Australian home front during World War II

Although most Australian civilians lived far from the front line of World War II, the Australian home front
Home front
Home front is the informal term commonly used to describe the civilian populace of the nation at war as an active support system of their military....

during World War II played a significant role in the Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

victory and led to permanent changes to Australian society.

During the war the Australian Government

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

greatly expanded its powers in order to better direct the war effort

War effort

In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...

, and Australia's industrial and human resources were focused on supporting the Allied armed forces. While there were only a relatively small number of attacks on civilian targets, many Australians feared that the country would be invaded during the early years of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

United Australia Party Government

The Menzies Government (1939–1941)

Menzies Government (1939–1941)

The Menzies Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Menzies led the United Australia Party in the Australian Parliament from 1939–1941...

, led by Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

of the United Australia Party

United Australia Party

The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...

governed Australia though the early years of the Second World War. On 3 September 1939, the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

, made a national radio broadcast:

Australia had entered World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Earle Page

Earle Page

Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:...

, as leader of the Country Party and John Curtin

John Curtin

John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...

as leader of the Labor Party both pledged support to the declaration of war. A National Security Act was passed. The recruitment of a volunteer military force for service at home and abroad was announced, the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, and a citizen militia organised for local defence. In 1940–41, Australian forces played prominent roles in the fighting in the Mediterranean theatre

Mediterranean Theatre of World War II

The African, Mediterranean and Middle East theatres encompassed the naval, land, and air campaigns fought between the Allied and Axis forces in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Africa...

.

A special War Cabinet was created after war was declared – initially composed of Prime Minister Menzies and five senior ministers (RG Casey

Richard Casey, Baron Casey

Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC was an Australian politician, diplomat and the 16th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...

, GA Street, Senator McLeay, HS Gullet and World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

Prime Minister Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

). In March 1940, troubled negotiations were concluded with the Country Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

to re-enter Coalition with the UAP. The replacemnt of Earle Page

Earle Page

as leader by Archie Cameron

Archie Cameron

Archie Galbraith Cameron , was an Australian politician. He was Leader of the Country Party 1939-40, and Speaker of the House of Representatives 1950-56.-Biography:...

allowed Menzies to reach accommodation. A new Coalition ministry was formed including the Country Party's Archie Cameron, Harold Thorby and John McEwen

John McEwen

Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...

, as well as junior ministers Arthur Fadden and Horace Nock.

In Europe, the Phoney War gave way to a succession of Allied defeats, as Germany over ran the Low Countries

Low Countries

The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....

, Norway and France. By June 1940, the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

stood alone against Germany. Menzies called for an ‘all in’ war effort and with the support of Curtin, amended the National Security Act to extend government powers to tax, acquire property, control businesses and the labour force and allow for conscription of men for the "defence of Australia". Essington Lewis, the head of Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd was appointed Director-General of Munitions Supply to assist with mobilisation of national resources.

With the 1940 election looming, Menzies lost his Chief of the General Staff and three loyal ministers in a Royal Australian Airforce crash at Canberra airport. The Labor Party meanwhile experienced a split along pro and anti Communist lines over policy towards the Soviet Union for its co-operation with Nazi Germany in the invasion of Poland and Labor narrowly lost the September 1940 Election. The UAP–Country Party coalition and the Labor parties won 36 seats each and the Menzies Government was forced to rely upon the support of two Independents, Alex Wilson and Arthur Coles to continue in office.

Menzies proposed an all party unity government to break the impasse, but the Labor Party refused to join. John Curtin agreed instead to take a seat on a newly created Advisory War Council in October 1940. New Country Party leader Arthur Fadden

Arthur Fadden

Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...

became Treasurer and Menzies unhappily conceded to allow Earle Page back into his ministry.

In January 1941, Menzies flew to Britain to discuss the weakness of Singapore's defences and sat with Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

's British War Cabinet. He was unable to achieve significant assurances for increased commitment to Singapore's defences, but undertook morale boosting excursions to war affected cities and factories. Returning to Australia via Lisbon and the United States in May, Menzies faced a war-time minority government under ever increasing strain.

