Welcome to the Military history of Australia portal!
The military history of Australia spans the nation's 230-year modern history, from the early Australian frontier wars between Aboriginals and Europeans to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. Although this history is short when compared to that of many other nations, Australia has been involved in numerous conflicts and wars, and war and military service have been significant influences on Australian society and national identity, including the Anzac spirit. The relationship between war and Australian society has also been shaped by the enduring themes of Australian strategic culture and the unique security challenges it faces.
The six British colonies in Australia participated in some of Britain's wars of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, as a federated dominion and later as an independent nation, Australia fought in the First World War and Second World War, as well as in the wars in Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam during the Cold War. In the Post-Vietnam era Australian forces have been involved in numerous international peacekeeping missions, through the United Nations and other agencies, including in the Sinai, Persian Gulf, Rwanda, Somalia, East Timor and the Solomon Islands, as well as many overseas humanitarian relief operations, while more recently they have also fought as part of multi-lateral forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In total, nearly 103,000 Australians died during these conflicts. (Full article...)
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
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Thomas Baker as a cadet pilot c.1917
Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, DFC,MM & Bar (2 May 1897 – 4 November 1918) was an Australian soldier, aviator, and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Smithfield, South Australia, he was an active sportsman in his youth and developed a keen interest in aviation. He was employed as a clerk with the Bank of New South Wales, before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, for service in World War I. Posted to an artillery unit on the Western Front, he was awarded the Military Medal for carrying out numerous repairs on a communications line while subject to severe artillery fire. In June 1917, Baker was awarded a bar to his decoration for his part in quelling a fire in one of the artillery gun pits that was endangering approximately 300 rounds of shrapnel and high explosive.
In September 1917, Baker applied for a position as a mechanic in the Australian Flying Corps. He was instead selected for flight training, and was posted to courses in the United Kingdom. He graduated as a pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant in March 1918. Posted for active duty in France that June, Baker joined the ranks of No. 4 Squadron AFC. Over the next four months, he rose to the rank of captain and was credited with bringing down 12 German aircraft. He was shot down and killed on 4 November 1918. In February 1919, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. (Full article...)
The heavily damaged Japanese cruiser Aoba disembarks dead and wounded crew members near Buin, Bougainville and the Shortland Islands a few hours after the battle on 12 October 1942
On the night of 11 October, Japanese naval forces in the Solomon Islands area—under the command of Vice AdmiralGunichi Mikawa—sent a major supply and reinforcement convoy to their forces on Guadalcanal. The convoy consisted of two seaplane tenders and six destroyers and was commanded by Rear AdmiralTakatsugu Jojima. At the same time but in a separate operation, three heavy cruisers and two destroyers—under the command of Rear Admiral Aritomo Gotō—were to bombard the Alliedairfield on Guadalcanal (called Henderson Field by the Allies) with the object of destroying Allied aircraft and the airfield's facilities. (Full article...)
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Lieutenant Colonel Pollard in Cairo, February 1942
James Park WoodsVC (4 January 1886 – 18 January 1963) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War I; the Victoria Cross was the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that could be awarded to members of the Australian armed forces at the time. Woods enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1916 and, after training in Australia and the United Kingdom, joined his unit, the 48th Battalion, in France in September 1917. Along with the rest of his battalion, he participated in the First Battle of Passchendaele the following month. In early 1918, Woods was hospitalised for several months before rejoining his unit in May. He again reported sick in July, and did not return to the 48th Battalion until mid-August.
On 18 September 1918, the 48th Battalion was involved in the attack on the Hindenburg Outpost Line during the Hundred Days Offensive. After the first phase of the attack, some elements of Woods' unit were tasked to support another battalion as it conducted a further assault. When it was suspected that flanking British troops had not gone forward to their objective as reported, a four-man patrol including Woods attempted to make contact with them. Instead of finding British troops, they encountered a strong German post and, after calling for reinforcements, attacked it, driving more than thirty Germans from the position. Woods' actions during this assault and subsequent defence of the captured post resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross. Woods survived the war, returned to Australia and operated a vineyard and orchard in Western Australia. He retired early due to ill health and died in 1963. His medals are displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial. (Full article...)
