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5 August – The Cowra breakout occurs, with 545 Japanese prisoners of war escaping from the camp. [6] 19 August – A referendum is held, concerning Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights. It proposes to grant the government power to legislate over 14 points of law for a five-year period.
In February 1944, the Combined Fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy's main striking force, withdrew from its base at Truk in the Central Pacific to Palau and Singapore. The appearance of a powerful naval force at Singapore alarmed the Allies, as it was feared that these ships would conduct raids into the Indian Ocean and against Western Australia. [9]
From 1942 until early 1944, Australian forces played a key role in the Pacific War, making up the majority of Allied strength throughout much of the fighting in the South West Pacific theatre. While the military was largely relegated to subsidiary fronts from mid-1944, it continued offensive operations against the Japanese until the war ended.
The only Japanese force to land in Australia during World War II was a reconnaissance party that landed in the Kimberley region of Western Australia on 19 January 1944 to investigate reports that the Allies were building large bases in the region. The party consisted of four Japanese officers on board a small fishing boat.
In 1944 Australia's war effort was focused on the Pacific War, and most elements of the country's military were in Australia and the islands to its north. [1] Nevertheless, substantial numbers of RAAF personnel, most of whom had been trained through the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), were stationed in the United Kingdom (UK) and took part in operations against Germany.
The Constitution Alteration (Post-War Reconstruction and Democratic Rights) Bill 1944 [1] was an unsuccessful proposal to alter the Australian Constitution to give the Commonwealth an additional 14 powers for a period of five years, with Prime Minister John Curtin saying that maintaining wartime controls was necessary for Australia to re-adjust to peacetime conditions.
Three infantrymen of the 2/6th Battalion training in the Watsonville area of North Queensland in April 1944. The Australian Army's pre-war doctrine was focused on conventional warfare in a European environment. This doctrine and the supporting training manuals were common to those of all Commonwealth countries.
In April 1944, Curtin held talks on postwar planning with President Franklin Roosevelt of the US and with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain and gained agreement for the Australian economy to begin transitioning from military to post-war economy.