AUSTRALIAN WWII HEAVY WEAPONS SQUAD - BRITISH 8TH ARMY

Australia entered World War II on September 3, 1939, declaring war on the Third Reich and following Great Britain here. Australia's land forces at that time numbered only 80,000. people! However, they began to be expanded relatively quickly and by 1942 this number increased to approx. 475 thousand. people, reaching 11 infantry divisions and three armored divisions. It is estimated that in the period 1939-1945, about 730,000 people served in the Australian army in one way or another. people. It is worth adding that the Australian Armed Forces in 1939-1945 were divided into regular units, which formed the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) and were intended for operations outside the country, and the Australian Army Reserve units, which formed forces of a militia character, much worse trained and equipped, operating in the country and in the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Units subordinate to the 2nd AIF took part in numerous operations in North Africa in 1940-1943 (including the Battle of El-Alamein), but also fought in Greece and Crete in 1941. Of course, the Australian army took an intensive and active part in the fighting in the Pacific in 1941-1945, serving in Malaya, Singapore and later carrying out difficult offensive tasks in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It is assumed that the last large offensive operation in the Pacific, in which numerous Australian troops took part, was the fighting in Borneo in 1945.