2024 Battle for Australia Commemoration
This year’s Battle for Australia Day Commemoration Service was held at the Shrine of Remembrance on 4th September in honour of the men and women who drove back the Japanese advance in the Second World War.
On the 19 February, war reached Australia’s shores with the bombing of Darwin, killing 278 Australians, Allied service personnel and civilians and wounding 429. By the end of the war, northern Australia had endured 97 air raids, 64 of which targeted Darwin, during which time 53 merchant ships and three warships were sunk in Australian waters, by German and Japanese submarines and surface raiders, with the loss of 1,751 Australian and Allied Service personnel and civilians.
Each year we commemorate the Battle for Australia on the first Wednesday in September. This day represents the defeat of Japanese forces on land during the Battle of Milne Bay.
In Victoria, the annual commemoration is organised by the Battle for Australia Foundation, with veterans, students and members of the public coming to lay wreathes to honour the service and sacrifice of Australians and their allies.
The service commenced with a fly past by two PC-21s from the Central Flying School at East Sale. Principal Guest was CAPT Ben Favelle CSC RAN who was accompanied by Battle for Australia Patron Mr Steve Moneghetti AM, and Battle for Australia President, LTCOL David Arden RFD.
Students from Glen Waverley Secondary College, Parkdale Secondary College, Kyneton High School and Christchurch Grammar gave presentation readings from ‘Brave Australian Sailors in Action’ authored by SQNLDR Peter Meehan OAM (Ret’d).
Former anti-submarine warfare Specialist Officer, CAPT Andrew Mackinnon CSC RAN (Rtd) gave the keynote address, after which the commemoration service began. Following the wreath-laying, CAPT Ben Favelle CSC RAN recited The Ode.
The Battle for Australia signifies a series of critical events and conflicts fought primarily in the Pacific theatre during World War II, as Allied forces, predominantly Australian, faced threats from advancing Japanese forces.
To learn more about this critical period in Australia’s wartime history, please visit the Battle for Australia Foundation’s website.