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The cliffs of Waterloo Bay
The Waterloo Bay massacre, also known as the Elliston massacre, was a clash between European settlers and Aboriginal Australians that took place on the cliffs of Waterloo Bay near Elliston, South Australia, in late May 1849. Part of the Australian frontier wars, the most recent scholarship indicates that it is likely that it resulted in the deaths of tens or scores of Aboriginal people. The events leading up to the fatal clash included the killings of three European settlers by Aboriginal people, the killing of one Aboriginal person, and the death by poisoning of five others by European settlers. The limited archival records indicate that three Aboriginal people were killed or died of wounds from the clash and five were captured, although accounts of the killing of up to 260 Aboriginal people at the cliffs have circulated since at least 1880.
Aboriginal people from the west coast of South Australia have oral history traditions that a large-scale massacre occurred. In the 1920s and 1930s, several historians examined the archival record and concluded that there is no formal or direct evidence of a massacre on a large scale, and opined that the recorded events were exaggerated by storytellers over time. More recently, another historian concluded that the rumours relating to a massacre are founded in fact, and that some form of punitive action did take place on the cliffs of Waterloo Bay, but that it had been embellished into a myth. (Full article...)
Issy SmithVC (c. 18 September 1890 – 11 September 1940) was a British-Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to eligible forces of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom. In recognition of his VC, he was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Russian Cross of St. George (4th class) by the respective governments.
Born Ishroulch Shmeilowitz (and other renderings), to parents residing in Egypt, Smith travelled to Britain as a child stowaway and first volunteered to serve in the British Army in 1904. He emigrated to Australia after discharge, where he remained until mobilised as a reservist in 1914. As a corporal in the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, Smith was engaged in the Second Battle of Ypres. On 26 April 1915, Smith, on his own initiative, recovered wounded soldiers while exposed to sustained fire and attended to them "with the greatest devotion to duty regardless of personal risk". His conduct secured a recommendation for the Victoria Cross, which was awarded to Smith in August 1915. (Full article...)
The squadron embarked for the Middle East in April 1941; its personnel initially consisted solely of ground crew, who joined the pilots of No. 260 Squadron RAF to form No. 260/450 Squadron, which briefly operated Hawker Hurricane fighters in Syria. It was not until February 1942 that No. 450 Squadron, now with its own pilots and equipped with Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters, commenced operations in earnest. Over the next 15 months, it fought in the North African and Tunisian campaigns in both fighter and fighter-bomber roles, claiming 49 German and Italian aircraft destroyed in the air and earning the nickname "The Desert Harassers". (Full article...)
Leak was evacuated to the United Kingdom, and did not return to his unit until October 1917. Suffering from the effects of his service, Leak was convicted of desertion by a court-martial in November, but his sentence was ultimately suspended, and he returned to the 9th Battalion. In early March 1918 he was gassed, and did not rejoin to his unit until the Armistice of 11 November 1918. He returned to Australia and was discharged in 1919. (Full article...)
The Axis threat to Australia developed gradually and until 1942 was limited to sporadic attacks by German armed merchantmen. The level of Axis naval activity peaked in the first half of 1942 when Japanese submarines conducted anti-shipping patrols off Australia's coast, and Japanese naval aviation attacked several towns in northern Australia. The Japanese submarine offensive against Australia was renewed in the first half of 1943 but was broken off as the Allies pushed the Japanese onto the defensive. Few Axis naval vessels operated in Australian waters in 1944 and 1945, and those that did had only a limited impact. (Full article...)
HMAS Rankin, sixth submarine of the Collins class, underway in 2006
The Collins-class submarines are Australian-built diesel-electricsubmarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The Collins class takes its name from Australian Vice Admiral John Augustine Collins; each of the six submarines is named after significant RAN personnel who distinguished themselves in action during World War II. The six vessels were the first submarines built in Australia, prompting widespread improvements in Australian industry and delivering a sovereign (Australian controlled) sustainment/maintenance capability.
Planning for a new design to replace the RAN's Oberon-class submarines began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Proposals were received from seven companies; two were selected for a funded study to determine the winning design, which was announced in mid-1987. The submarines, enlarged versions of Swedish shipbuilder Kockums' Västergötland class and originally referred to as the Type 471, were constructed between 1990 and 2003 in South Australia by the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC). (Full article...)
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The above map shows how the network of fortresses defended the approaches to Hobart. The shaded white areas show the effective range of the fort's gun positions.
The Hobart coastal defences are a network of now defunct coastal batteries, some of which are inter-linked with tunnels, that were designed and built by British colonial authorities in the nineteenth century to protect the city of Hobart, Tasmania, from attack by enemy warships. During the nineteenth century, the port of Hobart Town was a vital re-supply stop for international shipping and trade, and therefore a major freight hub for the British Empire. As such, it was considered vital that the colony be protected. In all, between 1804 and 1942 there were 12 permanent defensive positions constructed in the Hobart region.