In Menzies's absence, John Curtin had co-operated with Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Fadden of the Country Party in preparing Australia for the expected Pacific War

Pacific War

. With the threat of Japan imminent and with the Australian army suffering badly in the Greek

Battle of Greece

The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...

and Crete

Battle of Crete

The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...

campaigns, Menzies re-organised his ministry and announced multiple multi-party committees to advise on war and economic policy. Government critics however called for an all-party government. In August, Cabinet decided that Menzies should travel back to Britain to represent Australia in the War Cabinet – but this time the Labor caucus refused to support the plan. Menzies announced to his Cabinet that he thought he should resign and advise the Governor General to invite John Curtin to form Government. The Cabinet instead insisted he approach Curtin again to form a war cabinet. Unable to secure Curtin's support, and with an unworkable parliamentary majority, Menzies then resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the UAP on 29 August 1941.

Labor Government

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

replaced Menzies as leader of the UAP and the UAP-Country Party Coalition held office for another month with Arthur Fadden

Arthur Fadden

Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...

of the Country Party as Prime Minister. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government

Minority government

A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

in 1941 after independents crossed the floor

Crossing the floor

In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...

, bringing down the Coalition

Coalition (Australia)

The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...

minority United Australia Party

United Australia Party

-Country Party

National Party of Australia

Coalition government which resulted from the 1940 election

Australian federal election, 1940

Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

. Curtin went on to lead federal Labor to its greatest win with two thirds of seats in the lower house and over 58 percent of the two-party preferred

Two-party-preferred vote

In politics, the two-party-preferred vote , or two-candidate-preferred vote , in an election or opinion poll uses preferential voting to express the electoral result after the distribution of preferences...

vote at the 1943 election

Australian federal election, 1943

Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin easily defeated the opposition Country Party led...

. Labor won 49 seats to 12 United Australia Party, 7 Country Party, 3 Country National Party (Queensland), 1 Queensland Country Party, 1 Liberal Country Party (Victoria) and 1 Independent in the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

. The Labor Party also won all 19 of the seats contested for the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

. Eight weeks later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

.

The Curtin Government

Curtin Government

The Curtin Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Curtin. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1941 to 1945.-Background:...

led Australia when the Australian mainland came under direct military threat during the Japanese advance. He is widely regarded as one of the country's greatest Prime Ministers. General Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

said that Curtin was "one of the greatest of the wartime statesmen".

With most of Australia’s best forces committed to fight against Hitler in the Middle East, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the US naval base in Hawaii, on 8 December 1941 (eastern Australia time). The British battleship HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Prince of Wales

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Prince of Wales, after numerous holders of the title the Prince of Wales. Another ship is planned:...

and battlecruiser HMS Repulse

HMS Repulse

Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Repulse.*Repulse was a 50-gun galleon also known as Due Repulse, launched in 1595 and in the records until 1645.*HMS Repulse was a 32-gun fifth-rate, originally the French ship Bellone...

sent to defend Singapore were sunk soon afterwards. Australia was ill-prepared for an attack, lacking armaments, modern fighter aircraft, heavy bombers, and aircraft carriers. While demanding reinforcements from Churchill, on 27 December 1941 Curtin published an historic announcement:

British Malaya quickly collapsed, shocking the Australian nation. British, Indian and Australian troops made a disorganised last stand at Singapore, before surrendering on 15 February 1942. Curtin predicted that the "battle for Australia" would now follow. On 19 February, Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

suffered a devastating air raid, the first time the Australian mainland had ever been attacked by enemy forces. Over the following 19 months, Australia was attacked from the air

Japanese air attacks on Australia, 1942-43

Between February 1942 and November 1943, during the Pacific War, the Australian mainland, domestic airspace, offshore islands and coastal shipping were attacked at least 97 times by aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force...

almost 100 times.

U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered his commander in the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur

, to formulate a Pacific defence plan with Australia in March 1942. Curtin agreed to place Australian forces under the command of General MacArthur, who became "Supreme Commander of the South West Pacific". Curtin had thus presided over a fundamental shift in Australia's foreign policy. MacArthur moved his headquarters to Melbourne in March 1942 and American troops began massing in Australia. In late May 1942, Japanese midget submarine

Midget submarine

A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...

s sank an accommodation vessel

HMAS Kuttabul (ship)

HMAS Kuttabul was a Royal Australian Navy depot ship, and former Sydney harbour ferry. During the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, Kuttabul was torpedoed and sunk, with 21 Commonwealth naval personnel aboard....

in a daring raid on Sydney Harbour

Attack on Sydney Harbour

In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia...

. On 8 June 1942, two Japanese submarines briefly shelled Sydney's eastern suburbs and the city of Newcastle.

