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Flags Australia

Locality: Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia

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25.01.2022 On 5 May 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie made a formal entry into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (then known by the English name of Abyssinia) and returned to the throne. British forces had liberated the city on 6 April 1941. The actual flag flown over the palace is shown below, courtesy of James Ferrigan. The front of the flag showed a crowned Lion of Judah, whilst the back of the flag showed a symbol of St. George slaying a dragon. On 13 June 1940, shortly after Italy had declared w...Continue reading

24.01.2022 In early 1942, the 6th and 7th Divisions of the 2nd AIF were recalled to Australia in response to the direct threat from the rapidly advancing Japanese. Prime Minister Curtin refused a request from Winston Churchill for the 7th Division troops (who were en-route from Suez) to help defend Rangoon. It was however agreed that the 9th Division would stay in North Africa, with its Australian role being covered by the arrival of United States troops in Australia. Field Marshall Er...win Rommel’s forces continued to advance into north-west Egypt in January 1942 and the decision was made for the British Eighth Army to make a stand 100 kilometres west of Alexandria at El Alamein. The Australian 9th Division, which had been in Syria, arrived in early July to help the defence. The First Battle of El Alamein began 1 July and there was a series of intense attacks and counterattacks, but by 27 July the Germans had surrounded the Australian 2/28th battalion, which was forced to surrender. The British stayed in defensive positions around El Alamein until late October 1942 when the new commander, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery decided to launch a new offensive in the Western Desert with 220,000 soldiers and 1,100 tanks. The Second Battle of El Alamein began 23 October 1942 with a British armoured advance against a German and Italian defensive line, with the support of Australian, South African, Indian, New Zealand, Greek and Free French units. Rommel’s forces retreated on 13 November and the British captured Benghazi a week later. The 9th Division was recalled to Australia and began embarking in January 1943 on four troopships, including the Queen Mary. I have been able to locate few photos or information on the use of flags by the Allied forces in North Africa in 1942. Attached is the flag flown at the Battalion HQ by the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion at El Alamein. It is yellow and shows the 9th Division’s Rats of Tobruk T insignia in the battalion colours of black and yellow. There are some captured Nazi flags, one of which is in the Australian War Memorial, photos below. Also shown below is the flag of a German Field Marshall. A photo of Lieutenant-General Montgomery in a tank, has a small pennant, which was probably red over dark blue, denoting the senior officer in command. The other photo shows the Union Jack being raised over the Tripoli City Hall on 23 January 1943, marking the end of Italian rule in Libya, though the Axis forces retreated to Tunisia and they did not surrender until May 1943.

20.01.2022 Having lost the Battle of the Coral Sea and the opportunity to capture Port Moresby by sea, the Japanese were forced to try to take it with an overland attack from the north coast of New Guinea. The eastern half of the island of New Guinea was divided into two parts. In the south, the territory of Papua was an Australian territory from 1 September 1906, having been the crown colony of British New Guinea. It had as its flag a British blue ensign with a white disc that had a r...Continue reading

20.01.2022 The Declaration by United Nations was the treaty that formalised the military alliance against the Axis powers in World War II. The declaration was signed on 1 January 1942 between the US, UK, USSR and China. A further 22 other nations signed the following day, including Australia, British India and 8 European governments in exile. Each government pledged to employ its full resources to defeat the Axis powers and not to make any separate armistice with the enemies. Posters ...were created by the US Office of War Information in 1941, with two revisions as additional countries signed the United Nations Declaration. They show the Statue of Liberty and the flags of the Allies. No French flag is included, as the US continued to formally recognise the Vichy France government until November 1942, and whilst there was limited recognition of the Free French from June 1943, it was not regarded as a government-in-exile. Occupied Denmark was also excluded, as its government continued to function in cooperation with the Germans until 1943. Similarly, no flags are shown for the three Baltic States, despite their governments-in-exile continuing to be recognised by the US, presumably because they had been initially occupied by the USSR. An unofficial flag was created in June 1943 as a United Nations Honour Flag. It was white with four red vertical bars, inspired by the Four Freedoms speech by President Franklin Roosevelt of 6 January 1941 (prior to the US entry into the war). He proposed four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want and Freedom from fear. The flag was intended to be flown jointly with individual national flags. It was designed by an American, Brook Harding to be a symbol of the people and governments, but not a specific entity. The flag was flown on government buildings and was flown in thousands of towns on V-E Day, with usage continuing until 1948.

