The Second World War was the first time Australians were conscripted to fight overseas. In November 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that the existing reserve force, the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) or militia, would be bolstered by conscription.
Introduction of national service
Often known as conscription, the National Service Scheme was introduced by the Menzies Government in November 1964.
World War II
The men could serve only in Australia or its territories. Conscription was effectively introduced in mid-1942, when all men aged 18–35 and single men aged 35–45 were required to join the Citizen Military Forces (CMF).
As noted, conscription was abolished by law in 1973. But the Defence Act 1903 as amended retained a provision that it could be reintroduced by proclamation of the Governor-General. Potentially all Australian residents between the ages of 18 and 60 could be called up in this way.
The Australian Government introduced compulsory military training again in 1951, during the Korean War, but it was abolished eight years later. A new national service scheme was controversially introduced in 1964, and in 1965 Australia sent conscripts to fight in the Vietnam War (1964–75).
The Draft and WWII
Those who were selected from the draft lottery were required to serve at least one year in the armed forces. Once the U.S. entered WWII, draft terms extended through the duration of the fighting.
Birthdates drawn in National Service ballots 1965-72
Men included in the ballot who were born in the period 1 July 1945 to 31 December 1945. Men included in the ballot who were born prior to 1 July 1945 but were absent from Australia when their age group was required to register.
During the early stages of the Second World War, the governments of Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada each adopted sweeping powers to conscript men into their respective armed forces.
Popular reasons for enlistment included a sense of patriotic duty and a desire to 'do one's bit' to protect Australia and the British Empire from Germany. After 1941, people often enlisted to protect Australia from the threat of Japanese invasion.
From 1965 to 1972, 15,381 national servicemen served in the Vietnam War, with 200 killed and 1,279 wounded. The National Service Scheme was abolished on 5 December 1972 by the newly-elected Whitlam Labor government.
They considered it could affect their morale and ability to fight cohesively. Other people, often women, were against war itself. An Anti-Conscription League was formed and the Women's Peace Army, a movement driven by the indomitable Vida Goldstein, mounted a fierce campaign against the war and conscription.
Chocolate Soldier is an expression referring to a good-looking but useless warrior, popularised by George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play Arms and the Man.
Australia later entered into a state of war with other members of the Axis powers, including the Kingdom of Italy on 11 June 1940, and the Empire of Japan on 9 December 1941.
In 1964, the National Service Act introduced a scheme of selective conscription in Australia, designed to create an army of 40,000 full-time soldiers. Many of them were sent on active service to the war in Vietnam.
On 14 September Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that 40,000 members of the Militia would be called up for training and a 20,000-strong expeditionary force, designated the Second Australian Imperial Force, would be formed for overseas service.
Those medically unfit were exempted, as were others in key industries and jobs such as baking, farming, medicine, and engineering. Conscientious objectors had to appear before a tribunal to argue their reasons for refusing to join-up.
Conscientious objector, deferred by reason of being 28 and over. Conscientious objector, available for or assigned to civilian work of national importance, age 38 to 44 inclusive. Conscientious objector qualified for limited service.
Well before the U.S. entry into the war and despite strong isolationist sentiments across the country, Congress passed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 authorizing a draft. By October 1940 all men between the ages of 21 and 35 were required to register with their local draft board.
Some simply feared combat or felt they could better help their families by staying home and staying whole. There were pacifists and those whose political beliefs kept them from service. Their options were to serve, find war work, or end up in jail if they refused induction.
The government knew that this was not enough to fight a war with Germany and in April 1939 introduced the Military Training Act. The terms of the act meant that all men between the ages of 20 and 21 had to register for six months' military training. At the same time a list of 'reserved occupations' was published.
Those who had been rejected were forcibly enlisted in a combatant Corps, although some could opt to join the Royal Army Medical Corps. If the Objector refused to don the uniform and cooperate he would be sent to prison where the conditions were harsh.
Only 14 countries remained officially neutral throughout the entire war. They included Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan as well as the microstates of Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Vatican City.
We never had enough troops to [invade Australia]. We had already far out-stretched our lines of communication. We did not have the armed strength or the supply facilities to mount such a terrific extension of our already over-strained and too thinly spread forces.
Japan wanted to destroy our country's northern defenses, so it could invade Timor and in the process send Australia a warning. Just before 10 a.m., Japanese forces launched 188 fighter planes from ships in the Timor Sea and headed for Darwin.
Soldiers used condoms to protect their “other weapons” by covering the muzzles of their gun to prevent mud and other material from clogging the barrel. This practice lasted up into the Vietnam War, during which American soldiers slid condoms onto their M-16s.