Second World War conscription

Conscription before the Second World War

One of the first pieces of legislation passed by the new Commonwealth government after Federation was the Defence Act 1903, which provided for the raising of an Australian army.

The Act established the government’s right to conscript men for the purpose of self-defence in the event of war. However, it did not allow that soldiers be conscripted for overseas service.

In 1909, at the invitation of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, Britain’s Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener visited Australia to inspect the young nation’s defence preparedness.

In his report, Kitchener recommended Australia introduce compulsory military training.

Universal Training Scheme

The government acted on this advice and from 1911 introduced the Universal Training Scheme. Australia was the only English-speaking country which had such a system.

The scheme established compulsory naval or military training for all Australian males between the ages of 12 and 26 who were British subjects. Those aged between 14 and 17 joined cadet ranks, and men over 18 joined the Citizen Forces, known as the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1916, which comprised part-time volunteers. The CMF was similar to our present-day Army Reserve.

First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, compulsory military service was still limited to service inside Australia and its territories.

When the number of volunteers for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), which was serving overseas, began to wane, the Hughes Labor government held two referendums to introduce conscription for overseas service.

The ‘no’ vote prevailed on both occasions.

Outbreak of the Second World War

As a result of Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, on 3 September 1939 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced on national radio that Australia was also at war.

However, at that time Australia’s military forces were seriously depleted. The Universal Training Scheme had been suspended 10 years earlier and Australia’s regular army comprised only 3,000 men.

The CMF stood at 80,000, but it had a poor reputation and was under-equipped. The Royal Australian Air Force had 3500 men, though it lacked effective aircraft. The Royal Australian Navy had 5400 regulars and though its ships were few – effectively two heavy cruisers and four light cruisers – they were relatively modern.

Second Australian Imperial Force

At the same time, the government raised a new volunteer army for service overseas. This was the Second AIF.

It was the result of a concerted recruitment campaign, though with unemployment being so high the government had little trouble filling the ranks.

In effect this created two armies. The Second AIF considered itself to be elite, describing the CMF troops as either ‘chocolate soldiers’ (who would melt in the heat of battle) or ‘koalas’ (protected animals that could be neither shot at nor exported).

AIF overseas

Australia deployed most of the Second AIF to assist British forces in North Africa, Greece and the Syria–Lebanon campaign.

While most Australians were saddened by the outbreak of the war, there was no widespread opposition to the troops’ deployment. The first unit to be deployed was the 6th Division. About 15,000 men sailed in March 1940.

In February 1941, with the threat of an impending war with Japan, Australia despatched the AIF’s 8th Division, four RAAF squadrons and eight warships to Singapore and Malaya. Most of the men in the 8th Division would be taken into captivity when Singapore fell on 15 February 1942.

In July 1942 the seven-month Kokoda Trail campaign began. Soldiers of both the CMF and the Second AIF fought alongside each other with great distinction. During the campaign, more than 600 Australians were killed and some 1680 were wounded.

Labor government

When Menzies lost office in October 1941, he was replaced by John Curtin.

Many members of the Australian Labor Party were strongly opposed to conscription for overseas service. However by late 1942 Curtin realised that with voluntary recruitment waning it was necessary to expand the limits of where the CMF could serve.

At this stage the CMF comprised some 262,000 troops, while the AIF stood at about 171,000.

By November 1942 Japan was being driven back by the AIF and CMF in New Guinea, and by the Americans elsewhere in the Pacific theatre.

However, the United States was aware that the CMF, which formed the bulk of Australian troops, were not legally able to fight beyond that point.

Curtin also saw that sending more troops overseas would strengthen Australia’s hand in its diplomatic dealings with Britain and the United States after the war.