Portal:Military history of Australia


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The military history of Australia spans the nation's 230-year modern history, from the early Australian frontier wars between Aboriginal people and Europeans to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. Although this history is short when compared to that of many other nations, Australia has been involved in numerous conflicts and wars, and war and military service have been significant influences on Australian society and national identity, including the Anzac spirit. The relationship between war and Australian society has also been shaped by the enduring themes of Australian strategic culture and the unique security challenges it faces.

The six British colonies in Australia participated in some of Britain's wars of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, as a federated dominion and later as an independent nation, Australia fought in the First World War and Second World War, as well as in the wars in Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam during the Cold War. In the Post-Vietnam era Australian forces have been involved in numerous international peacekeeping missions, through the United Nations and other agencies, including in the Sinai, Persian Gulf, Rwanda, Somalia, East Timor and the Solomon Islands, as well as many overseas humanitarian relief operations, while more recently they have also fought as part of multi-lateral forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In total, nearly 103,000 Australians died during these conflicts. (Full article...)

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Photo credit: User:Peter Ellis
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra showing floral tributes laid on Anzac Day, 25 April 2005.

Selected anniversaries

August 28

Did you know

  • ...that the 2/12th Field Ambulance suffered the highest rate of casualties for a non-combatant unit in Australian history?
  • ...that the Office of Australian War Graves is also responsible for the maintenance of some 20,000 graves of Commonwealth war dead in 76 war cemeteries and plots and in numerous civil cemeteries, as well as Memorials to the Missing listing over 3,000 names?

Major topics

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Daily unit article

HMAS Parramatta (rear) alongside USS Theodore Roosevelt
HMAS Parramatta (rear) alongside USS Theodore Roosevelt

The fourth HMAS Parramatta (FFH 154) is a Royal Australian Navy Anzac class frigate. Parramatta was built by Tenix Defence Systems at Williamstown, Victoria and was commissioned in October 2003. She conducted her first deployment to the Persian Gulf between November 2005 and April 2006. During this duty period her crew carried out 186 vessel boardings and security patrols. She was also involved in training other vessels in the Iraq Coalition.

Selected quote

"Australian troops had, at Milne Bay, inflicted on the Japanese their first undoubted defeat on land. Some of us may forget that, of all the allies, it was the Australians who first broke the invincibility of the Japanese army."
— Field Marshal Sir William Slim.

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  • History of Australia
  • Military History
  • Australian military history task force

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