19.01.2022 The decision had been made in June 1943 that Rabaul and Kavieng, which were heavily fortified by the Japanese, would not be attacked directly, but would be isolated and neutralised. Supply ships were sunk, its naval base blockaded and its airfields frequently bombed. The US Army landed on the western end of the island in December 1943 with bases secured at Cape Gloucester and Arawe and a further landing was made at Talasea in March 1944. In October 1944 the Australian 5th ...Division replaced the US Army forces, and they undertook another landing at Jacquinot Bay and established a defensive line across the island between Wide Bay and Open Bay, leaving the larger Japanese force contained in the northern part of the island around Rabaul until the war’s end. The first photo shows the Australian flag flying in October 1944 at Cape Hoskins, near Talasea, New Britain. After Guadalcanal was secured by the US military in February 1943, the Solomon islands of Russell Island, the New Georgia islands, Treasury Islands and Choiseul were attacked and were secured by early November 1943. US Marines landed on central Bougainville in November and were replaced by the US Army and later, in October 1944, by the Australian 3rd Division. The Japanese were confined to the area around the main towns on the island Buka in the north, Kieta in the east and Buin in the south. There was relatively little fighting from December 1943 to the end of war, with the focus on construction and operation of an airfield for bombers and fighters and a PT-boat base. The second photo shows the Australian flag flying after the capture of a town in southern Bougainville in January 1945.

16.01.2022 On 19 November 1941 HMAS Sydney (II) was sunk off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of all hands, as a result of a naval engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran. The loss of the 645-strong complement was the largest loss of life in the history of the Royal Australian Navy and one of the largest Allied warship losses in WWII. Two paintings of the action show HMAS Sydney flying the white ensign as a battle flag. After HMAS Sydney’s return to Sydney i...n February 1941 and crew rest, HMAS Sydney was moved to Fremantle, WA to undertake escort and patrol duties. It had escorted the troopship SS Zealandia to the Sunda Strait (between Java and Sumatra) on its way to Singapore with some of the 8th Division 2nd AIF. On its return trip to Fremantle, HMAS Sydney sighted what seemed to be a freighter, and it moved close in to identify it. It was the German raider H.S.K. Kormoran, which had disguised itself as the Dutch merchant ship Straat Malakka, flying the flag of the Netherlands. The German ship dropped its camouflage, raised the Kreigsmarine ensign and removed the coverings from its guns and torpedoes. The subsequent interrogations of the surviving German crew indicated that the Kormoran and HMAS Sydney both fired almost at the same time, and after exchanging salvoes over a 30-minute period and the Sydney being hit by a torpedo, the Sydney suffered substantial damage and limped away. It sank about four hours later when the bow broke off, sinking within minutes, with none of the crew able to escape. The Kormoran had been disabled, and the crew abandoned ship into lifeboats with the ship sinking slowly until mines it was carrying exploded and sank the ship. 80% of the Kormoran crew survived the action. HSK Kormoran had been built in September 1938 as the freighter SS Steiermark, and one of the photos below shows it launching. It is interesting to see that the Olympic flag was prominent, as well as the German flag and the house flag of the owner, Hamburg-American Line. The ship was requisitioned by the German navy and converted to an auxiliary cruiser and commissioned in October 1940, with camouflaged weapons and equipment to disguise its appearance. Also, on 27 November 1941, the sloop, HMAS Parramatta (II) was lost when it was torpedoed by the German submarine U-559 off the coast of Libya, whilst escorting an ammunition ship to Tobruk.

