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WWII
Wartime government controls
Conscription
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Created by
Xanthia Adam-Gedge
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At the start of WWII, the Australian government addressed conscription issues similarly to WWI by:
Encouraging
voluntary enlistment
in the AIF for overseas service.
Calling up the
80,000-strong Citizen Military Force
(CMF) for domestic service.
Introducing compulsory
three-month
military training for single males aged
21.
From
1941
, the government mandated that all
18-year-old males
register for
potential defence
roles against
Japanese
threats and began conscripting:
All men aged
18-25
and single men aged
35-45
years into the
CMF
from
mid-1942
, allowing service in Australian territories and
Papua.
By
1943
, the government addressed:
The reality of Japanese
bombing
and potential
invasion
threats.
The weakened
national fighting capability
due to
20,000 Australians
being
POWs.
The fact that
US
conscripts were serving
overseas
, while Australian conscripts were not.
Under the
Defence
(
Citizen Military Forces
) Act
1943
, the government:
Expanded the
conscription
area to the
South-Western Pacific Zone
, including
Japanese-occupied
islands south of the
equator.
Included women in conscription for
auxiliary
services.