Prior to Australian Federation, the island of Tasmania was a colony of the British Empire, and as such was often at war with Britain's enemies and European rivals, such as France and later Russia. The British had already established the colony of Sydney at Port Jackson in New South Wales in 1788, but soon began to consider the island of Tasmania as the potential site of a useful second colony. It was an island, cut off from the mainland of Australia and isolated geographically, making it ideal for a penal colony, and was rich in timber, a resource useful to the Royal Navy. In 1803, the British authorities decided to colonise Tasmania, and to establish a permanent settlement on the island that was at the time known as Van Diemen's Land, primarily to prevent the French from doing so. During this period tensions between Great Britain and France remained high. The two nations had been fighting the French Revolutionary Wars with each other through much of the 1790s, and would soon be engaging each other again in the Napoleonic Wars. (Full article...)
Although most Australian civilians lived far from the front line, the Australian home front during World War II played a significant role in the Allied victory and led to permanent changes to Australian society.
During the war the Government of Australia greatly expanded its powers in order to better direct the war effort, 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. (Full article...)
Major GeneralElizabeth Cosson, AM,CSC (born 1958) served as Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs from 2018-2023. Cosson "vowed" to resign as Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, on 19 July 2020, if she cannot improve the department’s relationship with veterans stating in a media interview on 19 July 2019 that "if I’m still part of the problem in 12 months I will hand over [the job]."
Between 1979 and 2010, Cosson served 31 years in the Australian Army as an officer, commencing with officer training in the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) on 22 February 1979 (when she was 20 years old) at Georges Heights (WRAAC OCS 28/79 – the first WRAAC Officer course to have a similar syllabus and training duration during as the male officer cadets had, and coming only a year after servicewomen first received the right to equal pay). In 1983 she was transferred to the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps, as the WRAACs disbanded. (Full article...)
In 1951, Hassett was appointed to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Korea, where he led the unit through some of the toughest fighting of the war. For his leadership and planning during the Battle of Maryang San, he was granted an immediate award of the Distinguished Service Order. Promoted to brigadier in 1960, Hassett commanded a brigade in Malaya for three years, before returning to Australia and serving in a variety of positions, culminating in his appointment as Chief of the General Staff with the rank of lieutenant general. Promoted to general after two years in this role, he was appointed Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was reorganised as Chief of the Defence Force Staff the following year. Hassett died in 2008 at the age of 90. (Full article...)
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Second Lieutenant Clive Williams during orders with his section commanders.
The Battle of Gang Toi (8 November 1965) was fought during the Vietnam War between Australian troops and the Viet Cong. The battle was one of the first engagements between the two forces during the war and occurred when A Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) struck a Viet Cong bunker system defended by Company 238 in the Gang Toi Hills, in northern Bien Hoa Province. It occurred during a major joint US-Australian operation codenamed Operation Hump, involving the US 173rd Airborne Brigade, to which 1 RAR was attached. During the latter part of the operation an Australian rifle company clashed with an entrenched company-sized Viet Cong force in well-prepared defensive positions. Meanwhile, an American paratroop battalion was also heavily engaged in fighting on the other side of the Song Dong Nai.
The Australians were unable to concentrate sufficient combat power to launch an assault on the position and consequently they were forced to withdraw after a fierce engagement during which both sides suffered a number of casualties, reluctantly leaving behind two men who had been shot and could not be recovered due to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire. Although they were most likely dead, a battalion-attack to recover the missing soldiers was planned by the Australians for the next day, but this was cancelled by the American brigade commander due to rising casualties and the need to utilise all available helicopters for casualty evacuation. The bodies of the two missing Australian soldiers were subsequently recovered more than 40 years later, and were finally returned to Australia for burial. (Full article...)
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Group Captain Caldwell (fourth from left) talking to No. 452 Squadron Spitfire pilots at Morotai in January 1945
The wing was established to provide fighter protection for an Allied offensive from Darwin in northern Australia into the eastern Netherlands East Indies (NEI). This operation was effectively cancelled in June 1944, however, leaving No. 80 Wing without a clear mission. The unit remained at Darwin until it moved to Morotai in the NEI between December 1944 and March 1945. Due to the small number of Japanese aircraft remaining in this area the Wing's aircraft were mainly used in the ground attack role. From May 1945 to the end of the war two of No. 80 Wing's squadrons participated in the Borneo Campaign. (Full article...)
