Search

In 1942, Brigadier John Rogers, then the Australian Army’s foremost intelligence officer, noted that the Army’s intelligence system was not at the standard necessary to defeat the Japanese, a new and unfamiliar enemy, nor ready for the demands of operating in the harsh jungle environment of the SWPA. It was a serious issue. Yet, despite extensive research on military intelligence during the Second World War, little is known on the Australian Army’s collection, use or improvement in its dealings with tactical intelligence in the South-West Pacific Area. As a consequence a set of serious historical questions remain unanswered. How, for example, did the Australian Army responded to these challenge by analysing developments in terms of training, equipment and doctrine?In response to a clear historiographical shortfall, and in an effort to contribute to closing it – and thus fill in some significant ‘blind-spots’ of the Australian military historical record – this study takes an empirical and ‘case study’ methodology. To this end it uses the 18th Infantry Brigade as representative of brigade and battalion intelligence practice through three diverse operational deployments across the duration of the Pacific War, Milne Bay and Shaggy Ridge in New Guinea, and Balikpapan in Borneo in the War’s final year.In overall terms, this thesis demonstrates that improvement in the collection and use of tactical intelligence was uneven across the three major types of intelligence studied: geospatial, technical and human. The use of geospatial intelligence developed rapidly, in line with the Allies’ increasing technological supremacy. Technical and human Intelligence, however, did not see the same consistent improvement. In particular, the prevalence of ‘souveniring’ deprived the Australians of a potential information source, while the reluctance of many troops to capture Japanese prisoners was a complex problem that Army leaders were never able to entirely resolve, despite the introduct

This study, based on British and South African archival records, much of them previously classified, examines the Anglo-South African partnership for the collective defence of the strategically important sea route round the Cape of Good Hope from 1945 to 1975 during the era of post-war British imperial drawdown, with an increasingly isolated South Africa, defined by its racial policies, taking a strident nationalist and anti-Communist path. It is a study of international naval cooperation, basing and interoperability, and of the related development of the South African Navy, within the context of diplomatic and defence relations between London and Pretoria and as part of broader Commonwealth and Western defence arrangements during the Cold War. The defence of the Cape sea route, which had been vitally important to Britain and the Allied cause during the Second World War, was achieved through the interconnected 1921 Anglo-South African Simon’s Town arrangements and the subsequent Simon’s Town Agreement which superseded them in 1955. These agreements formed a continuum that provided for the safeguarding of the Cape sea route during this period. Despite being the subject of intense political controversy linked to abhorrence of apartheid, presenting successive British Governments with the dilemma of balancing strategic relevance and political liability, there was an overall continuity of strategic themes throughout the period. This was largely because of the fundamental and continued belief by both signatories in the strategic importance of one of the world’s most vital sea routes. Although strategically still relevant, the Agreement was finally terminated in 1975 essentially for political reasons at a time when Britain had finally withdrawn from East of Suez and was refocussing on its NATO commitments, and when South Africa was becoming increasing isolated internationally because of its apartheid policies. The Agreement and the preceding Simon’s Town arrangements nonet

This dissertation examines the history of the Australian Independent Companies – Commando Squadrons during World War Two. There has been no collective history of Australia’s Independent Companies and Commando Squadrons and this dissertation aims to fill that gap in the historiography. The scope of this dissertation is broad and examines the Australian Independent Companies and Commando Squadrons from their initial formation in 1940, their operational history from 1942 until 1945, the manner in which the Army managed them during the war and how with the passage of time the nature of this management changed. The dissertation identifies an ongoing context between conservatism as represented by the traditional Australian Army ethos and the radically unconventional ethos of the initial Independent Companies. The contest was eventually won by the conservatives and this was manifested in the nature of the employment of the Commando squadrons during the last year of the war. It was, however, and incomplete victory with elements of the Army persisting with unconventional practices, reflecting the inability to establish a true consensus on the role Commandos were to play in the Army as a whole. Researching this history involved accessing archives in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, notable among these being the Australian War Memorial, The National Archives of Australia, the National Archives of the United Kingdom, the Liddell Hart Military Archives, the Dwight De Eisenhower Archives, The MacArthur Memorial Archives and The United States National Archives and Records Administration. This dissertation will provide a more nuanced and informative understanding of the role played by the Australian Independent Companies – Commando Squadrons 1940-1945 and the manner in which the Australian Army managed their employment during the war.

