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This week we will look be looking when the USA invaded Australia
during WW11. Kinda…
In my area of Australia there was the Joint Overseas Operations
Training Services.
The Port Stephens area was the centre of much activity during 1943-44, 20,000 US servicemen and 2,000 Australian servicemen trained for beach landings.
A country club became headquarters for amphibious warfare
training area know as JOOTS (Joint Overseas Operations Training Services).
Port Stephens an area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales,
Australia, it is just north of Newcastle.
This came about due to Australia asking for help from the States
to dissuade the Japanese from trying to invade and it worked.
For America, Australia was a natural springboard for a major
counterattack against Japan and the Newcastle area saw plenty of evidence of
the American commitment.
HMAS Assault was a naval training centre established by General
Douglas MacArthur. The base was chosen because it was a safe haven from
Japanese submarines and was a small, isolated fishing village. The HMAS Assault
was used to train landing craft crews, beach parties, and signal teams.
Tomaree Head was a critical part of Australia's defence of the
east. It includes a curved concrete wall with a gun that protected
Newcastle and the Williamtown airbase.
You can take a guided tour of the historic gun emplacements at
Tomaree Head in Tomaree National Park.
In total nearly one million US troops passed through
Australia during World War II. The first US troops arrived in Brisbane in
December 1941.
By 1943, there were 250,000 Americans stationed in Melbourne,
Sydney and Brisbane.
The US Army used Australia as a base of operations to support US
forces in the Philippines.
Their main role in north Queensland was to provide services and supplies, and there was a large presence in Queensland mostly around Brisbane, Rockhampton, and Townsville.
The US Army also had a joint command with the British, Dutch,
and Australian forces in the Pacific.
They had a substantial impact on the local economy and
influenced fashion, consumerism, and domestic technology.
Of course, at times there were tensions with some Australians,
which sometimes erupted into fighting.
There was also a large social impact on Australia, including
many Australian women marrying US servicemen.
The US Army's presence in Australia was part of a larger US
deployment to combat zones overseas during World War II.
A US base at a country club... sounds about right, lol
ReplyDeleteYeah I get what ya mean
DeleteI never knew that the US was so involved in Australia during WWII. No surprise they married some Aussie women, either. Blessings, Jo-Anne!
ReplyDeleteI knew they were here but didn't know how many or anything like that
DeleteThere is one place in Queensland that escapes me where there is a open aired church with a roof where the Americans and Australian soldiers gathered for their Sunday Mass/all religions went there.
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting jo-Anne.
I have heard of that place, don't know where it is though, pleased you liked the post
DeleteMy grandmother used to go down to the American ships when they arrived in Port Melbourne, and interviewed the Captain about taking two lads home to her place every holy day. There they enjoyed a big family dinner and synagogue services.
ReplyDeleteGranny took my teenage mother and her younger teenage sister to the ship, so that the sailors would learn how to behave with young religious women. Then she wrote to the lads' parents in America, thanking them for raising lovely young men.
Your grandmother sounds amazing, how lovely and caring for her to do that
DeleteSo glad the two countries worked together. No more wars!!!
ReplyDeleteMe too
DeleteNo surprise, I guess. I knew there were troops down there but not how many.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there were so many but I did know they were here
Delete