A snapshot of significant anniversaries
Honouring veterans of the Korean War
On 27 July, Korean Veterans’ Day, we remembered the courage and sacrifice of the Australians who fought in the Korean War – the first conflict of the Cold War.
The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea (People’s Democratic Republic of Korea) launched an invasion of South Korea (Republic of Korea) in an attempt to unify the country under its communist government.
The Australian Government quickly committed to the war, deploying personnel from the Navy, Army and Air Force, as one of the 21 member states of the United Nations that sent military forces to aid the South. It was also the first conflict for the newly formed Australian Regular Army.
Some 18,000 Australian military personnel served during the Korean War, including Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps nurses who served in Korea and attended to Korean War casualties in the British Commonwealth units in Japan. Fighting conditions were harsh, with troops experiencing severe climatic conditions and extremely challenging terrain.
Of those who served, more than 350 were killed during the war and in the post-armistice period, while more than 1,200 were wounded and 30 taken prisoner.
Korean Veterans’ Day marks 27 July 1953 when an armistice was signed to end the three years of fighting. However, Australians remained for another four years to help maintain a fragile truce.
To learn more about the Korean War, visit DVA’s Anzac Portal (anzacportal.dva.gov.au).
Remembering Australian service in the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation
On 31 August each year, we commemorate Malaya and Borneo Veterans’ Day and remember those who served in the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesian Confrontation.
The Malayan Emergency was declared on 16 June 1948 when Malayan Communist Party guerrillas murdered three estate managers in Perak state, beginning an insurgency against the British colonial government.
Australian involvement began when RAAF transports, bombers and personnel arrived in Singapore in 1950. The Emergency was declared officially over on 31 July 1960, although Australian troops conducted anti-insurgency operations until August 1962 and remained in what was by then Malaysia until 1963.
Thirty-nine Australians were killed during the Emergency, and a further 27 were wounded. Lasting some 13 years, Australia’s involvement in the Malayan Emergency was one of our longest continuous military commitments during the 20th century.
The Indonesian Confrontation began in 1962 and was a small-scale undeclared war between Indonesia and Malaysia. The Confrontation was a result of Indonesian attempts to disable and destroy the newly independent state of Malaysia.
In March 1965, the first Australian infantry arrived in Borneo and were involved in several operations. However, because cross-border operations were conducted in secret, the Confrontation received very little coverage in the Australian press at the time, and for years after.
Indonesia and Malaysia signed a peace treaty in Bangkok in August 1966 to end the conflict. Twenty-three Australians were killed in the Confrontation.
We acknowledge and commemorate the service and sacrifice of all those who served in both the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesian Confrontation.
To learn more about these two conflicts, visit DVA’s Anzac Portal (anzacportal.dva.gov.au).
80 years on, we remember the Battle for Australia
On the first Wednesday of September, Battle for Australia Day, we remember all those who served in the defence of our nation during the Second World War.
On 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese, prompting Prime Minister John Curtin to declare that the ‘Battle for Australia’ had begun. It is a day to honour and thank the thousands of Australians and our allies who engaged in land, air and sea battles against Japan.
Australia experienced a series of attacks, including air raids on Darwin and elsewhere in northern Australia, submarine attacks on Sydney Harbour and Newcastle in 1942, and the Battle of the Coral Sea, which is considered the largest naval battle ever fought off our shores.
Australian service personnel also took the lead role in the victorious battles on the Kokoda Track, Milne Bay, Buna, Gona and Sanananda in Papua New Guinea.
The fighting continued until Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies on 15 August 1943, since then commemorated as Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day. An estimated one million Australians served and more than 39,000 were killed during the Second World War, with many more wounded.
Additionally, more than 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war, with some 8,000 of them losing their lives. In Malaysia, 15 August is commemorated as Sandakan Memorial Day, with a service held at Sandakan Memorial Park, the site of the former prisoner of war (POW) camp, to remember the POWs who died in the region and the local people who risked their lives to help them. This year the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh and DVA Secretary Liz Cosson AM CSC attended the service at Sandakan Memorial Park where the Minister delivered the commemorative address.
The Second World War also saw the Allies rely heavily on the merchant marine and its civilian crews to transport service personnel, supplies and equipment. Merchant mariners worked under the constant threat of attack from enemy submarines, surface warships, aircraft and sea mines. Their work was especially dangerous because unlike naval warships, merchant vessels were often slow and most were unarmed.
Merchant Navy Day
On 3 September we marked Merchant Navy Day to commemorate the distinctive service of Australian merchant mariners in times of conflict. The date is taken from the anniversary of the first attack on a merchant navy ship in the Second World War, when the British liner SS Athenia was torpedoed without warning by German submarine U-30 on 3 September 1939. The ship sank the following day with the loss of 117 civilian passengers and crew.
In the 80th anniversary year of these momentous events, we remember and honour the sacrifice of all those who served at home and abroad in the long battle to defend Australia.
80th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein
On 23 October we recognised the 80th anniversary of the second Battle of El Alamein, where Australians played a crucial role in the Allied victory in North Africa.
There were several significant battles in the El Alamein area between July and November 1942. The 9th Australian Division was pivotal in the British Eighth Army’s action to halt a German and Italian advance towards the Suez Canal.
On the night of 23 October 1942, a massive artillery barrage marked the beginning of an Allied offensive known as the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. Fearing the attack would become bogged down, Eighth Army commander General Bernard Montgomery ordered the Australian Division to switch the axis of their attack from west to north, towards the Mediterranean Sea. The Australians drew in the Axis forces, leaving the enemy’s southern defences weakened and buying the Allies the precious time they needed to attack, achieving a breakthrough and the withdrawal of the German and Italian forces.
The losses of the 9th Australian Division (one of 11 divisions in Eighth Army) totalled some 620 dead, some 2,000 wounded and 130 taken prisoner, about one-fifth of the Eighth Army’s total casualties.
After making a major contribution to the British victory at El Alamein, the 9th Australian Division went on to fight in the Asia/Pacific theatre, making them one of the few Allied army units to serve in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theatres.
Eighty years on, we honour the sacrifice of all those who served our nation in the Second World War.
For more information, visit the Anzac Portal.