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01:00Her whole empire loyally followed her.
01:06From countries all over the world, men and women were taken to fight many thousands of miles from their homes
01:12for a land which they had never visited against enemies about whom they knew little.
01:20But none of them ever queried the reasons for doing so.
01:23And none proved more steadfast and gallant than the troops from two of the most remote outposts of the empire,
01:30Australia and New Zealand.
01:36Few countries contributed more proportionately.
01:39Their small populations providing a ready supply of men who swiftly gained a worldwide reputation, not only as superb fighting
01:47troops, but as rugged individualists.
01:53The story of the Anzacs, as these gladiators became known, is one of the least told but most stirring of
02:00World War II.
02:05A quarter of a century earlier, when Britain declared war on Germany and Austro-Hungary in 1914, Australia and New
02:13Zealand had only recently become self-governing nations.
02:15Australia in 1901, Australia in 1901, New Zealand six years later.
02:20Both immediately sent units to fight in Europe and against Turkey, which had joined the central powers.
02:29In Egypt, they were formed into an Australian and New Zealand army corps, from which came the nickname Anzacs.
02:38During the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, the Anzacs fought as national units for the first time in their history.
02:49This searing experience first gave Australia and New Zealand a sense of their own identity as independent countries.
02:57The Anzacs then fought on the Western Front, in France and Flanders.
03:04There, they played a leading part in the final victories that ended the war in November 1918.
03:16Other Anzacs fought in Palestine, forming the main part of the Desert Mounted Corps.
03:24Their dramatic breakthroughs and advances helped to shatter the Turkish defences.
03:32The memory of what the Anzacs had endured at Gallipoli during 1915 became a fundamental part of the identity of
03:40both countries as proudly independent nations.
03:49Australia and New Zealand were just as ready to help Britain in 1939 as they had been in 1914.
03:59Each offered to send a division of troops to take part in the war in Europe.
04:07But it took time to build up and train their small peacetime forces for war.
04:16Many of the men recruited were well used to a hard and rigorous life in the outback or mountains,
04:21and made natural soldiers.
04:24Although their attitude to traditional military discipline often left much to be desired.
04:34The 6th Australian Division eventually sailed in January 1940.
04:40Its men landed in Egypt, as their fathers had done 25 years earlier.
04:50But this time the threat came not from Turkey, but from Mussolini's Italy, with its colonies in neighbouring Libya and
04:56Abyssinia.
04:59When the Australians arrived, Italy had not yet declared war.
05:02So the division was able to continue its training, and it was soon joined by the New Zealand Division.
05:12This was commanded by General Bernard Freiburg, who had won the Victoria Cross during World War I.
05:23Most of his troops stayed with the Australians in Egypt,
05:26but one brigade was sent on to strengthen the forces defending Britain against German invasion.
05:36The relaxed attitude of the Anzacs to military discipline quickly made them notorious.
05:41But the more hidebound British Army high command could not fault their enthusiasm.
05:46They often referred to themselves as the diggers,
05:49a term originating from the gold rushes in Australia of 100 years earlier.
05:57New Zealand's small population of barely 2 million meant that the mobilisation of a complete division stretched her resources to
06:04the limit.
06:08Whereas during the summer of 1940,
06:11the Australians were able to form another two divisions for home defence
06:17and send sufficient troops to the Middle East to form a second division there.
06:26The 9th Australian Division came into being in Palestine at the end of the year.
06:33In June 1940, Mussolini finally brought Italy into the war,
06:38and the Middle East became an active theatre.
06:49The Anzacs did not take part in the early battles.
06:53As the Italians advanced cautiously into Egypt.
06:59And were then pushed back in early December 1940,
07:03by a British counter-attack led by the Desert Rats of the 7th Armoured Division
07:07and the 4th Indian Division.
07:11But during a lull in the battle in mid-December,
07:14the 6th Australian Division moved forward to relieve the Indians,
07:17who were being redeployed to East Africa.
07:24The Anzacs were about to have their first taste of combat.
07:34The troops of the 6th Australian Division moved forward
07:37to begin the next stage of the British assault on the Italians
07:40at the beginning of January 1941.