In an effort to isolate Australia, the Japanese planned a seaborne invasion of Port Moresby

Port Moresby

Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...

, in the Australian Territory of New Guinea

Territory of New Guinea

The Territory of New Guinea was the Australia-controlled, League of Nations-mandated territory in the north eastern part of the island of New Guinea, and surrounding islands, between 1920 and 1949...

. In May 1942, the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

engaged the Japanese in the Battle of the Coral Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea

The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...

and halted the attack. The Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...

in June effectively defeated the Japanese navy and the Japanese army launched a land assault on Moresby from the north.

Concerned to maintain British commitment to the defence of Australia, Prime Minister Curtin announced in November 1943 that Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was a soldier and member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary....

was to be appointed Governor General of Australia. The brother of King George VI arrived in Australia to take up his post in January, 1945. Curtin hoped this might influence the British to despatch men and equipment to the Pacific, and the appointment reaffirmed the important role of the Crown

Monarchy in Australia

The Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...

to the Australian nation at that time.

The Battle of Buna-Gona

Battle of Buna-Gona

The Battle of Buna–Gona was a battle in the New Guinea campaign, a major part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. On 16 November 1942, Australian and United States forces attacked the main Japanese beachheads in New Guinea, at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. Both forces were riddled by disease and...

, between November 1942 and January 1943, set the tone for the bitter final stages of the New Guinea campaign

New Guinea campaign

The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...

, which persisted into 1945. MacCarthur to a certain extent excluded Australian forces from the main push north into the Philippines and Japan. It was left to Australia to lead amphibious assaults against Japanese bases in Borneo

Borneo campaign (1945)

The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area, during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and...

As the end of the war approached, Curtin sought to firm up Australian influence in the South Pacific following the war but also sought to ensure a continuing role for the British Empire

British Empire

, calling Australia "the bastion of British institutions, the British way of life and the system of democratic government in the Southern World". In April 1944, Curtin held talks on postwar planning with United States President Franklin Roosevelt and with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and gained agreement for the Australian economy to begin transitioning from military to post-war economy. He returned to Australia and campaigned for an unsuccessful 1944 referendum

Australian referendum, 1944

The 1944 Australian Referendum was held on 19 August 1944. It contained one referendum question.* Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights -Proposed Amendment:...

to extend federal government power over employment, monopolies, Aboriginal people, health and railway gauges.

Prime Minister Curtin suffered from ill health from the strains of office. He suffered a major heart attack in November 1944. Facing the newly formed Liberal Party of Australia

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

opposition led by Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

, Curtin struggled with exhaustion and a heavy work load - excusing himself from Parliamentary question time and unable to concentrate on the large number of parliamentary bills being drafted dealing with the coming peace. Curtin returned to hospital in April with lung congestion. With Deputy Prime Minister Frank Forde

Frank Forde

Francis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:...

was in the United States and Ben Chifley

Ben Chifley

Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...

serving as acting Prime Minister, it was Chifley who announced the end of the war in Europe on 9 May 1945.

When Curtin died towards the end of the Second World War in July 1945, Frank Forde

Frank Forde

served as Prime Minister from 6–13 July, before the party elected Ben Chifley

Ben Chifley

as Curtin's successor. Following his 1945 election as leader of the Labor Party, Chifley, a former railway engine driver, became Australia’s 16th Prime Minister on 13 July 1945. The Second World War ended with the defeat of Japan in the Pacific just four weeks later.

Air raids

97 air-raids were conducted against Australia by the Japanese Airforce through 1942 and 1943. Darwin alone was hit 64 times. Horn Island was struck 9 times, Broome and Exmouth Gulf 4 times, Townsville and Millingimbi 3 times, Port Headland and Wyndham twice and Derby, Drysdale, Katherine, Mossman, Onslow, and Port Patterson once.

