Today is Battle for Australia Day. To mark this occasion the Memorial hosted a wreathlaying ceremony to commemorate the service and sacrifice of all those who served in defence of Australia in 1942 and 1943 against Japan. At that time, Japanese forces had occupied Australian territory overseas and the Australian mainland was attacked and under threat of a Japanese invasion. Japanese air and sea attacks on mainland Australia in early 1942 put the country at its greatest peril. In the second half of the year, Allied victories in the Coral Sea, around Midway Island, at Milne Bay, at Guadalcanal, and on the Kokoda Trail halted the advance of Japanese forces in the South-West Pacific Area. With continued air attacks on northern Australia and enemy naval activity off the east and west coasts, the threat of invasion persisted. By mid-1943 this had changed following Allied victories in the Pacific. The phrase “Battle for Australia” was first used by Prime Minister John Curtin after the fall of Singapore. The Battle for Australia Day was formally gazetted in 2008, to be commemorated on the first Wednesday of September.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 02:05:35 +0000
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