fellow australians it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that in consequence of a persistence by germany in her invasion of poland great britain has declared war upon her and that as a result australia is also at war this was the announcement broadcast across the country that marked the start of australia's role in the second world war back then australia was still part of the british empire and strongly believed in supporting britain but the country wasn't really prepared for another war the army only had around 3 000 soldiers so the military set out to
recruit a new expeditionary force to fight across land sea and sky there was also the citizens military forces or militia which was similar to today's army reserve in 1942 the government made it compulsory for all men aged between 18 and 35 to join the cmf some would end up on the front lines by the end of the second world war close to a million aussies would serve [Music] that included more than 5 000 indigenous soldiers who signed up to fight for a country that didn't yet count them as citizens women also played a much bigger
role in the second world war for the first time they were allowed to enlist in the armed forces and by the end of the war they were serving in all sorts of roles from driving to manning anti-aircraft guns women also kept the economy going at home taking on many of the jobs usually done by men [Music] at first many australian soldiers were sent to fight in europe the mediterranean and north africa but in 1941 the war got a lot closer to home japan which was already at war with china attacked british dutch and american territories
in asia and the pacific it had allied itself with nazi germany and had its own plans to control the whole pacific region its army swept across southeast asia and many feared australia would be next after brief attacks on the city of darwin and submarine tax in sydney and newcastle they began an invasion of new guinea which was an australian territory at the time the japanese navy wanted to take control of the capital port moresby by sea but they were defeated by us and australian forces in a major naval and aerial battle known as the battle
of the coral sea [Music] meanwhile a force of 2 000 japanese soldiers set out to take port moresby over land trekking across a track we now know as kokoda they were met by a much smaller group of australian soldiers who were trekking towards an airfield in the north and the battle of kokoda began it's remembered as one of the most difficult campaigns of the war the soldiers who were mostly young and inexperienced battled not just the japanese but also the elements the kokoda track is tough it's narrow steep and muddy the days were hot and
the nights freezing by the time they even encountered the japanese they would be exhausted however they persisted and with help from local papuan people and additional soldiers that were sent in they were able to stop japan from taking control [Music] for the next three years australians continued to fight in the pacific and in europe and the middle east until the tide of war turned against the nazis and then against japan by the end of the war close to 30 000 australians had died many more were injured physically and mentally including the tens of thousands who
spent time as prisoners of war they and the country they left behind would be forever changed by the second world war you