07:50Their first task was to capture the Italian-held port of Bardi,
07:54just inside Libya.
08:07After a two-day battle in which 38,000 Italians surrendered,
08:11they entered it on the 5th of January.
08:17Their next objective was Tobruk,
08:20a further 90 miles along the coast.
08:23This fell on the 22nd,
08:25and the Australians then pushed a further 300 miles towards Benghazi,
08:29while the 7th Armoured Division thrust inland
08:31across the Cyrenaican bulge
08:33to cut off the retreating Italians.
08:41Within a fortnight,
08:43a further 20,000 men, 200 guns,
08:46and 120 tanks fell into British and Australian hands.
08:50It was the first Allied ground victory of World War II,
08:54and the Anzacs had played a key role,
08:57but the euphoria did not last long.
09:00Within a week of this victory,
09:02Erwin Rommel and his German Africa Corps
09:05began to land at the Libyan port of Tripoli.
09:11While Rommel prepared to attack,
09:146th Australian Division was relieved by 9th Australia.
09:19But the 6ths had little time to rest,
09:21for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
09:24decided to send troops from the Middle East
09:26to support the Greeks,
09:27who had been fighting an Italian invasion from Albania
09:30since the previous November.
09:376th Australian Division and the New Zealand Division,
09:39now rejoined by the brigade,
09:41which had gone to Britain in 1940,
09:44formed part of the force.
09:51Hitler, keen to secure his southern Balkan flank
09:54for his projected invasion of the Soviet Union,
09:57invaded both Greece and Yugoslavia on the 6th of April.
10:08The Anzacs fought bravely,
10:11but could not hold back the German blitzkrieg.
10:14Yet they were by no means demoralised,
10:17as New Zealander Lieutenant Charles Upham,
10:19in peacetime, a sheep farmer,
10:21told a BBC interviewer.
10:23The division over here is going from strength to strength,
10:26and the morale of our own ships is unfulfilled.
10:29You will hear more from us again.
10:32The Royal Navy evacuated the British force,
10:35and part of the Anzacs went back to Egypt.
10:38They would soon have the opportunity to gain revenge.
10:47The commander of the Anzacs was sent to the eastern Mediterranean island of Crete,
10:52which was the obvious next target for the Germans.
10:58Bernard Freiberg, the commander of the New Zealand Division,
11:01was put in charge of the island's defences,
11:03and was convinced that the main attack would be from the sea.
11:09In reality, the Germans were planning a revolutionary airborne assault,
11:14which completely wrong-footed the British and Dominion forces.
11:24They were dispersed along the northern coastline of the island,
11:28and unable to concentrate quickly enough
11:30when the German tactics became apparent.
11:38German air supremacy proved crucial,
11:41and once the paratroops had secured an airfield
11:43and could land reinforcements,
11:45the issue was no longer in doubt,
11:47despite gallant resistance by the defenders.
11:54By the end of May, the Germans had secured the island,
11:57and the Royal Navy was forced to carry out yet another evacuation.
12:05During the fighting on Crete,
12:07Charles Upham, weakened by dysentery,
12:09destroyed a number of machine-gun posts,
12:12almost single-handedly extricated a company that had been cut off,
12:15and repulsed numerous German attacks.
12:18He was awarded a well-deserved Victoria Cross.
12:26The disaster on Crete, following that in Greece,
12:30might have made lesser troops believe that the Germans were unstoppable.
12:36But not the Anzacs.
12:38Do you see this?
12:39Good old Gertie.
12:41I dragged her 150 miles back to the coast.
12:44But did you use her?
12:46I'll say I did.
12:48I give old Jerry hell with her.
12:49Yes. We're looking forward to our next stage with him, too.
12:53Just let me have another crack at them.
12:55That's all I'm waiting for.
12:57The sooner we get at them again, the sooner we'll be home.
13:01We'll give them all the works next time.
13:02And we certainly made a mess of them this time.
13:06They would soon have their opportunity,
13:09for while Greece was collapsing,
13:11Rommel had attacked in Libya
13:12and driven the British pell-mell back into Egypt.