The 6th Battalion was an infantrybattalion of the Australian Army. Originally formed in 1914 for service during the First World War, the battalion fought at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. The battalion was disbanded in 1919 but was re-raised in 1921 as part of the Citizens Force, and adopted the title of "Royal Melbourne Regiment" in 1935. The battalion did not serve overseas during the Second World War and was eventually disbanded in 1944. It was re-raised in 1948 and remained in existence until 1960 when it was absorbed into the Royal Victoria Regiment. Today its honours and traditions are maintained by the 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment. (Full article...)
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Soldiers from the 1st Parachute Battalion boarding a DC-2 in 1944.
Sir Wilfrid Selwyn "Bill" Kent Hughes, KBE,MVO,MC (12 June 1895 – 31 July 1970) was an Australian army officer and politician who had a long career in both state and federal politics, most notably as a minister in the Menzies government. He also had a longstanding involvement with the Olympic movement, as both an athlete and organiser.
Richard Pearman Minifie, DSC & Two Bars (2 February 1898 – 31 March 1969) was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Victoria, he attended Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. Travelling to the United Kingdom, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in June 1916. Accepted for flight training, he completed his instruction in December and joined No. 1 (Naval) Squadron RNAS on the Western Front in January 1917, flying Sopwith Triplanes. He went on to score seventeen aerial victories on this type of machine throughout the year, becoming both the youngest Australian flying ace of the First World War and No. 1 (Naval) Squadron's highest-scoring ace on the Triplane. The unit re-equipped with the Sopwith Camel late in 1917, with Minifie going on to achieve a further four victories on the aircraft, raising his final tally to a score of twenty-one aircraft shot down.
Minifie crash-landed in German-held territory in March 1918, and spent the remainder of the war in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany. He was released at the end of the war, and was demobilised as a captain in September 1919. Returning to Australia, he joined the staff of his father's flour milling business, James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd. He served as a squadron leader in the Air Training Corps of the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. Minifie returned to the flour milling industry after the war, becoming managing director of James Minifie & Co. Pty Ltd in 1949. He died in 1969 at the age of seventy-one. (Full article...)
Canberra Mk.20 flown by No. 1 Operational Conversion Unit in 1970–71 following service in the Vietnam War, now on display at RAAF Base Wagga, New South Wales.
No. 1 Operational Conversion Unit (No. 1 OCU) was an operational training unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Formed in January 1959 at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, its role was to convert pilots and navigators to the English Electric Canberra bombers flown by Nos. 1, 2 and 6 Squadrons. The unit's complement of Canberras included T.4 and Mk.21 dual-control trainers, and Mk.20 bombers. Originally a component of No. 82 Wing, No. 1 OCU became an independent unit at Amberley in April 1968, its focus being the provision of operationally ready pilots for service with No. 2 Squadron in the Vietnam War. No. 1 OCU was disbanded in June 1971, following the withdrawal of No. 2 Squadron from South-East Asia. By then the RAAF's only Canberra unit, No. 2 Squadron ran its own conversion courses before disbanding in 1982. (Full article...)
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Flight Lieutenant Shannon shortly before taking part in the "Dambusters" raid with No. 617 Squadron RAF, May 1943
Image 11Women friends and family on the wharf waving farewell to the departing troop ship RMS Strathallan carrying the Advance Party of the 6th Division to service overseas. They include George Alan Vasey's wife Jessie Vasey (second from the left). The photograph is especially poignant because Vasey did not survive the war. (from Military history of Australia during World War II)
Image 46The light cruiser HMAS Hobart showing torpedo damage inflicted by a Japanese submarine on 20 July 1943. Hobart did not return to service until December 1944. (from History of the Royal Australian Navy)
Image 88Australian sailors take possession of a midget submarine at a Japanese naval base near Tokyo in September 1945. (from History of the Royal Australian Navy)
HMAS Kurumba was an oil tanker operated by the Royal Australian Navy from 1919 to 1946. Kurumba was built for the RAN in Britain and was completed in December 1916. She served as part of the Royal Navy'sRoyal Fleet Auxiliary until March 1919 when she was transferred to the Royal Australian Fleet Auxiliary. Kurumba operated in Australian waters and South-East Asia until being paid off to reserve in June 1928. Kurumba was reactivated in September 1939 and served in Australian waters and the South West Pacific Area during World War II. Following the war she was taken out of service in July 1946 and was sold to a commercial operator in January 1948.
"Australian troops had, at Milne Bay, inflicted on the Japanese their first undoubted defeat on land. Some of us may forget that, of all the allies, it was the Australians who first broke the invincibility of the Japanese army."