Australia in WW2

North American Indians were on the North American continent from as early as 11,000 BCE. But these early colonizers did not live in permanent settlements and left little in the way of permanent buildings. The Anasazi built towns such as Chetro Ketl, and the great complex of abandoned towns in Chaco Canyon, in what is now New Mexico. Mesa Verde is another ancient city that is over a thousand years old and was built by the Pueblo Indians. However, almost all of these ancient pueblos were abandoned and now stand as ruins rather than vibrant cities. The one exception being Acoma listed below. Mexico City is probably the oldest city in North America, as a continuation of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, founded in about 1325. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada was settled in 1528, and claims to be the oldest European-settled city in North America. St. John's earned its name when the explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into its harbor on the Feast of St. John, June 24, 1497. It's also the easternmost city on the North American continent.

The oldest continuously occupied cities in the United States:

Acoma, New Mexico: Forty minutes drive east of Grants, New Mexico, lies the Pueblo (village) of Acoma, built on a sandstone mesa 367-feet above a valley and approximately 7,000 feet above sea level. The pueblo was built on a mesa for defensive purposes, keeping rival raiding tribes at bay. Native verbal history says Acoma was first inhabited about 700 AD although modern archeological evidence suggests it has been continuously occupied from 1150, making it America's oldest continually inhabited city. It is presently inhabited by a small population of Keresan-speaking Native Americans.

St. Augustine, Florida: Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. Twenty-one years before the first English Settlement at Roanoke, Virginia and 42 years before the foundation of Jamestown, the Spanish established St. Augustine. Spanish explorer Don Juan Ponce de Leon had landed in mainland America in 1513 and claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers".

Between 1513 and 1563 the Spanish tried to settle Florida but all their settlements failed. Finally, in 1565, the Spanish destroyed a French garrison on the St. Johns River, Florida and defeated the French fleet. Near the destroyed French fort, San Agustín was founded by the Spanish admiral, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, on August 28, 1565, the feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo. Parts of the original Spanish colonial settlement from the late sixteenth century remain today in St. Augustine in the layout of the town and in the narrow streets and balconied houses. Thirty-six buildings of colonial origin remain and another 40 that are reconstructed models of colonial buildings also contribute to the atmosphere of the town.

Jamestown, Virginia: In May 1607, English explorers with the Virginia Company landed on Jamestown Island, 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Almost immediately the colonists were attacked by Algonquian natives, who would continue with their attacks for years, and the newcomers were forced to build a wooden fort. Endemic corruption in the Virginia Company in England convinced King James 1 that he should revoke the company's charter and the Jamestown fort became a crown colony in 1624. The fort remained intact until the 1620s, but disappeared as a town sprang up around the old wooden battlements. Jamestown was named the capital of Virginia until the statehouse burned down in 1698 and the capital moved to Williamsburg. The town effectively became a ghost town with only a few occupants until a military post was located at Jamestown during the American Revolution, and in 1861 the island was occupied by Confederate soldiers who built an earth fort impede a Union advance up the James River. Little further attention was paid to Jamestown until preservation was undertaken in the twentieth century.

Santa Fe, New Mexico: Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the U.

S. and also the oldest European city west of the Mississippi. Santa Fe also features the oldest public building in America, the Palace of the Governors. The first Spanish Governor-General of New Mexico established his capital in 1598 at San Juan Pueblo, 25 miles north of modern day Santa Fe. The second Governor-General moved his capital south to Santa Fe in 1607 and the city has remained a capital ever since. The city was the capital for the Spanish "Kingdom of New Mexico," and then the Mexican province of Nuevo Mexico, the American territory of New Mexico (which contained modern Arizona and New Mexico) and since 1912 the US state of New Mexico. Santa Fe was originally occupied by Pueblo Indians from 1050 to 1607. The conquistador Don Francisco Vasques de Coronado described the Indian settlement in 1540, 67 years before the founding of the city of Santa Fe.

Plymouth Colony, Massachussetts. On December 21, 1620, 102 disillusioned English puritans sailing on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock on the eastern shore of Cape Cod Bay in what is now southeast Massachusetts. By the end of that winter, half of the pilgrims were dead, including their leader John Carver. The colony continued for a number of decades often close to collapse. The Plymouth colony was eventually surpassed in population and wealth by the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony, centered in modern Boston, In 1691, Plymouth was annexed by the Boston colony officially ending Plymouth as a separate colony. The city of Plymouth, Massachusetts claims a city charter dating back to 1620.

Hampton, Virginia: Located at the tip of the Virginia peninsula on Chesapeake Bay, Hampton, Virginia is the oldest continuously settled English community in the United States. The Indian village of Kecoughtan, had been visited by English colonists before they sailed up the James River to settle in Jamestown. In 1610, the English returned to the Indian village and began the construction of Fort Henry and Fort Charles at the mouth of Hampton Creek. In 1619, the settlers chose an English name for the community, Elizabeth City. The settlement became known as Hampton in 1680, and in 1705, Hampton was recognized as a town.

Newport News, Virginia: This port of entry city in southeastern Virginia lies on the north side of Hampton Roads at the mouth of the James River. Along with Portsmouth, Hampton, and Norfolk, it constitutes the Port of Hampton Roads. The actual date of settlement and how it got its name is disputed. It is estimated to have been settled as early as 1611, but official records only begin in 1621 when 50 colonists arrived from Ireland. The origin of the place-name is obscure but is traditionally associated with Captain Christopher Newport, and Sir William Newce, who arrived from Ireland in 1621.