16.01.2022 Whilst Australia’s major war effort from 1942 was directed at defeating Japan, thousands of Australians continued to serve with the RAAF in Europe and the Middle East. The Australians served in RAAF bomber and fighter squadrons or in the Royal Air Force (RAF), contributing about 9% of the RAF’s personnel, particularly in Bomber Command. At the RAAF airbases it was possible to fly flags on poles or displayed in buildings, or painted onto bomber fuselages. Several photos exist... and some are shown below. The nose art on a Lancaster bomber in 460 Squadron shows an Australian flag, bombs indicating 30 missions flown and the Distinguish Flying Cross awarded to the plane’s captain. Another Lancaster, in 467 Squadron, used beer mugs instead of bombs to represent its missions, and a kangaroo holding a Australian flag. Both flags seem to be red ensigns. In June 1943 The Daily Telegraph, Sydney promised to send an Australian flag to the 450thfighter squadron to replace a small flag that was damaged. In a letter to the newspaper, it was stated that the flag, which was only 18 x 24 inches in size, had been flown on their flight truck during the advance from Alexandria to Tripoli. It claimed From El Alamein, when the AIF left the desert, it was the only Australian flag in the Eighth Army’s offensive, and also the only one in the desert. They no longer had the pleasure of hoisting the Australian flag on new advanced landing grounds. The original flag had been given to a Daily Telegraph reporter to take into Tripoli on its capture by the British 8th Army on 23 January 1943. It was reported to have been flown over the Governor’s Palace, but it was returned vandalized with only the Union Jack remaining. The replacement flag arrived in Italy in September 1943 and Corporal Alec J Barr stated It is the proudest possession of the squadron. When it arrived, it was spread over the propeller of a captured Italian bomber and the whole squadron was photographed with the flag. A photo was later published that showed pilots of 450th Squadron below the flag flying at Foggia, Italy. It is evident that this was a red Australian ensign. Flying Officer Bill Grigg and Flying officer H. Hannaford were photographed in front of the flag. This remarkable story of the red form of the Australian flag being used by an RAAF Squadron in a war zone, and the claim that the original flag was the only Australian flag in the AIF in the North Africa Campaign is remarkable and again demonstrates that Australian servicemen did not fight under or fight for the flag.

15.01.2022 On 19 February 1942, the war came to Australia’s shores Darwin was bombed in two massive air raids by 242 Japanese aircraft. Darwin, ships in the harbour and the two airfields were bombed and strafed. The purpose was not to start an invasion of Australia, but to disable any support for defenders of Java and Timor. It was the first and largest of more than 100 air raids against Australia in 1942-43. Darwin’s pre-war population was only 5,800 and it had been evacuated dow...n to 2,000 civilians, though there were sizable naval and RAAF bases, being used as a key hub for the air routes to the Philippines and staging for shipping to supply the allied defences in Netherland East Indies. On the day of the attack, Darwin was poorly defended by inadequate anti-aircraft defences and many of the 65 warships and merchant vessels were anchored near each other, making them easy targets for the 188 Japanese aircraft launched from four aircraft carriers and 54 land-based bombers from Celebes. The air-raid on Darwin was a shock to the nation and whilst the extent of damage to the ships, port facilities, aircraft and public buildings was not fully reported at the time, it was acknowledged as a grave event. The death toll, originally reported as only 17, has been subject to various revisions, with the official total being 292, and wounded over 300 people. Eight ships were sunk, including the destroyer, USS Peary, the Australian patrol boat, HMAS Mavie, and the troop ship SS Zealandia that had transported the 8th Division to Singapore in1941. The drama of the Battle of Darwin is portrayed by a painting by Ken Swan (in the NT Parliament House) showing the corvette, HMAS Katoomba, fighting off the Japanese zeros, whilst it was in dry dock. Similarly, there is a photo of the explosion of MV Neptuna (with a cargo of depth charges), with the undamaged HMAS Deloraine in the foreground. Three Australian flags, damaged during the bombing of Darwin, are known to exist. One in the AWM was flying from the Administrator’s residence. This was one of the historic flags that were displayed at the AWM on 9 May 1945 during the national service of thanksgiving for VE-Day. Another was found by Cpl R.W.J. Hill of 43rd Battalion on the afternoon of the bombing at the intersection of Smith and Bennett Streets. This is on public display at the Northern Territory Parliament House. The third flag was flying at RAAF 12 Squadron during the attack, and it is now located at the Darwin Military Museum. A strafing attack was made by Japanese zero fighters on Broome in March 1942 and several further air raids were made against Darwin, with a major attack on oil fuel tanks being made on 16 June 1942. Several attacks were made on the north Queensland towns of Townsville and Mossman in July 1942. The last attack was on 12 November 1943.

