During World War Two, Australians were faced with the threat of war on their own soil for the first time. Japanese anxiety had been brewing in Australia since the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and Japan had been continually gaining territory and power since then. The culmination of this anxiety came with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour and the subsequent conquests of The Philippines, Malaya and Hong Kong. Australia soon realized that their defenses were very thin and they were open to Japanese invasion. By March 1942 the Southward advances of the Japanese had begun to slow down and the threat of invasion became less imminent. Fear was further eased when America took responsibility for the defense of Australia. Although the invasion threat was relatively short lived, it had wide-ranging impacts on the Australian war effort. One of the major impacts was the shift of Australia relying on British support to Australia relying more on American support.
Australian Coat of Arms (adopted 1912)
Australian and Dutch prisoners of war at Tarsau in...
BRITAIN ST.The threat of invasion led the Australian government to take control of most aspects of the Australian economy. The threat also affected the attitudes of Australian soldiers towards the Japanese.
In 1941, as a war with Japan became more and more probable, Britain and Australia discussed plans to defend against any possible Japanese invasion of British colonial territories. Britain regarded Malaya as its key position in the Far East. This meant that Singapore must be defended. Singapore was a heavily defended naval base, but it was susceptible to a land based attack from the North. British leaders realized that Malaya would need to be defended by land and air forces. Australia was expected to contribute to this effort. Three Royal Australian Air Force squadrons were sent to Malaya, but a request from Britain for an army division to be sent in addition to...