13:23During the retreat,
13:24General Leslie Morshead,
13:26commander of the 9th Australian Division,
13:28was ordered to hold the port of Tobruk at all costs.
13:35Morshead had some 31,000 troops,
13:38including his own division,
13:39a brigade from 7th Australian Division
13:42and a British Armoured Brigade.
13:45By the 11th of April, Tobruk was totally cut off.
13:56It was subjected to sustained Axis air attack,
13:59which threatened to cut off all supplies.
14:08Then, on the 14th of April,
14:11Rommel launched a major assault against the port.
14:22Axis forces succeeded in getting inside the Australian positioners.
14:34A series of desperate battles followed,
14:37and the Germans were eventually driven out.
14:51During the fighting,
14:53Corporal John Edmondson,
14:55of the Australian 2nd, 17th Battalion,
14:57won a Victoria Cross for holding his position
15:00despite being severely wounded.
15:06Edmondson died of his wounds,
15:08and his posthumous award,
15:10the first of 20 to be won by Australians during the war,
15:13was received by his parents.
15:27The siege of Tobruk
15:28continued throughout the summer of 1941.
15:34The beleaguered garrison even produced its own newspaper,
15:37which did much to maintain morale.
15:44Despite the constant Axis air attacks,
15:46the Royal Navy did manage to keep the garrison supplied,
15:49and evacuate sick and wounded back to Egypt.
15:56The Australians proudly nicknamed themselves
15:59the Rats of Tobruk.
16:01Many lived in caves,
16:02conveniently situated close to the front line.
16:17They kept the Axis forces at bay
16:19by dominating no man's land
16:21through aggressive patrolling.
16:25For the Allies,
16:26the Rats of Tobruk
16:27provided a beacon of hope
16:29at a desperate period in the war.
16:35The scope of the fighting in the Middle East
16:37widened during summer 1941,
16:39and the Anzacs became involved in another campaign.
16:43Fears that the Luftwaffe
16:44was about to begin operating
16:46from Vichy French airfields in Syria
16:48caused the British to invade the territory
16:50in June 1941.
16:52Among the troops taking part
16:54was 7th Australian Division
16:55and elements of the 6th Division.
17:03Australian General John Laverac
17:05was in overall command.
17:07He led the Australians,
17:08together with free French troops
17:10and units from the British 1st Cavalry Division,
17:13in an advance up the coastal plain.
17:18The Vichy French put up more resistance than expected,
17:21and there was some hard fighting.
17:40Nevertheless,
17:41the overstretched Allied force
17:42pushed forward.
17:54The Australians took Damascus
17:56and then advanced towards Beirut.
18:08They occupied the Lebanese capital
18:10just as hostilities ended.
18:16Among the heroes of the campaign
18:18was Australian artilleryman
18:20Lieutenant Arthur Roden Cutler,
18:23who lost a leg during heavy fighting.
18:25For several individual acts of bravery,
18:28he won a V.C.
18:32Despite the eventual Allied success in Syria,
18:35the siege of Tobruk
18:36remained the main focus of attention.
18:43Even though the rats of Tobruk
18:45showed no sign of cracking under the strain,
18:47the Australian government
18:48was becoming concerned
18:50that its troops were bearing
18:51too great a burden of the fighting.
18:56General Sir Claude Orkinleck,
18:58the Commander-in-Chief Middle East,
18:59was obliged to begin replacing the garrison.
19:04In August 1941,
19:07the Australian 18th Brigade
19:09was relieved by the Free Polish Carpathian Brigade.
19:17The relief continued into the autumn,
19:20but one Australian battalion
19:22would remain in Tobruk
19:23until the very end.
19:27Orkinleck was also preparing
19:28an offensive design
19:29to drive Rommel back
19:30and relieve Tobruk.
19:34He launched Operation Crusader
19:36on the 18th of November.
19:40The New Zealand Division,
19:42supported by a British tank brigade,
19:45was given the crucial role
19:46of linking up with the Tobruk garrison,
19:48which had been given orders to break out.
19:56The New Zealanders faced stubborn Axis resistance.