15.01.2022 In 1943, on 22 November, Lebanon became independent. In the wake of World War I, France was granted a League of Nations mandate over Syria and Lebanon in 1923, the French having occupied them from 1918. The State of Greater Lebanon was declared in September 1920 and in 1926 it became the Lebanese Republic. The flag was the French flag with the addition of a Lebanese cedar tree. It’s meaning was an evergreen cedar is like a young nation despite a cruel past. Although oppre...ssed, never conquered. In 1940 the French administration of Lebanon was aligned with Vichy France. In July 1941, concerned about the possibility of Germany using the Vichy territories to attack Egypt, Allied troops attacked Lebanon with British, Free French, Indian and Australians of the 7th Division striking from Palestine. In November 1942 independence from France was declared, but not recognised. In 1943 the League of Nations mandate was unilaterally abolished, and independence of Lebanon was recognised by the Free French, though the Allies occupied the region until December 1946. The flag for the newly independent Lebanon was presented to the Lebanese parliament on 11 November 1943 as a cedar tree between two red horizontal stripes. The original hand draw flag is shown below. Whilst the parliamentarians had a red pencil, they did not have green, so the cedar was drawn with a regular pencil, and those involved signed the flag. The shape of the cedar on the Lebanese flag changed its drawn form over time, but it was usually shown having a brown trunk. However, in the mid 1990s, the words of the Constitution that described the flag having a green cedar were applied and the official specification became an all green tree.

14.01.2022 After the capture of Lae and the Battles of Sattelberg and Wareo, the Australian Army advanced along the Huon Peninsula to Finschhafen and Sio, which was taken in 15 January 1944 and in February they linked up with American soldiers, who had made an amphibious landing in early January at Saidor. The Japanese withdrew inland to the Finisterre Range and an American airbase was constructed at Saidor. An Allied offensive was begun in September 1943 and led to the capture of Mad...ang on 25 April 1944. The Japanese withdrew to Wewak, which had the largest Japanese airbase on New Guinea. The US Army launched an amphibious attack on Aitape on the north coast of New Guinea on 22 April 1944, and on the same day also attacked Hollandia, in Dutch New Guinea. Hollandia (now called Jayapura) was secured quickly and it would be developed as a major American base, with General Douglas MacArthur moving his headquarters there until the conquest of the Philippines. The Australian 6th Division replaced the US army forces in October 1944, taking over defence of Aitape and starting a campaign to defeat the Japanese 18th Army that remained in Australian New Guinea. Strong Japanese resistance and bad weather was experienced, but Wewak was captured on 15 May 1945. Remnant Japanese forces retreated inland and fighting continued through June and July 1945. The US conducted the Western New Guinea campaign, with the goal of securing bases for the attack on Philippines. A series of small islands were attacked with amphibious landings and captured with fairly heavy casualties. The US Army landed on Biak on 27 May 1944 and encountered large defensive positions that utilised a system of caves and tunnels, and it was not until 22 June that most of the island was captured, with almost all of the Japanese fighting to their death. Other strategic islands off the coast of New Guinea were captured, notably Sansapor and Morotai, and these were developed as Air Force bases. Numerous Japanese good luck flags were captured during the various battles. The photo shows Australian soldiers at Kaiapit holding two captured flags. Whilst the Western New Guinea campaign was conducted by the US Army, there was an Australian contribution in the form of several RAN warships participating in the escorting of the amphibious landings and RAAF support for the bomber and fighter support. Pennants for HMAS Australia and HMAS Shropshire list their battle honours. The photo below shows members of the No. 78 Wing at Morotai holding an RAAF ensign which has the names of the various New Guinea airbases they were stationed at. Also a photo of Squadron Leader Dick Cresswell commanding officer of No. 77 Squadron RAAF with flag nose art on his Kittyhawk. Note that the size of the roundel is smaller on the RAAF ensign compared to the RAF ensign.

