St John's Cathedral, Brisbane and the Anzac Legend

Initially, the Germans had larger numbers of aircraft than the British, but they failed to overcome the RAF or the civilian population. This was partly due to the high morale displayed by the British people, fortified by the strong leadership of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and partly to the strong air defences mounted by the young men of RAF Fighter Command who attacked the incoming German aircraft, often in ferocious ‘dogfights’ with German fighter planes. Eventually, Hitler was forced to call off his anticipated invasion of Britain, and his bombing attacks on civilians failed to force Britain to surrender nor negotiate a settlement with Nazi Germany. The courage displayed by Australian airmen alongside their British, Canadian, American, Polish, Czech and Rhodesian counterparts was renowned. Night after night these young men took off in their planes to defend Britain against German attack, or to take the war over German territory, knowing that many would be either killed on mission, injured (with many suffering horrific burns) or taken prisoner-of-war. Bomber Command’s 460 Squadron was mostly Australian and dropped more bomb tonnage than any other unit in the Command. The Squadron lost 188 aircraft and suffered 1108 combat deaths, 589 of whom were Australian. In all of Bomber Command, 3400 Australian airmen lost their lives.

Australian aircrews played a major role in the air war against Hitler. At the outbreak of the war there were 450 Australians serving with the RAF, including 30 in Fighter Command and, during the next couple of years, thousands more Australian airmen arrived in Britain. During the Battle of Britain a number took part in dog fights with German aircraft and, later in the war, many more formed part of RAF Bomber Command which took the air war over German territory with Allied planes attacking German targets. In all 20,000 Australians served with Bomber Command.

Royal Australian Air Force recruits parade through Brisbane in 1940. Many would go on to Britain to fight in the air war against Nazi Germany.

State Library of Queensland

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