New analysis reveals WWII dominates Australians’ data of army historical past. But large gaps stay

Eighty years in the past this week, Japan surrendered after almost 4 years of warfare within the Asia-Pacific. For Australia, this meant the top of not solely the warfare within the Pacific, but in addition the second world warfare that had begun six years earlier, in September 1939.

In that point, round a million Australians – roughly 15% of the inhabitants – served within the armed forces. Over half served abroad, with almost 40,000 killed and greater than 66,000 wounded.

But what do Australians in the present day learn about this epochal second in our historical past? We surveyed 1,500 Australians aged 18 and older to search out out.

Our research

The survey was performed from late February to early March 2025 as a part of our work on the War Studies Research Group, with the goal of measuring public understanding of Australian army historical past.

It coated the foremost conflicts by which Australians have been concerned, from the Frontier Wars and colonial wars by way of to the more moderen wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We requested a spread of questions to find out Australians’ data of and engagement with nationwide army historical past, how they study it, and their opinions on the commemoration of army occasions in the present day.

Our survey knowledge revealed that between 40% and 70% of respondents (relying on age group) had not formally studied Australian army historical past. This means it gives a superb perception into how the common Australian views the nation’s army historical past.

Australia’s most well-known battle

Nearly 90% of our respondents had been conscious of the second world warfare. Around 80% had been additionally conscious that Australians had been concerned within the battle.

There had been no important variations by any demographic.

The first world warfare was the subsequent most well-known battle, forward of the Vietnam War, indicating the dominance of those three conflicts in Australian widespread reminiscence.

Most of our respondents (55%) additionally indicated their want to study extra in regards to the second world warfare — they usually suppose Australian schoolchildren ought to, too. More than two-thirds help its inclusion within the Australian college curriculum.

In this, the second world warfare is the exception. Respondents weren’t significantly serious about studying extra about different occasions in Australian army historical past.

The second world warfare can also be the one battle for which a majority imagine Australian involvement was within the nationwide curiosity.

Pacific War dominates

Australians served globally through the warfare, from the Asia-Pacific to the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Middle East. However, our survey confirmed that though our respondents indicated they had been conscious of the second world warfare, their data of key occasions inside it varies.

The most well-known occasion within the Mediterranean was the siege of Tobruk, which was recognized by roughly 41% of respondents, effectively forward of the battle of El Alamein (28%) in second place.

More shocking was the truth that one other 42% of our respondents had not heard of any of the listed occasions. This included the siege of Tobruk, which is a trademark occasion in Australian army historical past.

By distinction, the Pacific was extra well-known. Fewer than one in 5 respondents indicated that they had not heard of any listed occasion from the warfare within the Pacific.

The prime three occasions within the Pacific had been the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor (67%), the bombing of Darwin (59%), and the atomic bombings of Japan (57%).

Still, there have been some sudden findings. We anticipated Kokoda to rank extremely, however it ranked outdoors the highest three.

Younger Australians much less educated

A deeper dive into the demographic knowledge, nonetheless, highlights stark variations amongst age cohorts relating to what they know in regards to the second world warfare.

Awareness of occasions elevated persistently consistent with respondents’ age. Older Australians are extra educated throughout the board. This means larger data amongst these aged 60 and over lifted the general common response throughout the board.

Over two-thirds of these aged 60 and over knew of the siege of Tobruk. By distinction, solely 23% of these aged 30–39 had been conscious of the siege. The youngest cohort (18–29) fared solely barely higher, with round one-third (31%) conscious of Tobruk.

Likewise, round 90% of respondents aged 60 and over knew of the assault on Pearl Harbor, in comparison with simply over half of these aged 18–29. In truth, Pearl Harbor was the one key occasion from the warfare that garnered majority recognition amongst respondents aged 18–49.

Kokoda and the prisoner of warfare experiences of Changi, the Thai-Burma Railway, and Sandakan had been all little recognized amongst these aged beneath 50.

Younger respondents had been additionally at instances greater than twice as doubtless to not have heard of any listed occasion on this theatre.

However, the youngest cohorts weren’t at all times the least educated. For occasion, 10% of these aged 18–29 knew of the battle of Milne Bay, in comparison with solely 3% of these aged 40–49.

Australian army historical past must be bolstered

Our survey reveals the second world warfare now dominates Australians’ understanding of their army historical past. But Australians know little about occasions outdoors the Pacific, and data can also be considerably lowering with every technology.

This suggests the necessity for a stronger concentrate on the broader narrative of Australia’s involvement within the second world warfare, particularly at school curricula, if this sample is to be reversed.

It’s necessary public consciousness of those occasions goes past the foremost occasions and encompasses various views. This will enable future generations to raised perceive our previous and the complexities of warfare, and its influence on our world in the present day.

Nicole Townsend, Lecturer in History, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation beneath a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.