13.01.2022 A little-known fact from World War II was that Australia declared war on Thailand on 16 March 1942, Thailand having earlier declared war on the UK and US on 25 January 1942. Australia was not directly involved in war with Thailand, but many Australian POWs were forced to build the Thai-Burma Railway from 1942 to 1943. Siam, which changed its name to Thailand in June 1939, had been an ally of the UK and France in World War I, and the form of the current flag was adopted in 19...Continue reading

12.01.2022 Malta was awarded the George Cross on 15 April 1942 by King George VI. The award was made to honour her brave people and to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history. Malta was besieged by Italy and Germany from early 1940, suffering hunger when supplies were cut off, and German planes attacked the island almost continuously. The George Cross was instituted on 24 September 1940, at the height of the London Blitz, to recognise acts of he...roism or conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger, and it is the civilian equivalent of the Victoria Cross. On 28 December 1943, a Royal Warrant granted Malta the right to add the George Cross to its flag badge. A copy of the warrant appears below, and the badge appeared on a white disc on the blue ensign. In addition, from 1947 a white and red flag with the badge on a blue canton began to be used as the unofficial national flag for local use. A copy of the 1923 flag below shows the previous badge being a shield vertically divided white and red. When Malta became independent on 21 September 1964 it modified its unofficial flag by removing the blue canton, but retaining the drawing of the George Cross.

12.01.2022 After the Australians, with some American support, secured the Buna-Gona area, the Allies attention focused on neutralising the Japanese bases on Rabaul and Kavieng. The Japanese attempted to reinforce their positions on the north coast of New Guinea, however a major force of 19 squadrons of fighters and bombers of the US 5th Air Force and 5 RAAF squadrons attacked the Japanese convoy carrying troops to Lae in the Battle of the Bismark Sea on 2 - 3 March 1943. All eight Jap...Continue reading

10.01.2022 At 4:55 am 8 December 1941 (Sydney time) Pearl Harbour was attacked by Japanese aircraft and Japan declared war on USA and British Empire. Japan also attacked Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, Guam, Nauru & Ocean Islands. Australia formally declared war on Japan on 9 December On 11 Jan 1942 Japan declared war on Netherlands and invades Dutch East Indies (photo below) and it captured Kuala Lumpur. Burma was invaded on 19 January and Rabaul was seized by Japan ...on 24 January. By 31 January the last Allied forces withdrew from Malaya, and on 15 February 1942 Singapore fell to the Japanese. 15,000 Australians became prisoners of war when the British Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered carrying a Union Jack and a white flag. Three brigades of the 8th Division of the 2nd AIF Australian troops had arrived in Singapore to boost Malaya’s defences a year earlier in February 1941. It only took 70 days for the Japanese to crush the British Empire in Malaya and Singapore. Some propaganda posters engendered fear of the oncoming Japanese. The flag of the Federated Malay States (from 1905) had four stripes, coloured white, red, yellow and black that used the main colours of the four largest sultanates Peraq, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang. In the centre a small white oval bore a running tiger. The RAAF had four squadrons in Malaya and Singapore when the invasion began, having arrived in Malaya in July 1940 RAF August 1941. No.1 Squadron, flying Hudson bombers, was based at Kota Bahru in northern Malaya and was the first to engage the Japanese, attacking shipping. The RAAF suffered heavy losses from anti-aircraft fire and Japanese fighters as it attacked enemy shipping, undertook reconnaissance missions and its fighters attempted to defend against the Japanese Zeros. When their aircraft were all lost, the RAAAF officers and men were evacuated to Java and then to Australia. The flag of the RAAF during World War II was the same as that of the RAF, though most RAAF flags had a smaller roundel than used by the RAF. War with Japan led to a large increase in recruitment, including for the RAAF.

09.01.2022 Between 1943 and 1945 the Allies landed in Sicily and then Italy and the Allies invaded Southern France. RAAF aircraft assisted with these assaults, with ground-attack, close air support roles, bomber escort and anti-shipping roles. RAAF squadrons and personnel continued to operate from England over the skies of Europe and the sea lanes. In late 1944 the RAAF peaked at over 182,000 personnel and 6,200 aircraft in 61 squadrons. In 1945 the RAAF was the fourth-largest air f...orce in the world, after USA, USSR and UK. The first photo shows a Supermarine Spitfire aircraft of No. 451 Squadron RAAF taken at the Poretta Airfield in Corsica, France, May 1944. The flag appears to be a blue Australian flag. A blue Australian flag is hoisted by Wing Commander R W (Bob) Iredale DFC, at RAF Station Gravesend, Kent. 464 (Mosquito) Squadron RAAF was stationed at Gravesend from 17 April to 18 June 1944. The AWM states that the flag had been presented to the squadron by the widow of an Australian Squadron leader who had lost his life on a raid in Europe. Another blue Australian flag is flying at RAF Station Waddington, Lincolnshire in a photo dated 6 December 1944. The Lancaster heavy bombers of 463 Squadron RAAF undertook night bombing raids over Germany, and the squadron was stationed at Waddington from 25 November 1943 to 3 July 1945. Wing Commander R. (Rollo) Kingsford-Smith DSO DFC had been the initial commanding officer until 19 June 1944. Another photo, from the State Library of Victoria collection, shows RAAF fighter squadron personnel standing under a blue Australian flag somewhere in England in 1943. The position of the Commonwealth Star is too close to the hoist, and only one star of the Southern Cross is visible perhaps it was locally made.

