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On 1 September 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced the beginning of Australia's involvement in the Second World War on every national and commercial radio station in Australia. Millions of Australian women and men contributed to World War II to defend their country.
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The first vessels to be lost to enemy action in Australian waters were victims of mines laid by a German raider off the Victorian coast in 1940.
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shortly after the outbreak of war in the Pacific on 7 December 1941, the expectation of Japanese attack assisting officials in this difficult task
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Darwin suffered its first and most devastating air raid. The Japanese first attacked the Australian mainland on 19 February 1942 when they launched a devastating air raid on Darwin in the Northern Territory.
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Aircraft attacked Broome in Western Australia killing about 70 people. By the end of September 1943, Japanese pilots had flown 97 air raids against towns and bases in northern Australia;
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Other areas of northern Australia also suffered attacks at various times. The next most devastating was on 3 March 1942 at Broome. Again without warning, Japanese aircraft swept in low, bombing and strafing Broome’s harbour, township and airfield. Dozens of people were killed or wounded and 24 aircraft were destroyed. Many casualties were Dutch refugees from the Netherlands East Indies (modern Indonesia) whose flying boats were sitting defenceless on the harbour.
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On 31 May 1942, the war came to the east coast when three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour a submarine lightly shelled the eastern suburbs in Sydney and then Newcastle. Japanese submarines also attacked coastal shipping, causing the loss of some 60 lives and 29,000 tons of shipping during the two months after the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour.
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On 8 June 1942, the Japanese submarine I-24 fired ten rounds at Sydney Harbour in a five-minute period. Only one of the shells exploded, in Bellevue Hill.
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The air attacks on Darwin continued until November 1943, by which time the Japanese had bombed Darwin 64 times
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On 7 May 1945 the German High Command authorised the signing of an unconditional surrender on all fronts: the war in Europe was over. The surrender was to take effect at midnight on 8–9 May 1945. On 14 August 1945 Japan accepted of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender. For Australia it meant that the Second World War was finally over.