Military production

Production of selected weapons for the Australian Army

Weapon	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	Wartime total
Lee-Enfield 0.303 rifle Lee-Enfield The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century...	n/a	20 942	79 858	101 600	145 900	47 060	15 690	411 050
Vickers MMG Vickers machine gun Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...	n/a	846	1 971	33 56	2 224	1 993	1 046	11 436
Bren LMG			1 077	5 615	6 812	3 152	778	17 434
2 pounder AT gun Ordnance QF 2 pounder The Ordnance QF 2-pounder was a British anti-tank and vehicle-mounted gun, employed in the Second World War. It was actively used in the Battle of France, and during the North Africa campaign...			576	924	80			1 580
6 pounder AT gun Ordnance QF 6 pounder The Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 7 cwt, or just 6 pounder, was a British 57 mm gun, their primary anti-tank gun during the middle of World War II, as well as the main armament for a number of armoured fighting vehicles...				192	708			900
17 pounder AT gun Ordnance QF 17 pounder The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17 pounder was a 76.2 mm gun developed by the United Kingdom during World War II. It was used as an anti-tank gun on its own carriage, as well as equipping a number of British tanks. It was the most effective Allied anti-tank gun of the war...								128
25 pounder field gun Ordnance QF 25 pounder The Ordnance QF 25 pounder, or more simply, 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was introduced into service just before World War II, during which it served as the major British field gun/howitzer. It was considered by many to be the best field artillery piece of the war, combining high rates of fire with a...				877	313	552		1 905
25 pounder field gun (short) Ordnance QF 25-pounder Short The Ordnance QF 25-pounder Short was an Australian variant of the British Ordnance QF 25-pounder field gun/howitzer. The gun was developed by modifying the 25-pounder's design to improve its mobility during jungle warfare. Development began in 1942, and the weapon first entered service with the...			193		112	75	32	219
Bofors 40 mm AA gun Bofors 40 mm gun The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...				11	186	75	18	290
3.7 inch AA gun QF 3.7 inch AA gun The 3.7-Inch QF AA was Britain's primary heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II. It was roughly the equivalent of the German 88 mm FlaK but with a slightly larger calibre of 94 mm and superior performance. It was used throughout World War II in all theatres except the Eastern Front...		40	138	185	131	3		497
Owen SMG Owen Gun The Owen Gun, which was known officially as the Owen Machine Carbine, was an Australian submachine gun designed by Evelyn Owen in 1939...			102	15 096	21 555	8 710		45 463
Austen SMG Austen MK I The Austen was a 9 millimetre Australian submachine gun derived from the British Sten gun developed during the Second World War. In total 19,914 Austens were produced during the war by Diecasters Ltd of Melbourne and W. T...				2 283	16 565	1 057		19 905
2-inch mortar					1 283	717		2 000
3-inch mortar Ordnance ML 3 inch Mortar The Ordnance ML 3-inch mortar was the United Kingdom's standard mortar used by the British Army from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, superseding the Stokes Mortar.-History:...			1 444	932	837	93		3 006
4.2 inch mortar M2 4.2 inch mortar -External links:* early detailed article on 4.2 mortar...				1	70	229		300
Machine-gun carrier Universal Carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...			1 544	2 251	1 084	104		4 983
Sentinel tank Sentinel tank The Sentinel tank was a cruiser tank designed in Australia in World War II in response to the war in Europe, and to the threat of Japan expanding the war to the Pacific or even a feared Japanese invasion of Australia. It was the first tank to be built with a hull cast as a single piece, and the...				25	40			65
Rover Light Armoured Car Rover Light Armoured Car The Light Armoured Car , also known as Rover, was an armoured car produced in Australia during the Second World War.-History and description:...								238
Dingo scout car Dingo (scout car) The Dingo Scout Car was a light armoured car built in Australia during Second World War. They were produced by the Ford motor company during 1942.-History:...								245

Australian aircraft production during World War II

Aircraft	1939–40	1940–41	1941–42	1942–43	1943–44	1944–45	Wartime total
Beaufort Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber....			76	285	312	27	700
Beaufighter Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter, often referred to as simply the Beau, was a British long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Company's earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design...					3	281	329
Wirraway CAC Wirraway The Wirraway was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1939 and 1946...	75	225	320		30	60	717
Wackett		13	187				200
Boomerang CAC Boomerang The CAC Boomerang was a World War II fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia between 1942 and 1945. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation produced Boomerangs under the production contract numbers CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19, with aircraft supplied under each subsequent contract...				105	102	43	250
Mustang P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...						4	18
Tiger Moth De Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...		8	453	508	66	35	1 070
Dragon De Havilland Dragon \|-See also:-References:Bibliography ISBN 0-85177-813-5...				87			87
Mosquito De Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...					6	82	115

External links

Australian War Memorial Home front: Second World War

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United Australia Party Government

Labor Government

Air raids

Military production

See also

Primary sources

External links