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In 1939, the Allied Forces of Great Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand responded to Nazi Germany's invasion by declaring war. On 3 September 1939, Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies told everyone that Australia was at war with Germany.
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British Declaration of War on Germany, September 3, 1939 In response to the German invasion of Poland three days earlier, the British government declared war on Germany. British colonies, as well as the Raj of India, automatically found themselves at war alongside Britain. France, Austrialia, and New Zealand joined Britain in declaring war on Sept. 3.
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Australian pilots from the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) were sent to aid Britain in the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain was an attempt by Germany to take the British Channel so a successful land invasion could take place, but to do that Germany had to control the skies.
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On 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney, a light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy with an impressive record of war service, was lost following a battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast. The loss of the Sydney with its full war complement of 645 remains Australia’s worst naval disaster.
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1 hour after Japanese bombers struck at Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941, Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia declared that "From 1 hour ago, Australia has been at war with the Japanese Empire.
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On this day the largest attack by Japan on Australia occured. 242 Japanese aircraft targeted various military assets in Darwin, causing serious damage and many casualties; both military and civilian.
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In May and June 1942 the war was brought home to Australians on the east coast when the Japanese attacked Sydney Harbour from the sea.
After launching the three two-man midget submarines, the three mother submarines moved to a new position off Port Hacking to await the return of the six submariners sent into the harbour. They would wait there until 3 June -
In the darkness of the early hours of the morning of 9 August 1942 the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was severely damaged off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) in a surprise attack by a powerful Japanese naval force in an action that became known as the Battle of Savo Island. Canberra was hit 24 times in less than two minutes and 84 of her crew were killed including Captain Frank Getting. Following an order to abandon ship the Canberra was sunk the next day by a torpedo from a US destroyer.
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The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October–11 November 1942) was a major battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. this war was between the British Empire and the German-Italian army.
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a small Australian patrol led by Lieutenant Alexander Black of the 2/31st Battalion cautiously entered Kokoda. Expecting to encounter the Japanese, Black’s patrol found the village abandoned, the enemy having withdrawn to the Oivi Pass several days earlier.