20:03But after eight days fighting,
20:05they linked up with some of the troops
20:07from Tobruk at El Duda,
20:0920 miles southeast of the port.
20:18The New Zealanders now had to withstand
20:20a series of furious attacks
20:22designed to drive them away from Tobruk.
20:25Eventually, the division was cut in two
20:27by 15th Panzer Division
20:28and forced to withdraw.
20:30But not before it had made
20:31a significant contribution
20:33to wearing down the Axis forces.
20:39Within a week,
20:41Rommel had withdrawn from Tobruk
20:42and by early January,
20:44the British were once more
20:45in control of Cyrenaica,
20:47having inflicted heavy casualties
20:49on the Axis forces.
20:58But by this time,
20:59there had been developments elsewhere
21:01which were to have a dramatic effect
21:03on the future of the Australian
21:05and New Zealand forces in the Middle East.
21:14On the 7th of December 1941,
21:17the war came closer
21:18to the Anzac's homelands
21:20as Japanese carrier-borne aircraft
21:22made a surprise attack
21:23on the US Pacific Fleet Base
21:25at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
21:37This finally brought the United States
21:39into the war,
21:40much to the relief of the British.
21:46of the British.
21:52But the conflict now took a grim turn
21:54for the Allies.
22:04For the Japanese launched immediate invasions
22:06of Malaya and the Philippines,
22:08as well as US Pacific Islands.
22:16Now that the war had suddenly
22:18reached their doorsteps,
22:19the Australian and New Zealand governments
22:21requested the return of their troops
22:23from the Middle East.
22:31It was the Japanese invasion of Malaya
22:33which especially worried Australia.
22:41this concern grew rapidly
22:43as the Japanese advanced
22:45swiftly down the peninsula.
22:52A complete Australian division,
22:54the 8th,
22:55had been deployed to Malaya
22:56earlier in the year,
22:58clearly showing how important
23:00the territory was reckoned to be
23:01for the defence of the Australian homeland.
23:23The Japanese were soon driving
23:25the Indian troops back.
23:27The British High Command had no answer
23:29to their use of outflanking moves
23:31through the jungle.
23:31through the jungle.
23:43By mid-January,
23:45Gordon Bennett's men were in action
23:46but could not stop the Japanese onrush.
23:54At the end of the month,
23:56the British forces withdrew
23:57to Singapore Island.
24:06Two weeks later,
24:08it was all over.
24:09The British and Dominion troops
24:10were forced into an ignominious surrender.
24:19The vast majority of the Australians,
24:21together with their fellow British
24:23and Indian soldiers,
24:25went into captivity.
24:33They now faced over three and a half years
24:35of Japanese brutality.
24:42But one man who did escape
24:44was General Gordon Bennett,
24:46who believed that his experience
24:48in fighting the Japanese
24:49would be of value in the future.
24:53His fellow countrymen thought differently,
24:56believing that he should have gone
24:57into captivity with his men.
24:59Gordon Bennett never held
25:01another active command.
25:05The fall of Singapore presented
25:07a direct Japanese threat to Australia
25:09and this was reinforced
25:11by an air attack on Darwin
25:12on the 19th of February, 1942,
25:15four days after the surrender of Singapore.
25:22The fear that Australia
25:23was about to be invaded grew rapidly
25:25and the government renewed its request
25:27for the troops in the Middle East
25:29to be sent back.
25:34The 6th and 7th Australian Divisions
25:37returned in March.
25:46Their families were overjoyed
25:47to see them again,
25:48but it would not be long
25:50before they were partied once more.
26:02The 9th Australian
26:04and the New Zealand Divisions
26:05remained in the Middle East,
26:07but only because the Americans
26:08had agreed to send troops
26:09to Australia.
26:12These began to arrive
26:14in April 1942.
26:20A detachment of 7th Australian Division
26:23was immediately sent to Java
26:25in the Dutch East Indies,
26:26but the Japanese onrush
26:28overwhelmed it
26:29and other allied forces
26:31in the region.
26:34Many Australians refused to surrender
26:37and with the help of the local people
26:39began to wage a guerrilla campaign
26:40against the Japanese occupiers.
