Australia at War

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 6th Year

Issue

Issue No.

14

Date Released

Jun 1941

Length of issue (in feet)

1626

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Australia at War

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: Although the entire population of that Dominion numbers less than the population of Greater London. Australia has already created, for the second time in one generation, a powerful military force for Britain’s aid. Already 125,000 trained men have gone overseas, and other thousands are in training, some for service abroad, some for defence of their own country which is now seriously threatened by Axis partner Japan. The Royal Australian Navy is in full service with the battle fleets of Britain, but naval strategists know that without the aid of Britain, Australia’s light cruisers and destroyers would be no match for Japan. New ships are under construction, however, and new crews being trained to man them. The 30,000 men of the Royal Australian Air Force are preparing to fight both overseas and for home defence. One Axis power has already felt the fighting strength of the men from "Down under". Australian soldiers, long used to desert sun and sand, were brought through the Indian Ocean to join the British Army in Egypt, where, with Britons, New Zealanders and South Africans, they routed the Italian forces in North Africa. The March of Time surveys the Australian way of life and work which makes that nation a great and progressive democracy. Life there, as in Britain, is centred in the home and family. Government help enables people of modest means to own their own houses. From the first days a high standard of free and compulsory education has been maintained for every boy and girl, and in that country where millions of acres are still unexploited, the young people have before them the chance of creating and developing in the future the civilisation of a great empire within an empire.

Symbol of the indestructible bond between the British crown and the Australian Commonwealth is the personal representative of the King, H.M. Governor General Lord Gowrie of Canberra and Dirleton. But the governing power of the Commonwealth and its island dependencies is the Parliament, where representatives of each state are masters of their country’s policies and social progress. Chosen by Parliament, Robert Gordon Menzies is Prime Minister and chief executive. Collaborating on the great national issues of the present time is the opposition leader, John Curtin, of the Labour Party. Today in the Senate, Labour and Conservative members are united in their policy that no sacrifice is too great in the defence of democracy. Responsibility for the co-ordination of Australia’s war effort rests with the War Council, headed by the Prime Minister. Into the untracked interiour of the country gangs of engineers and labourers have gone to clear land for military airfields, and to build a great trans-continental highway. From the beginning of hostilities Australia has been a vast storehouse and supply depot of raw materials for Britain. For the duration its beef, mutton and its entire wool-clip are being shipped to the British Isles. From its own iron deposits the nation is supplying all the requirements of the intense speed-up in the munitions industries. In the war of 1914-1918 Australia was dependent on Britain even for the guns the soldiers carried. Today Australia is almost entirely self-sufficient in meeting the needs of World War II.

Besides presenting a panorama of Australia’s war effort, the film shows also how the crisis in the Far East today centres around the commonwealth "Down under". In the South Pacific Australia has many friends and potential allies: the Dutch East Indies, where a strong force of native troops officered by refugee Dutch colonials is prepared for defence; 2,000 iles north is Britain’s naval base at Singapore; near Japan’s armies in South China is the British colony of Hong Kong. In the path of Japanese expansion are the Philippine Islands, where more than 200,000 men, natives and Americans, are ready for defence. But Australia will rely primarily, if Japan decides to strike, on the Island group of Hawaii, where the U.S. Navy waits and watches Japan. In spite of the dangers near at hand, Australia continues to fulfill her pledge to the British Empire and to the Crown and continues to send her men overseas: for Australians know that wherever the forces of aggression may strike, there is the first line of defence of all free men.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.7 No.8 of the US edition.

Keywords

War and conflict

Written sources

Documentary News Letter   Vol.2 No.6 June 1941, p107.
The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.