8th Army Australian Infantry in Attack
"When war was declared in September 1939 Australia set about raising an army almost from scratch. Called the Second Australian Imperial Force, in the end it would send three divisions to the Mediterranean theatre, the 6th, 7th and 9th, in support of Britain. As part of the Western Desert Force they had their first fight at Bardia at the start of 1941, and achieved a spectacular success, establishing a reputation for fierce fighting that would only be enhanced during the rest of the desert war, when they were a vital part of the British Eighth Army. After Japan entered the war, Australian troops were gradually redeployed back to the South Pacific to fight closer to home, having already contributed greatly to the Allied victory in North Africa…"
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8th Army Australian Heavy Weapons Squad
"At the beginning of 1939 the regular Australian Army numbered some 2,795 personnel, and there were a further 43,000 in the militia who were only for service at home. When Australia entered the war in September the militia had grown to 80,000, and the formation of a new Australian Imperial Force, initially 20,000 men, plus future enlargements, meant there was a pressing need for weapons of all sorts, and these would take much time to acquire. In the event the weapons used were mostly British models, although many would be made in Australia itself. Those Australians that served in the Eighth Army therefore used much the same weapons as their counterparts from Britain and the other Dominions, which clearly had many advantages, although it was part of the reason why the Axis forces found it hard to distinguish between British and Dominion troops…"
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Armand