This study investigates Russian White émigré collaboration with National Socialist Germany and the participation of Russian military exiles in the war against the USSR in 1941–1945. The main organisation that supplied volunteers from the émigré milieu for the Wehrmacht was the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS). The majority of officers held ‘defeatist’ views, which entailed continuing the struggle against the Bolsheviks by any means necessary, even by enlisting in a foreign army. The exiles, although united ideologically by broadly understood Russian nationalism, did not establish one single, clear-cut political solution for a future ‘liberated Russia.’ The study briefly investigates ROVS in the interwar period, gives an overview of the worldview of ROVS members and evaluates the relationship between Hitler’s Germany and ROVS. This thesis assesses the émigrés volunteering for service, as well as their activities and expectations during the Second World War and shortly after it.This study demonstrates that the vanquished side attempted to ‘replay’ the Russian Civil War against the background of the new world conflict. The conservative worldview of former Russian officers who went to the USSR is explained and analysed within the context of the German occupation policies. The émigré volunteers who served in the Wehrmacht were aligned with German anti-Bolshevism and anti-Semitic objectives. Yet, unlike other foreign volunteers in the Wehrmacht, they considered themselves Russian nationalists and ignored the anti-Slavic racial dimension to German policy. The émigrés generally empathised with the local population (defined as Orthodox Russians and excluding Russian Jews) and sought to aid them. The exiles mostly understood their role as that of a mediator between the occupants and the occupied. After the war, ROVS members redefined their role in the war as something separate from Nazi ideology. Émigré volunteers were thoroughly distinct from all the other foreign contingen

This study examines the evolution of the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade Group (Jungle) from its entry into the SWPA as a line infantry brigade to its culmination as the ‘assault brigade’ in the last amphibious assault of World War II at Balikpapan, Borneo. In the Allied campaigns of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), the importance of the infantry brigade as a key combat formation became clear as the war progressed. From 1942 to 1945, the Australian infantry brigade was faced with the challenges of the SWPA and developed a brigade level ‘operational art’ that it used to adapt to the challenges of dense jungles, amphibious warfare, and overcome the onslaught of the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy. The complex terrain of the SWPA islands, which sometimes constrained, and at other times isolated the brigades from the parent division, also forced these formations to evolve or face devastating casualties. The Australian infantry brigades learned to integrate artillery, close air support, and naval gunfire to support infantry manoeuvre, vastly increasing their lethality. The 18th Infantry Brigade met the challenges of manoeuvre, administration, and military intelligence, which enabled the infantry brigade to conduct complex ground and amphibious operations across the SWPA.

The Second Anglo-South African War (1899-1902) was a conflict between the British Empire and two small Afrikaner republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Australian colonial governments, and later the Commonwealth government, all dispatched troops to support the imperial cause. Close examination of the evidence suggests that Australians were enthusiastic supporters of the war and the empire generally. The political decisions, political speeches, newspaper reports and public displays, such as the farewells to the troops, overwhelmingly suggest there was widespread support. The evidence reflects the population had strong emotional ties to Britain, a fervent belief in the righteousness of the cause and a general perception that Australia’s security was dependent upon the strength of the empire.A school of thought that arose in the 1970s has argued Australians were unwilling participants, that they were manipulated into the conflict by deceptive imperialists. This opinion has heavily influenced the historical analysis as to Australia involvement in the South African War. This argument was driven by an idea that from a very early stage Australians were seeking a separate identity from the British motherland. This ‘nationalist approach,’ which underpins much of the writing in Australian history in the period generally, has been rebutted. Academic consensus broadly acknowledges that Australian identity in this period was imperial in nature, however there has not been a specific examination of the facts relating to the popularity of the war so that the misconceptions about why Australians became involved still live on. Through a common race, culture and shared values, Australians considered themselves part of a global polis; specifically the other white nations that made up the British Empire. Australian imperial identity, not imperial manipulation, is the more likely explanation for their willingness to send troops.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC), a voluntary and part-time organisation, from inception in 1940 until disbandment in 1945. The organisation will be analysed through political, military and social decisions that impacted on the organisation during its existence within a general military and political context. As Australia’s strategic and economic circumstances altered during the Second World War, the impact of these factors, individually and in combination, also altered. Due to the overlapping of these factors, and for ease of analysis, the approach taken is partly thematic and partly chronological. The thesis commences prior to the Second World War in order to identify the historical issues relating to the formation of a civilian controlled force that had no defined role in home defence. By doing so, the thesis can trace the development of the political and military issues affecting the Volunteer Defence Corps and the manner in which the government utilised the organisation to meet its own requirements. These ranged from a political requirement at its inception to a military need as Australia’s strategic situation changed. The difficulties faced by the Corps in adjusting to these changing roles will be examined within this context. The continuing social and propaganda value of the organisation will also be discussed. Through this examination, an assessment of the value of the Volunteer Defence Corps during the war can be reached.Despite reaching 100,000 members at its peak in 1942, there has been little scholarship examining the history of the Volunteer Defence Corps and its contribution to the nation during the Second World War. This thesis will attempt to fill the gap and argue that the Corps played an important and valuable role in supporting the Australian war effort on a political, military and social level.