Australia, army of

When World War II began in Europe in September 1939, the Australian Army consisted of 82,800 soldiers, of whom the overwhelming majority— 80,000—were minimally trained militiamen. The 2,800 regulars included officers and noncommissioned officers as well as some coastal artillery 138 Australia, air force of personnel. Australia immediately contributed a division to the war in Europe, and it instituted simultaneously a program of voluntary enlistment for service overseas and a program of conscription for service in defense of the homeland (including Papua and New Guinea). Before the war with Japan, part of a division fought in Europe. After the fall of France, it became the nucleus of the 9th Division, which, with the 6th and 7th Divisions, became the 1st Australian Corps under Lt. Gen. Thomas Blamey, and fought in Egypt. Elements of the corps also fought in the Balkans, on Crete, and in Syria, as well as in the North African Campaign. By August 1941, in anticipation of a Japanese threat, two 8th Division brigades were deployed to Malaya, and other 8th Division units were variously deployed in New Guinea and associated islands. The 7th Division had troops in Java, Ambon, New Britain, New Ireland, and the Solomon Islands. An independent company of Australian special forces troops was stationed on Timor. All of these units were overwhelmed by superior Japanese numbers early in the war. In April 1942, Blamey hastened to reorganize the Australian Army for the defense of the Australian homeland, and by the middle of the year only an Australian Independent Company and militia units of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles were actually fighting the Japanese in New Guinea. By November, these units were joined by the 6th and 7th Divisions and two additional militia brigades, all engaged in the New Guinea Campaign. It was not until February 1943 that Australian lawmakers legalized the use of conscripts in a defined area outside Australian territory. But Australian troops saw relatively little action until October 1944, when they followed behind American forces to conduct mop-up operations in Bougainville, New Britain, and New Guinea. Australian Army troops of the 7th and 9th Divisions did participate in the Borneo Campaign, specifically in assaults on Balikpapan, Tarakan, and Brunei. By the end of the war against Japan, 691,400 Australian men and 35,800 women had served in the army. Further reading: Coates, John. Bravery above Blunder: The 9th Australian Division at Finschhafen, Sattelberg and Sio. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999; Grey, Jeffrey. The Australian Army. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; Johnston, Mark. At the Front Line: Experiences of Australian Soldiers in World War II. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996; Johnston, Mark, and Peter Stanley. Alamein: The Australian Story. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004; Laffin, John. The Australian Army at War, 1899–1975. London: Osprey, 1982.