Nevertheless, casualties were comparatively light, with 1, Australians killed or wounded in three years of war. This campaign began in with Australian troops participating in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied reconquest of the Sinai peninsula. In the following year Australian and other allied troops advanced into Palestine and captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by they had occupied Lebanon and Syria. On 30 October Turkey sued for peace. Australians also served at sea and in the newly formed flying corps.
The First World War was the first armed conflict in which aircraft were used. About 3, Australian airmen served in the Middle East and France with the Australian Flying Corps, mainly in observation capacities or providing infantry support. When flying over enemy lines he noticed his mate, Captain Rutherford, had been brought down with his plane and was about to be captured by the Turks. McNamara, himself wounded, landed and picked up Rutherford, only to overturn in a gully.
Despite being weak from loss of blood, McNamara guided the plane back to base. He was subsequently awarded with the Victoria Cross. Australian women volunteered for service in auxiliary roles, as cooks, nurses, drivers, interpreters, munitions workers, and skilled farm workers. While the government welcomed the service of nurses, it generally rejected offers from women in other professions to serve overseas.
Australian nurses served in Egypt, France, Greece, and India, often in trying conditions or close to the front, where they were exposed to shelling and aerial bombardment. The effect of the war was also felt at home. In March the German army launched a massive Spring Offensive, hoping for a decisive victory before the industrial strength of the United States could be fully mobilised in support of the allies.
The Germans initially met with great success, advancing 64 kilometres past the Somme battlefields of , but eventually lost momentum. Between April and November the stalemate of the preceding years began to give way. When the German offensive failed, the allied armies began their own counter-offensive combining infantry, artillery, tanks, and aircraft to great effect, demonstrated in the Australian capture of Hamel on 4 July In early October, after the fighting at Montbrehain, the Australian divisions withdrew from the front for rest and refitting; they were preparing to return to the fighting when Germany signed the Armistice on 11 November.
The Australians in the Middle East fought a mobile war against the Ottoman Empire in conditions completely different from the mud and stagnation of the Western Front. Mounted troops of the Australian Light Horse and the Imperial Camel Corps endured extreme heat, harsh terrain, and water shortages, yet casualties were comparatively light, with 1, Australians killed or wounded in three years of fighting. The desert campaign began in when Australian troops took part in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied action to take back the Sinai Desert.
In the following year Australian troops participated in a British push into Palestine that captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by they had occupied Lebanon and Syria and were riding into Damascus. On 30 October Turkey sued for peace. Australians also served at sea and in the air. The Great War was the first armed conflict in which aircraft were used; some 3, Australian airmen served with the Australian Flying Corps in the Middle East and France, mainly in observation capacities or providing air support for the infantry.
Australian women volunteered for service in auxiliary roles: as cooks, nurses, drivers, interpreters, munitions workers, and farm workers. While the government welcomed the service of nurses into the armed forces, it generally rejected offers from women in other professions to serve overseas. Australian nurses served in Egypt, France, Greece, and India, often in trying conditions or close to the front, where they were exposed to shelling and aerial bombardment as well as outbreaks of disease.
The effects of the war were also felt at home. Soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force were usually recruited, trained and organised along regional lines. Western Australians fought in Western Australian battalions, although by the end of the war this had changed through necessity, due in part to the high rate of casualties.
The First World War helped to foster a sense of Australian nationalism, even though national feeling was expressed within an Imperial framework. Western Australian troops identified with their fellow Australians, taking pride in their achievements and sharing a sense of common identity distinct from that of British soldiers. In , Australia's Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, immediately promised Australian support for Britain 'to the last man and the last shilling'.
The Australian population in was less than five million. A summary of the numbers of those who served and of the numbers of deaths and other casualties makes it clear that Australia made a major sacrifice for the Allied war effort. The name became famous with the landing of the Corps on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey on 25 April It was the first military engagement in which significant numbers of Australians fought and died as Australian nationals.
The Anzacs were part of an Allied campaign against the Turks to control the Dardenalles and thus open the way to Constantinople and Eastern Europe. This engagement ended with the evacuation of Australian troops on 19 - 20 December The Gallipoli campaign resulted in the deaths of 7, Australians and 2, New Zealanders and the wounding of 19, Australians and 5, New Zealanders.
Despite the defeat, the legend attached to the heroism, comradeship and valour of the soldiers, stretcher-bearers, medical officers and others involved remains a source of Australian pride and national identity. Middle East A mobile war involving the Australian Light Horse Regiment: Conditions of extreme heat, harsh terrain and shortage of water.
Role of women in World War I Women were not involved as fighting personnel during the war.
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