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enemy threatening to invade our shore...Hours previously devoted to sport and
leisure must now be given to the duties of war.
When Singapore fell, Curtin demanded that all Australian troops in the Middle
East be returned to Australia. The Australian soldiers were loaded onto ships to
return home. However, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Britain, ordered the
admiral in charge of the ships to take the troops to Burma, which was now also
under Japanese threat. Churchill wanted the Australian troops to keep Burma free
from Japanese control, as supplies were being sent through Burma to Chinese
soldiers fighting the Japanese. When Curtin found out, he telegrammed Churchill,
demanding that that the troops be returned to Australia. After much heated
discussion and several telegrams, in which Churchill even involved President
Roosevelt to try to persuade the Australian government to change its mind, Churchill
finally had to give in an allow the troops to continue sailing to Australia.
Over 46 000 soldiers returned to Australia. It was the first times that an
Australian leader had firmly rejected Britain’s pleas in a time of crisis. (Lawrence et
al., 1986, p. 344)
Cowie (1980) also includes the disagreement between Curtin and Churchill, positioning it as
one of the more dramatic events in Australia’s relationship with Great Britain, in particular
the breaking of ties with the former colonial ruler. In Crossroads: Asia and Australia in
world affairs this is exemplified in Curtin’s refusal to grant Churchill’s “request” (Cowie,
1980, p. 223) to defend Burma after the fall of Singapore (see Source 7.81).
Source 7.81. “Disagreement with Britain” extract from Crossroads: Asia and
Australia in world affairs (Cowie, 1980, p. 223).
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