was a spent force. Of the 1000 men flown across the Owen Stanley Range only, thirty-two were able to march back to the airstrip to fly back to Port Moresby. On arrival, all 32 men are declared unfit for future military service. The Battalion had fought itself out of existence and was disbanded. The victory at Kokoda marks the point at where Japan lost the strategic initiative to the allies. From that point on, Japan would fight a defensive war.
The women of Australia contributed greatly to the successful conclusion of those terrible dark years.
They joined the armed forces in record numbers. Australia, ratio to population, had more women in uniform than any other allied force. The Women's Land Army, a civilian work force, rolled up their sleeves and worked the farms and kept up the supply of food to the Australian and Americans armies, as well as the whole countries population. They worked in munition production and on the production line in our factories. They contributed so much at a vital period in our history.
Not forgetting the mothers, wives, and sweethearts along with fathers, brothers and sisters who waited and prayed, year after long year that their soldiers would be spared and return safely home.
On Saturday, August 15 I invite you to pause, reflect, and give thanks to those magnificent Australians who gave so much and suffered for so long, to give us the freedom we enjoy today and that sometimes we take for granted. Take a moment to look up any of the battle's I've mentioned and read in detail about the tenacity and fortitude of Australian's in the most unbearable situations.
When our current situation becomes too much, you are unable to be with friends and family or it all seems too overwhelming. Remember many have suffered longer, borne more pain, then went back to work afterwards, and built this great nation we live in today.