Battle for Australia Commemoration Service

The Battle for Australia Day has been gazetted for commemoration on the first Wednesday in September each year on which ceremonies are held around Australia to commemorate the drawn-out struggle to defend Australia against Japanese forces during World War 2.

The Battle for Australia covers the period from the Malayan campaign and the fall of Rabaul, Singapore and the East Indies, through the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea, air and submarine raids on Australian towns and shipping, the 1942 battles of the Coral Sea, Milne Bay, the Kokoda Track and Guadalcanal, up to the recapture of Buna and Gona and the battle of the Bismarck Sea in early 1943. Also remembered are those who contributed to the war effort on the home front and the subsequent campaigns to liberate New Guinea, the Pacific and South East Asia.

This year the Battle for Australia Commemoration Service in New South Wales will be held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sydney on Wednesday 4 September at 11.00am – the keynote address will be given by Harry Allie BEM, the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Veterans Commemoration Committee and, as always, children from several schools will participate in the Service.

The Battle for Australia Association (NSW) Inc has extended an invitation to attend the Service. Sprigs of wattle will be available at the end of the Service to lay on the Cenotaph.

RSVP with any special arrangements by 9 August to:

• Doug Roser, Chairman of Battle for Australia Assn of NSW
  02 4384 1196
  dougroser@bigpond.com