26:56The focus of the Japanese assault
26:58now switched to New Guinea,
26:59with landings being made
27:01at Ley and Salamawa
27:02in early March 1942.
27:05These were accompanied
27:06by air attacks
27:07on Port Moresby
27:08on the southwest coast
27:09and further bombing raids
27:11against Darwin.
27:14At the end of March,
27:16the Australian government
27:17began a total denial policy
27:19in the northern part
27:20of the country.
27:23Nothing of value
27:24was to be allowed
27:24to fall into Japanese hands
27:26should they invade,
27:28and a vast migration
27:29of sheep and cattle
27:30was got underway.
27:37American General Douglas MacArthur,
27:39who had been ordered
27:40by President Roosevelt
27:41to leave the beleaguered Philippines,
27:43arrived in Australia
27:45and became the supreme
27:46Allied Commander
27:47Southwest Pacific.
27:54Australian General Thomas Blamey
27:56was appointed
27:56the Land Force Commander.
28:05The ultimate Japanese objective
28:07in Papua New Guinea
28:08was the capital
28:10Port Moresby,
28:11which they planned to seize
28:12by an amphibious assault.
28:15But this meant
28:15that they must bring back
28:16their carriers,
28:17which had been sent
28:18to the Indian Ocean
28:19to harry the British.
28:22While these were returning,
28:24the Japanese continued
28:25to occupy
28:26the western part
28:27of the island.
28:28While their Port Moresby
28:30invasion force
28:31sailed from Rabaul
28:32in New Britain
28:32on the 4th of May, 1942.
28:38Forewarned of this
28:39by their codebreakers,
28:40the United States
28:41sent a carrier force
28:42to intercept the Japanese
28:43in the Coral Sea.
28:45In the ensuing battle,
28:46the Americans
28:47had a carrier disabled,
28:48while the Japanese
28:49lost one carrier sunk
28:51and another crippled.
28:53It was enough
28:54to force the Japanese
28:55to cancel
28:56the amphibious attack
28:57on Port Moresby.
29:00But still determined
29:02to capture it,
29:03they decided
29:03on an overland advance
29:05along the Kokoda Trail,
29:06which cuts through
29:07the precipitous
29:08Owen Stanley Mountains
29:09from Boona
29:10on the north coast.
29:15The only forces facing them
29:17were a partially trained
29:18Australian militia battalion
29:20and some local Papuan troops.
29:26Fighting desperately
29:28in the harshest conditions,
29:30the Australians
29:30were steadily driven back.
29:32As General Blamey
29:33later explained,
29:34both sides
29:35had underestimated
29:36the terrain.
29:40He thought it was easier
29:42as going over the mountains
29:43and he'd realised,
29:44I don't think he,
29:45I don't think anybody
29:45could realise
29:46what these Owen Stanleys
29:48were like
29:49unless they'd walked them.
29:51You stand up there
29:52and you look right down
29:53what the troops
29:54called the Golden Stairs,
29:56tips cut in the hillside
29:59and you see them
29:59going up on the other side
30:00and then you have
30:02the succession
30:02of steep hillsides
30:06to go down and up
30:07and it's terribly hard going.
30:16Many men were driven
30:17off the trail
30:18by Japanese ambushes
30:19and outflanking moves
30:21and died lonely deaths
30:22in the jungle.
30:23The remainder
30:24continued to fight on.
30:30Heroically,
30:31the militia battalion
30:32never lost its cohesion
30:33even though its men
30:35were wracked
30:35with disease,
30:36wounds and exhaustion.
30:48The lives of many
30:50were saved solely
30:51through the dedication
30:52of their Papuan porters.
31:10even though the militia
31:11were reinforced
31:12by two further battalions,
31:14the Australians
31:14continued to be pushed back.
31:19On the 10th of September,
31:21the Japanese captured
31:22the Yorubaiwa Ridge
31:23just 40 miles
31:24from Port Moresby.
31:26But here,
31:27the resolute Australian
31:28defence prevented them
31:29from advancing any further.
31:39Meanwhile,
31:40intelligence sources
31:41warned MacArthur
31:42of an impending
31:43Japanese landing
31:43at Milne Bay.
