“Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to make such an announcement.”
– Australian prime minister Robert Gordon Menzies, in a speech given on 3 September 1939 (the day of the British and French declarations of war)
Where does the name of this documentary come from?
Australians and New Zealanders have long celebrated a public holiday known as “Anzac Day.” Held on the 25th of April (an anniversary associated with their Gallipoli landings), it honors the contributions of their armed forces. “ANZAC” is an acronym standing for the “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.” This corps was only active from 1914-1916 (an early portion of World War One), and then again in 1941 (a single year in World War Two). Nonetheless, the term “ANZAC” is now used to refer to virtually anyone who has served in the armed forces of either country, regardless of the literal meaning of what the acronym actually stands for. This may explain why the title of this documentary does not literally fit the acronym’s meaning. There are a number of ways in which this documentary departs from the literal meaning of “ANZAC,” since this covers Australian involvement in the entirety of World War II. That is to say, it goes from 1939 to 1945. There is brief mention of the contributions of New Zealanders (the other “ANZAC” nationality), but this documentary definitely focuses on Australia. It also covers their Navy and Air Force, and not just the “Army Corps” to which this acronym refers.
Australian light machine gun team in action during Aitape–Wewak campaign, 1945
Comments on their filmmaking style …
This documentary was made in 1961. This explains a number of things about it, such as its filmmaking style. The music of “ANZAC” resembles that of a World War II propaganda newsreel. That is to say, it is trying hard to sound “heroic” and “inspiring.” The heroism is quite real, but you would think that the war was rather “romantic” to listen to this documentary’s music. You wouldn’t realize how bad the war really was for Australia, since they lost half a percent of their population in it – more than the United States lost. In fairness, this was the way that films were made at this time. But during World War Two, the Japanese tried very hard to attack and invade Australia, and actually did succeed in dropping some bombs on Australian cities. Of course, they mention this, but they don’t really convey how desperate Australia was at this time. Australians paid a high price to protect their own freedom, as well as that of others. Unfortunately, that price needed to be paid – as did that borne by my own country, the United States. But by modern standards, it almost seems at times like they sugar-coat these costs (or at least gloss over them). They occasionally reference the horrors of war, but it would seem that they also make combat appear rather glamorous. As any veteran can tell you, war is a grim business, and is anything but glamorous.
Oil storage tank explodes during the first Japanese air raid on Darwin – Australia, 1942
… which is a product of the time (1961) in which it was made
But the information in this documentary is quite good. Even more importantly, they are right to have a pro-Allied bias in it. The Germans, Italians, and Japanese were the bad guys, and they deserved to be depicted as such here. They do not dwell on Japanese atrocities against the natives (or anyone else), but they are right to mention them occasionally. The island natives suffered a great deal from Japanese occupation, and were often quite willing to help the Australians as a result of this. This documentary pays these natives some real and genuine respect, in an era whose standards of “political correctness” did not require them to do so. This series would probably still be “politically incorrect” by today’s standards, but it was a different time, and judging older media by modern standards is a mistake. One should expect a little less perfection from previous generations in this regard, if I may be so bold.
Australian light tanks and infantry in action – Buna, 1943
Australia was involved in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters …
This documentary covers Australian involvement in the fight against Nazi Germany, which began in 1939 – long before Australia was at war with Japan. In fact, Australia declared war on Germany on the same day that Great Britain did. In particular, the Australians fought Germany in places like North Africa and the Middle East. They also fought in Greece and Crete, among other places. The Royal Australian Air Force also bombed cities controlled by Germany, and the Royal Australian Navy fought in the Mediterranean Sea. And in an era when the Suez Canal was active, these places were closer to Australia than many Americans realize, since they did not have to go around the tip of Africa to get to these places. But when the Pacific War began, everything changed for Australia. On the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Japanese also attacked nearby outposts of the British Empire, in places like Singapore and Malaya. After this attack, the Japanese government said: “We hereby declare War on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war.” (Source: Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire, 8 December 1941) Australia was then a part of the British Empire. Thus, the Japanese declared war on Australia and the United States within practically the same breath of that sentence.
Australian and Dutch POW’s in Japanese hands – Tarsau, Thailand in 1943
… although they were much more involved in the Pacific …
The war in the Pacific was much closer to home for Australia, so from that moment on, Australia gave priority to fighting Japanese. Thus, most of the episodes discuss Australian involvement in the Pacific War. Regarding the role of their Navy in the Pacific, the Australians had a number of cruisers and destroyers that helped to protect the American aircraft carriers. But Australia did not really have any aircraft carriers of its own at this time. This may have been because aircraft carriers were more expensive, and were thus a greater burden on smaller nations. But cruisers and destroyers are quite effective at defending fleets against air attacks, so they helped to protect the American carriers that the Pacific War so depended on. The documentary is right to point out the contributions of the Royal Australian Navy in this regard. The Royal Australian Air Force also made some important contributions to the Pacific War, with a number of land-based planes. Due to the lack of carriers, they did not have the carrier-based planes that would have taken off from them.
Papuan native helps wounded Australian, who later died of his wounds – Buna, 1942
… particularly the three-year campaign in New Guinea (1942-1945)
And the Army Corps itself was quite active in the Pacific, particularly in the long campaign in New Guinea. The Australians fought in New Guinea for three and a half years, from 1942 to 1945. Why did this particular campaign take them so long, when most other islands were taken in a matter of weeks or months? The reason is simply that New Guinea is significantly larger than these other islands. This may be why multiple episodes of this series focus on New Guinea, where the fighting continued on until Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even with reinforcements from the American ground forces, there was no way to shorten this campaign, and it must have seemed interminable to the many men who were fighting there. This documentary covers this, and even acknowledges a certain amount of Australian debt to the United States. Obviously, the Australians contributed much – and as a percentage of their population, they lost more people than the Americans did, as mentioned earlier. But without the American help, their resources would not have been adequate to meet the Japanese threat, and they might even have been invaded by the Japanese. They owe something of a debt to us, just as we owe something of a debt to them.
Conclusion: This is a good documentary, albeit somewhat dated in its style
I don’t want this review to get much longer than it already is, so suffice it to say that this documentary is good, despite its primitive filmmaking style. As far as I know, this is the most comprehensive coverage of Australian involvement in World War Two (this documentary is ten hours long), and it may well remain such for years to come. I highly recommend it to fellow World War II buffs, or to anyone who is interested in Australian history – and I am in both categories, as you may have guessed.
Footnote to this blog post:
The DVD of this program is in a Region 4 format. Therefore, it will not play on most North American DVD players.
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