Australia

The militia was trained and equipped to a lesser degree than their regular counterparts in the Australian Imperial Force and only allowed to be deployed within Australia and its mandated territories. This led to the AIF’s…

In early 1943, the Australian Army reorganised its militia and Australian Imperial Force divisions into a lighter version of the standard British Army organisation.

These new Jungle Divisions, had vastly more short-ranged…

The Australian Army raised a number of units for commando-style operations during the Second World War – the first being the twelve Independent Commando Companies formed between 1941 and 1942.

Predominantly serving in New…

These were local men recruited in New Guinea and led by Australian officers and senior NCOs. They were superb jungle fighters who, being local men, were particularly good at reconnaissance. They were also almost impossible to…

The ubiquitous 25-pdr was the standard artillery piece of the Australian Army in the Pacific Theatre, as it had been in the desert. The complete lack of roads and the dense jungle terrain encountered on the Pacific islands meant…

Many Australian officers who commanded militia units in the far flung corners of New Guinea and its surrounding islands were veterans of World War I but had spent decades in civilian trades. By 1943, most officers were either AIF…

Australian snipers were not given much in the way of special equipment - or even scopes in some circumstances. Despite this, there were many successful sharpshooters amongst the infantry companies, many of them professional…

Initially thought to be of limited use in jungle warfare, the first campaign against the Japanese taught the Australians the Vickers machine gun was vital for pouring on firepower before assaults.

The perfect weapon for…

The Australian Army was supplied by Britain with the PIAT anti-tank weapon, but this saw only extremely limited use by the Australians, as the threat from Japanese tanks was minimal. The weapon found more use against Japanese…

In most jungle operations the 3-inch mortar was the main, often only, form of artillery support available.

In the reorganised Jungle Divisions, from 1943 onwards, the number of mortars was doubled to include two full platoons of…