World War II made a very significant impact on Australia, larger than the impact previous wars had made. There were a lot of important changes to the country during the wartime, including the attacks and battles coming to Australia, the social effects on women, and the effects of rationing on the Australian population. Although there was a large impact on Australia, other countries were affected a lot more.
One of the largest impacts on society was on women. With the men being sent away to battle, there were now jobs that needed to be filled. The Women’s Land Army was created to encourage women to work on farms, a job that was usually only for the men. Australia produced a lot of …show more content…
All people got the same amount of coupons regardless of how much money they earned. But in other ways it was tough, going without some foods or very much clothing was hard for families. Rationing in Australia was not as extreme as in other countries closer to the warfront.
In World War II, the attacks and battles came closer to the home country than they did in previous wars. The Australian coastline was bombed and attacked by submarines many times during the war.
One of the most infamous Australia bombings was the bombing of Darwin. On the 19th of February, 1942, Darwin was invaded by Japanese aircraft. The main goal of the Japanese was to bomb the airfield and destroy the Australian and American army planes kept there, and prevent Darwin from being a base for any attacks on Japan. After two air raids, the Japanese succeeded in almost wiping out the airfield, ruining twenty-three aircraft and destroying ships. Around 250 people were killed during the two raids.
Sixty-two more raids were made on Darwin, as well as other raids of towns along the northern coastline.
On 31st May 1942, Sydney Harbour was invaded by Japanese midget submarines. The Japanese had intentions of sinking Australian and American ships, but only managed to hit a depot ship called HMAS Kuttabul, which sunk, and 21 men