06.01.2022 1945 brought Peace. Three stamps were issued by Australia on 18 February 1946 to commemorate Peace, including one design with an Australian flag and a dove of peace. Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May 1945, with effect from the following day. The most famous photo of the defeat of Germany is the raising of the Soviet Union flag over the Reichstag on 2 May 1945, which has been colourised. Celebrations erupted throughout the world and 8 May became known as VE-Day. ...Australian servicemen among others were photographed celebrating in Piccadilly, London. After an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August and a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, on 14 August Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender to the Allies. The most famous photo of Australia celebrating the end of the war is the Dancing Man who was filmed on a street in Sydney on 15 August. On 2 September 1945 the Empire of Japan formally surrendered aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and this has become VJ Day. The photo shows General Douglas MacArthur speaking at the surrender, with General Sir Thomas Blamey behind him. The framed flag in the upper left is that flown by Commodore Matthew Perry’s flagship when she entered Tokyo Bay in 1853. Subsequently the Japanese military throughout Asia surrendered, with Australia forces accepting the surrenders at Borneo, Morotai, Timor, Wewak, Rabaul, Bougainville (pictured) and Nauru. The Australian military administered Borneo, Brunei and the Netherlands East Indies east of Lombok until British and Dutch colonial governments were restored in 1946.

03.01.2022 On 4 July 1943 in the Daily Telegraph, the Australian Natives Association asked Prime Minister Curtin why the Union Jack and not the Australian flag is used at servicemen’s funerals. Attention was drawn to the use of Union Jacks to drape the coffins at three high-profile funerals: ace fighter pilots Squadron-Leader Keith (Bluey) Truscott DFC & Bar and Squadron-Leader Robert Bungey DFC (2nd photo below) and 23 servicemen killed in a bus-train crash in Wodonga (3rd photo b...elow). It stated The supreme sacrifice should be acknowledged by the country for which it has been made and We do not adequately honour our own national flag. It further noted that the Australian flag is not flown at Air Force stations, with the RAF flag being flown. This was followed up by a letter to the editor of the "Advocate", Melbourne in December where Patriot complained that when members of the RAAF are killed in air operations overseas, they are buried, when a burial is possible, in the Union Jack. They are dying primarily for Australia’s safety and future and the least that might be expected in recognition of their self-sacrificing valour is that they be buried in the flag of their own country, the flag of the Southern Cross. The letter called on the Federal Government to see that Australian airmen, killed in England, are buried in the Australian flag. Flight Sergeant H.A. (Alex) Bird, a gunner with a RAAF Sunderland Squadron was buried at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath in August 1943. The coffin has a blue Australian flag on the side but the principal flag covering the top of the coffin is a Union Jack, demonstrating the secondary status of the Australian national flag during World War II. At a funeral service at the RAAF station Kingaroy, Queensland, in April 1943, the coffins of Sergeant John C. Lawrence and Aircraftman Kenneth J. Barnwell, who had been killed in an aircraft accident when their Wirraway aircraft collided with another aircraft during a training exercise, are draped in the Union Jack and the Australian flag respectively. Why two flags? Probably because the RAAF station only had the two flags for the double funeral, and the higher ranking airman’s coffin was draped with the Union Jack.