Albany, New York: The area was visited in 1609 by English navigator Henry Hudson during his exploration of the river that was later named for him. The area was first settled in 1614 when Fort Nassau was created by Dutch traders. Ten years later a group of Belgian Walloons built Fort Orange nearby. The settlement that grew around Fort Orange was made independent in 1652 and renamed Beverwyck, or "town of the beaver." Following the surrender of Fort Orange to the British in 1664, the city's name was changed to honor the Duke of York and Albany.

Ten Oldest continuously occupied U.S. Cities

1) Acoma, New Mexico c 1150 2) St. Augustine, Florida, 1565 3) Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1609 4) Hampton, Virginia, 1610 5) Newport News, Virginia, 1611/21 6) Albany, New York, 1614/24 7) New York, New York, 1624 8) Quincy, Massachusetts, 1625 9) Salem, Massachusetts, 1626 10) Jersey City, New Jersey, 1629

The Home Front - World War 2 Initial reactions When war broke out in September 1939 the Australian Government was much better prepared for it than in 1914. As in 1914 most Australians seemed to support the decision to be involved in the war. All major political parties, churches and newspapers supported involvement. The only groups not to support the decision were and hard core socialists who opposed involvement because the Soviet Union opposed it. Nor was there the same rush to enlist. The government deliberately moved more slowly and in a more organised way -- they had learned from 1914 when many men in essential occupations had been allowed to enlist, to the detriment of the home front effort. Government Controls As in World War 1, the Commonwealth Government imposed a large number of new controls over people's lives. They did this through the authority of the National Security Act of 1939. This Act did two major things: it effectively overrode the Constitution for the duration of the war - giving the Commonwealth power to make laws in areas where it did not have that power under the Constitution; and it effectively overrode the power of parliament by giving the government power to make regulations, that is, laws that required only the signatures of some ministers and the Governor-General. The government used its powers to make a huge number of laws and regulations affecting all areas of people's lives. Among these were: · the reduction of the Christmas - New Year holiday period to three days; · the restriction of weekday sporting events; · blackouts and brownouts in cities and coastal areas; · daylight saving; · increased call-ups of the Militia; · the issue of personal identity cards; · increased enlistment of women into the auxiliary forces; · regulations allowing strikers to be drafted into the Army or into the Army Labour Corps; · the fixing of profit margins in industry; · restrictions on the costs allowed for building or renovations; · the setting of some women's pay rates at near-male levels; · internment of members of the Australia First organisation; · controls on the cost of dresses; · the rationing of clothing, footwear, tea, butter and sugar; · the banning of the Communist Party, and the Australia First Movement for opposition to the war;

Women Did the war change the role and place of women in Australian society? Propaganda at the time stressed that for the first time women were being asked to do 'a man's job', either in the Services or in industry. Certainly more women entered the workforce than had been there before, and many took on jobs that had previously been available to men only. These women gained all, or nearly all, the male rate for these 'men's jobs'. However, most of the new women workers went into traditionally female areas, where the wage was typically 54 per cent of the male rate - though by the end of the war was closer to 70 per cent. Economy The war was a huge boon to the Australian economy. As many Australian primary products were purchased as could be produced, and secondary industries manufactured many new items for the Services. Rationing and restrictions meant that there were few consumer goods available, so personal savings rose. Man powering and essential industries also meant that there was near-full employment. Conscription In 1943 the issue of conscription arose. As in 1916 and 1917, the government had the power to conscript men for home service, but not for overseas combat. 'Home', however, included New Guinea, where Australia had a protectorate, and therefore conscripted troops could be and were sent to the war front where they were needed most. But as the Allies began to defeat the Japanese, the war front spread north, and there was a demand that Australian troops be able to go to the new areas which were outside the definition of home. American conscripts were fighting in these areas so it seemed unfair that Australian conscripts should not also be compelled to fight there.

As in 1916 and 1917, all the government had to do was to change the Defence Act and it could achieve this - unlike the situation in 1916, Prime Minister Curtin knew he had the majority in both Houses to make this change. Legacies and Impacts One of the main effects of the war was to start the 'migration revolution' of postwar Australia. The Australian Government had fears of an invasion, and believed that we had to 'populate or perish'. Migrants from traditional sources were not available in large enough numbers so Australia started accepting refugees and displaced persons from the northern and eastern European countries. This was the beginning of the end for 'White Australia' and the start of modern multiculturalism.

The German army had delivered a crushing blow to Russia at Tannenberg at the start of the war and had been driving eastwards. The Russians were threatened by a Turkish advance through the Caucasus and appealed to their allies for assistance. Gaining control of the Dardanelles would re-establish communications with Russia and release wheat and shipping locked in the Black Sea by Turkey.

Besides this, British strategists had for many years before the war believed that the best defence of Egypt and the Suez Canal was an attack on Turkey.

The British Royal Navy could have gone a long way towards achieving these goals by steaming through the Dardanelles straits in November 1914 and shelling Constantinople (now Istanbul) and perhaps putting the government to flight. Instead, they cautiously tested the range of the Turkish guns by bombarding the shore batteries.

The Turkish commanders immediately became aware of their vulnerability to further attacks and strengthened their defenses to include carefully laid minefields, well-sited guns and searchlights that swept the narrows at night.

Three months later, a British and French fleet that included 18 battleships, attempted to force its way through to Constantinople. Three capital ships were lost and three crippled.

Unknown to the Allies, the Turkish gun batteries had almost exhausted their ammunition supplies in this effort, and the fleet could have sailed on through the straits with little further damage. Instead, the naval commanders came to the conclusion that they could not force their way through the Dardanelles unless troops were first sent to occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula in force to silence the Turkish guns. Planning for the landing of troops on Gallipoli commenced.