31:49The Australian 18th Brigade
31:51was sent there
31:52and quickly forced
31:53the Japanese to withdraw.
31:58By now,
31:59the Japanese
32:00on the Kokoda Trail
32:01were suffering from disease
32:02and overstretched supply lines
32:04and began falling back.
32:10some had been reduced
32:11to such a state
32:12that they even surrendered,
32:13something which
32:14the Japanese military code
32:15viewed as a disgraceful act.
32:20The Australians followed up
32:22and found themselves engaged
32:23in another exhausting campaign,
32:26clashing frequently
32:27with determined Japanese rearguards.
32:30Despite the terrain
32:31being against them,
32:32they steadily pushed
32:33their fanatical enemy back.
32:53Meanwhile,
32:55US troops had been landed
32:56near Buna
32:56and drove the Japanese
32:58away from their base
32:59at the northern end
33:00of the Kokoda Trail.
33:04It was not until
33:05the second half of January,
33:071943,
33:08that the Japanese
33:09were finally cleared
33:10from Papua New Guinea.
33:19Over 2,000 Australians
33:20were killed or wounded
33:22during this toughest
33:23of campaigns
33:24and some 9,300
33:26went down
33:26with malaria
33:27and other diseases.
33:32While the Australians
33:34were fighting back
33:34in New Guinea,
33:36US Marines had landed
33:37on Japanese-held
33:38Guadalcanal
33:39in the Solomons
33:40in August 1942.
33:44It took six months
33:46of desperate fighting
33:47on Guadalcanal
33:48before the Americans
33:49were securely established
33:50in the Solomon Islands.
33:54and their success
33:56made the Japanese
33:57even more determined
33:58to hold on to New Guinea
33:59and the rest of the Solomons.
34:05In June 1943,
34:07Supreme Allied Commander
34:08General Douglas MacArthur
34:09set in motion
34:10Operation Cartwheel.
34:16its ultimate aim
34:17was to isolate
34:18the main Japanese base
34:19in the southwest Pacific,
34:21Rabaul.
34:23A major strand
34:24of the plan
34:25was landings
34:26along the coast
34:26of Papua New Guinea.
34:29First,
34:30US and Australian aircraft
34:31had to gain
34:32air supremacy
34:33over the region.
34:38then 9th Australian Division,
34:41fresh from being refitted
34:42and meeting the jungle
34:44for the first time
34:45after its long campaign
34:46in the Middle East,
34:47landed east of Ley.
34:55Simultaneously,
34:56American paratroops
34:57secured the airstrip
34:58at Nadzak.
35:077th Australian Division
35:09was airlifted in.
35:18It then advanced north
35:20and with 9th Australian Division
35:22moving southwards
35:23caught the Japanese
35:24in a pincer movement
35:25forcing them to evacuate
35:27both Ley and Salamawa.
35:31One of the first diggers
35:33into Ley
35:33described the devastation
35:35for the BBC.
35:37But so complete
35:38was the rout
35:39of the vaunted Japanese
35:41that all the damage
35:42was inflicted
35:42by the Allies.
35:44There was no
35:45scorched earth policy
35:46if we except
35:47scorched rice
35:48and fish
35:49with the demoralised rabble
35:51left in huge cooking pots
35:52over burning fires.
35:55American bombing
35:56and Australian shells
35:57caused the damage.
35:59From Heath's plantation
36:00seven and a half miles
36:01west of Ley
36:02right to the waterfront.
36:04The terrible havoc
36:05of heavy bombardment
36:07was everywhere.
36:11After this success
36:12the Australians
36:13together with US forces
36:15carried out further
36:16amphibious landings
36:17along the New Guinea coast
36:18constantly cutting off
36:20Japanese forces.
36:27New Zealand had now
36:29formed a second division
36:31confusingly numbered
36:32the third
36:32and this began operating
36:34in the southwest Pacific.
36:36During the latter half
36:38of 1943
36:39it took part
36:40in seizing a number
36:41of islands
36:41from the Japanese
36:42including Vela La Vela
36:44the Treasuries
36:45and Green Island.