03.01.2022 The last major Allied campaign of the South West Pacific Area was in Borneo. On 1 May 1945 the Australian 26th Brigade landed on the small island of Tarakan, off the coast of north east Borneo, and they had landed the previous day on the adjoining island of Sadau. After initially securing the Japanese-built airfield and the town, there was a slow process of clearing the Japanese from the rest of the island, which was a mix of swampy coastal areas and steep and densely forest...ed hills inland. The intensive fighting was substantially over by 19 June 1945. On 10 June the 9th Division attacked the island of Labuan and the coast of Brunei. The 24th Brigade landed in Brunei and the 20th Brigade advanced along the western coast, south of Brunei. The 3rd stage was the 1 July landing on Balikpapan on the central east coast, which was captured on 21 July 1945. This was to be the last large-scale land battle of World War II. The purpose of the capture of Borneo was to increase the isolation of Netherlands East Indies. The first photo shows the Australian flag being raised on Sadau Island to mark its capture by the 2nd/4th Commando Squadron on 30 April 1945. The second photo shows the actual flag of the 2nd/4th Commando Squadron, which is in the collection of the Australian War Memorial. This flag has the colour patch of the unit and the names of the soldiers who were killed or wounded in the action. The third photo shows another flag raising that is claimed to also be at Sadau Island. However, I think that the AWM has wrongly described this photo; I think that it was at Lingkas. The fourth photo was taken by the US Navy, and it is located at Lingkas, Tarakan Island showing soldiers from the 9th Division with an Australian flag being raised on a bamboo pole on the landing day. The next photo shows a flagpole being erected on the supply depot at Tarakan, with a Union Jack and a slouch hat. The following photo was taken at Labuan Island on 11 June 1945 showing a large Union Jack being displayed on a tree. The last photo was taken at Balikpapan on 7 July 1945 and it shows a captured Japanese war flag outside the tent of two privates of the 2/27th Australian Infantry Battalion. See more

02.01.2022 The Japanese attacked and captured Rabaul on the New Guinea island of New Britain and also Kavieng on New Ireland in January 1942. Rabaul was to be built up as a major air and naval base for both the New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns. The Japanese had attacked the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) on 10 December 1941, and they had earlier attacked Guam, Midway and Wake Island on the same day as Pearl Harbour. Bougainville had also been occupied by Japanese forces in Ma...Continue reading

01.01.2022 On 15 March 1941 a Press Statement was issued in the name of Prime Minister R.G. Menzies. It is usually summarised as there should be no unnecessary restriction placed on the flying of the Blue Ensign on shore. In fact Prime Minister Menzies was in London on the day the Press Statement was issued by his office. The official position until then had been long held by the Commonwealth Government that the Australian blue ensign was reserved for Commonwealth Government use an...d the red ensign is used by the general public. The text of the statement was: Inquiries have frequently been made recently about the flying of the Commonwealth flag in Australia and the correct procedure to be followed when it is flown. It was explained officially today that there are two official flags in use so far as the Commonwealth is concerned the Blue Ensign (the British Blue Ensign defaced by the stars of the Southern Cross and a 7-pointed star) and the Commonwealth Red Ensign (the British Red Ensign defaced by stars as in the Commonwealth Blue Ensign). The Commonwealth Blue Ensign is flown by vessels of the Royal Australian Navy and on Commonwealth public buildings, while the Commonwealth Red Ensign (the merchant flag of the Commonwealth) is flown on all merchant vessels on the Australian registry and is used by the general public. The official view is that there should be no unnecessary restriction placed on the flying of the Blue Ensign on shore. Its use on public buildings, by schools, and by the public generally would not only be permitted but appreciated, provided it is flown in a manner appropriate to the use of a national emblem. Australian merchant vessels will, of course, continue to fly the Commonwealth Red Ensign. The Australian Women’s Weekly was therefore able to feature the blue Australian national flag on its ANZAC Day cover for 1941. A recruiting poster for the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) (formed 25 March 1941) also featured the blue Australian flag. Jack’s Day was a fund-raising appeal for the Royal Australian Navy Relief Fund for the dependents of deceased RAN sailors, and it used the blue Australian flag, when similar fund-raising buttons in prior years used a red Australian flag. On 11 November 1941, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra was opened, and photographs show that it was the blue Australian flag on display. However, another image shows both the blue and red versions of the Australian flag being used.

01.01.2022 With Peace declared after a long campaign of flag posts related to World War II, I will have a rest from postings on this Facebook page for a little while, so that I can do some other things. I hope that you have enjoyed learning more about how flags have interracted with Australia’s military history, and with Australian’s history generally since 1901. Please feel free to make personal posts or comments or make enquiries whilst I have a break. Ralph Kelly... [email protected] See more