Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen fought for the defence of Britain in Europe, the Middle East and north Africa from the moment war was declared in 1939. Then, in late 1941, the focus of our conflict moved close to home as the Japanese juggernaut rolled across Asia and the Pacific. They were seemingly unstoppable, until a tenacious group of Australian soldiers finally brought the Japanese to a halt at Milne Bay and Kokoda while the Allied navies inflicted their first defeat in the Coral Sea.