36:47As the war in the Pacific
36:49swung decisively
36:50in favour of the Allies
36:51and the Anzacs
36:53played a major role
36:54in the southwestern
36:55theatre of war
36:55the forces that had remained
36:57in the Middle East
36:58had been through
36:59equally dramatic times.
37:06During the first half
37:07of 1942
37:08just as the Allied forces
37:10were suffering
37:10catastrophic defeats
37:11in the Pacific
37:12the Anzacs
37:13fighting in the desert
37:14also seemed about
37:15to be involved
37:16in another disaster.
37:18For Rommel
37:19had once more
37:20surged forward
37:21and driven the British
37:22back into Egypt.
37:23For a time
37:24it looked as if nothing
37:25could stop the Axis forces
37:26from reaching the Suez Canal.
37:36The British
37:37had constructed
37:38a defence line
37:39at El Alamein
37:40from the Mediterranean
37:41coast in the north
37:42to the virtually
37:43impassable
37:44Katara depression
37:45in the south.
37:49The New Zealand
37:50division was in the thick
37:51of the desperate battles
37:52that raged here
37:53for most of July 1942.
38:00Charles Upham
38:01who had won
38:02a Victoria Cross
38:02on Crete
38:03in May 1941
38:04was now commanding
38:06an infantry company
38:07on the Ruesat Ridge.
38:10During bitter fighting
38:11there he was wounded
38:12he was wounded
38:13no less than four times
38:14but continued to lead
38:15his men with great determination.
38:20In the end
38:21his position was overrun
38:22by superior German forces
38:24and Upham was captured.
38:26While he was in prison camp
38:28he learnt that he had won
38:29a second VC
38:30to become only the third man
38:32who has done so
38:32in the history
38:33of one of the world's
38:34most prestigious decorations
38:35for bravery.
38:40In August 1942
38:41the British 8th Army
38:43received a new commander
38:44General Bernard Montgomery.
38:51In October
38:52he went on to the offensive
38:54against Rommel
38:54at El Alame.
39:03both the remaining
39:05Australian division
39:05in the Middle East
39:06the 9th
39:07and the New Zealand
39:08division
39:09fought with great tenacity
39:10during the bruising
39:11ten day battle
39:13which finally forced
39:14the Axis forces
39:15to retreat.
39:20But after this
39:21their ways parted.
39:22the Australians
39:23were withdrawn to refit
39:25and in February 1943
39:26returned home
39:28to boost their country's
39:29forces in the
39:29southwest Pacific.
39:35The New Zealand division
39:36fought on in the desert
39:37as one of the leading
39:38formations in the pursuit
39:40of Rommel across Libya.
39:47When they reached
39:48the capital Tripoli
39:49Prime Minister Winston
39:51Churchill came to
39:52congratulate them.
39:59He addressed the division
40:00and paid them
40:02a very special tribute.
40:03As we
40:04of the
40:05British Isles
40:07our hearts
40:08go out in gratitude
40:09to the people
40:10of New Zealand
40:12who have
40:13sent this
40:15splendid division
40:16to win glory
40:18across the ocean
40:23to win glory.
40:28The New Zealanders
40:29went on to fight
40:30gallantly
40:30during the campaign
40:31in Tunisia
40:32and the 28th
40:33Maori Battalion
40:34performed outstandingly
40:36during the Battle of Marath
40:37in March 1943.
40:46Montgomery tried and
40:47failed to break through
40:48the main Axis
40:49defence line
40:49in a series of night
40:51assaults.
40:58so he then sent the New Zealanders
41:00on a wide outflanking move
41:02through the Tobago Gap.
41:08The Germans were quick to react
41:09and the Maoris fought a desperate battle
41:12to keep the gap open
41:13against furious counter-attacks.
41:2425-year-old
41:26Lieutenant Mao Nui-Akiwi-Ngarimu
41:28and his platoon
41:29held a key position
41:31for 24 hours.
41:35He won a posthumous VC
41:36for single-handedly
41:37breaking up an enemy attack
41:39by charging at the advancing Germans.
41:46The New Zealanders
41:47took part in the final defeat
41:48of the Axis forces
41:49in Tunisia
41:50in Maine 1943
41:51and were then withdrawn to refit.
