Battle for Australia

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An Australian propaganda poster released in 1942. The poster was criticised for being alarmist when it was released and was banned by the Queensland government.

v • d • e Battle for Australia

Air raids – Darwin – Broome – Naval attacks – Sydney & Newcastle – Kokoda – Milne Bay

v • d • e Pacific campaigns 1940–42

French Indochina – Thailand – Malaya – Pearl Harbor – Hong Kong – Philippines – Guam – Wake – Dutch East Indies – New Guinea – Singapore – Australia – Indian Ocean – Doolittle Raid – Solomons – Coral Sea – Midway

South West Pacific theatre

Philippines 1941–42 – Dutch East Indies 1941–42 – Portuguese Timor – Australia – New Guinea – Philippines 1944–45 – Borneo 1945

The Battle for Australia was a series of military actions fought in 1942–43, during World War II, by Allied forces, defending Australia against direct attacks by the Empire of Japan.

These actions included some fighting over or near the Australian mainland. However, the main focus of Allied defensive efforts was to halt the Japanese advances through New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, in order to prevent a more serious threat to Australia from developing. It was feared at the time that Japanese offensive operations in New Guinea and northern Australia were aimed at invading the Australian mainland, and it was rumoured that a supposed "Brisbane Line", would leave the north undefended, to concentrate Allied defenses on a line from Brisbane to Adelaide, or Brisbane to Perth. There is little evidence that such a plan existed.

Post-war research has found that the Japanese leadership never intended to conduct an invasion. The Japanese did, however, intend to isolate Australia by occupying New Guinea, New Caledonia and Fiji. As a result, while it is not correct to state that the Battle for Australia prevented an invasion of Australia, it did prevent Australia from being cut off from a major Allied power, the United States.

In a 2006 speech, the principal historian at the Australian War Memorial, Dr. Peter Stanley, argued that the concept of a Battle for Australia is invalid as the events which are considered to form the battle were only loosely related. Stanley argued that "The Battle for Australia movement arises directly out of a desire to find meaning in the terrible losses of 1942"; and "there was no 'Battle for Australia', as such", as the Japanese did not launch a co-ordinated campaign directed against Australia. Furthermore, Dr. Stanley noted that the phrase 'Battle for Australia' was not used until the 1990s and this 'battle' of World War II is not recognised by countries other than Australia.