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Did the Australians fight under the British in WWII?
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Australia inflicted the first defeat on Japanese land forces in WWII when they defeated the Japanese at the Battle of Milne Bay, New Guinea in August 1942. HMAS Australia was the first allied ship to be hit by a kamikaze, which was at the battle of Leyte Gulf.
Australian divisions took the African fortresses of Bardia and Tobruk against large Italian forces taking 65,000 prisoners in 1941. They held out at Tobruk against the Afrika Korps for six months - their British replacements didn't last six weeks. RAAF squadrons dropped six percent of bombs dropped by Bomber Command during the air war in Europe. Many Aussies volunteered and served in RAF squadrons.
While our remembrance day commemorates the failed 1915 Gallipoli campaign where Australians under British command were landed in the wrong place, under heavily-defended cliffs and ultimately were withdrawn, many people consider Australia came of age at the Kokoda Track where two desparate reserve divisions held the Japanese at bay. Ultimately the Japanese were driven back into the sea.