World War II 80 Years - A world remadeWorld War II 80 Years - A world remade 

On 8 December 1941 Australian PM John Curtin solemnly announced that “men and women of Australia, we are at war with Japan”. In August it will be 80 years since WWII in the Pacific ended, an event that had galvanised the 7 million people of Australia to a common purpose and changed the world and particularly the Pacific to this day.

It’s also 80 years since one million members of the US armed forces stayed in or passed though Australia on their way to war, not only critical to defeating the enemy, but also in their direct influence on Australian society.

Stories of WWII have been passed down through generations. If only considering the one million Australians who joined the armed forces during the war; their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren conceivably now number 6 million.

Add to this the stories of those who served on the Home Front and stories brought to Australia by post war immigration, and it’s fair to say that WWII in the Pacific is part of the collective memory of most if not all Australians.

Our oceans played a huge part in naval combat, personnel deployments and post-war reunions. It was a time of great challenges but also of valour and service by members of the Royal Australian Navy, Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service and the Merchant Marine.

The catastrophic atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which effectively ended the war heralded new beginnings for individuals and nations. The occupation by Japan of The Philippines, China, Korea, Singapore, Guam and other Pacific islands, (the then) Malaya and Dutch East Indies and Burma ended, and from it sprang popular and political drives for independence from pre-war imperialism and colonisation.

Post-war Allied occupation revolutionised the social and political structure of Japan under an American written constitution that enforced parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy.

Australia and New Zealand now turned directly to the United States for their defence, culminating in the ANZUS Security Treaty of 1951 ending historical reliance on the UK for defence, and for Australia leading to the AUKUS security partnership of 2021.

Some 15,000 Australian women who married American men left home and travelled across the Pacific on Matson ocean-liners in ‘Operation War Brides’ to begin a not-always-happy new life in the USA, and just a few American ‘war grooms’ travelled in the opposite direction to Australia.

Exposure to the American mores and popular culture brought to Australia by one million Americans influenced our social outlook, language and lifestyle towards an American ideal.

‘Australia - land of tomorrow’ was the government slogan used to entice and welcome European immigrants to Australia after life as they knew it ended with WWII and they sought a new beginning.

When war ended the world dreamt of peace and a new world order reflected in the creation of the United Nations, a dream soon dashed by the Cold War and the birth of NATO. In the Pacific the dream of independence from pre-war colonial rule would eventually become reality for many nations.

A complex system of Western alliances, traders and institutions sought to cement in key principles around free trade, democracy and the rule of law.

Battle of the Coral Sea banner exhibition and film is on display at Townsville Maritime Museum. The battle was fought from 4 to 8 May 1942, Australian and Allied naval forces successfully stopped Japanese seaborne invasion of Port Morsby.  

Dark Victory-Operation Jaywick is showing at the National Museum of Singapore and the Changi Chapel & Museum. The film tells the story of the successful raid on Japanese shipping in Singapore in 1943 undertaken by fourteen men of the Z Special Unit using the captured and repurposed Japanese fishing vessel MV Krait.  

Guardians of the Sunda Strait is on display at Battleship New Jersey Museum, in Camden, USA, and has just opened at the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle. The graphic exhibition tells the story of the Battle of the Sunda Strait where HMAS Perth and USS Houston stumbled across and took on the Japanese fleet invading Java. The battle took place on the night of 28 February and into the early hours of 1 March 1942 resulting in the loss of both ships and death of 1,046 of their crew members.

War and Peace in the Pacific banner exhibition continues its display at Jackson Barracks Military Museum, Louisiana, USA.

Mission X on the role of Australia’s small ships flotilla during WWII has just completed its display at Bribie Island Seaside Museum.  It is available for other venues, as is our photographic show Capturing the Home Front on life at home during WWII. 

Touring exhibitions