41:59Now called 2nd New Zealand Division
42:02and still under the command
42:03of Bernard Freiburg
42:04they remained in the Mediterranean
42:06and went on
42:07with the 8th Army to Italy.
42:20there the division took part
42:21in the grim battles
42:22for Monte Cassino
42:23in early 1944
42:25as the Allies tried
42:26to penetrate
42:27the formidable German defences
42:29of the Gustav Line
42:30in the mountains south of Rome.
42:42once more the tenacity
42:43of the Kiwis
42:44was tested to the limit
42:45but their fighting spirit
42:47remained as high as ever.
42:59The New Zealanders then took part
43:00in the advance
43:01up the eastern side of Italy
43:06and were involved
43:08in the breaking
43:08of the final main
43:09German defensive position
43:11the Gothic Line
43:12in April 1945.
43:17The division liberated
43:19the historic Italian city
43:20of Padua
43:21and finished the war
43:22in Trieste
43:23at the head of the Adriatic.
43:25Since autumn 1942
43:27they had advanced
43:28over 2,000 miles
43:29across North Africa
43:30and up through Italy
43:32with Bernard Freiburg
43:33still at their head.
43:40While the 2nd New Zealand division
43:41was playing a major role
43:43in the Mediterranean theatre
43:44many thousands
43:45of miles away
43:46other Anzac troops
43:48were also marching
43:49towards victory.
43:54During 1944
43:55Australian forces
43:57relieved the US troops
43:58on New Britain
43:59and Bougainville
44:00in the northern Solomons
44:02so that the latter
44:03could take part
44:03in the campaign
44:04in the Philippines.
44:06And in the summer
44:07of 1945
44:09Australian forces
44:10were committed
44:10to the liberation
44:11of Borneo
44:11in the Dutch East Indies.
44:14The 7th Australian division
44:16landed on Taracan Island
44:17off the Borneo coast
44:18on the 1st of May.
44:20The Japanese resistance
44:21remained bitter
44:22and not until June
44:23was the island secured.
44:31Further Australian forces
44:33liberated Brunei
44:34and then in July 1945
44:36came the final
44:38major Anzac operation
44:39of the war
44:40the landings
44:41at Balikpapan
44:42on Borneo's east coast
44:43by 7th Australian division.
44:50They quickly closed
44:51on the port
44:51and secured it
44:52after a final
44:53fierce battle
44:54with the Japanese.
45:00The Anzac's long war
45:02was virtually at an end
45:04but there was still
45:05work to do
45:06for after the Japanese
45:08surrender
45:08both Australian
45:10and New Zealand
45:10contingents
45:11took part
45:12in the Allied occupation
45:13of Japan.
45:14It was a fitting recognition
45:16of the courage
45:16the Anzacs had shown
45:17during almost six years
45:19of combat.
45:24But amid the triumph
45:25it should never be forgotten
45:27that for more than three years
45:29other Australians
45:30had had to show courage
45:32of a different kind.
45:33These were the men
45:34who had been captured
45:35by the Japanese
45:36during the dark days
45:37of early 1942.
45:40They had endured
45:41unspeakable horrors
45:42but those who survived
45:44never allowed
45:45their spirit
45:45to be broken.
45:50Their homecoming
45:51after all they had been through
45:53had a special poignancy.
46:05The contribution
46:07made by the Anzacs
46:08to ultimate victory
46:09in World War II
46:10had been out of all proportion
46:12to the size
46:12of the populations
46:13of Australia
46:14and New Zealand.
46:18The cost
46:19had been equally high.
46:28Australian troops
46:29suffered over
46:2940,000 casualties
46:31with nearly 23,000 killed.
46:35New Zealand
46:36had 22,000 killed
46:38and wounded.
46:45In some of the most
46:46demanding campaigns
46:48of World War II
46:49the Anzacs
46:50had demonstrated
46:51the qualities
46:52that make them
46:53amongst the foremost
46:54gladiators
46:55in the history
46:55of warfare.
47:00MUSIC PLAYS
47:52The Anzacs
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