Second Australian Imperial Force in the United Kingdom

Between June and December 1940 around 8,000 Australian soldiers organised into two infantry brigades and supporting units were stationed in the country. During the Battle of Britain the Australian force formed part of the mobile reserve which would have counter-attacked any German amphibious or airborne landings in southern England. In August 1944, AIF personnel arrived in the UK and established facilities to accommodate and support the thousands of Australian POWs held by Germany. Almost all of the released prisoners had departed the UK by August 1945.

About Second Australian Imperial Force in the United Kingdom in brief

Between June and December 1940 around 8,000 Australian soldiers organised into two infantry brigades and supporting units were stationed in the country. During the Battle of Britain the Australian force formed part of the mobile reserve which would have counter-attacked any German amphibious or airborne landings in southern England. In August 1944, AIF personnel arrived in the UK and established facilities to accommodate and support the thousands of Australian POWs held by Germany once they were released. Almost all of the released prisoners had departed the UK by August 1945. The Australian Army, RAN and RAAF had liaison teams in London throughout the war. An Australian officer representing Australia on senior decision-making bodies located in London in October 1942. A small number of RAN squadrons and more than 10 RAN airmen who had been trained under the UK Empire Air Training Scheme in the late 1930s and 1940s operated from the UK. The Royal Australian Navy operated from various times between 1940 and 1942, and hundreds of Australians who had had been posted to the Royal Navy were based in London. In June 1946 most members of the Australian contingent to the June 1946 victory parade in London participated in the victory parade. After the war small numbers of Australian soldiers formed the military cricket team which toured England, and the Army contributed most of the soldiers to the 1946 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. The AIF was disbanded on 1 April 1921 and the Australian Government established a Second Australian Imperial Force on 15 September 1939. In May 1919, the remaining elements of the AIF in France were moved to the UK, leading to the number of Australians there peaking at 70,000.

The force’s administrative headquarters was in London, and large numbers. of Australian training, medical and other support facilities were in theUK. As a result, virtually all members of AIF who served in France passed through the UK as they embarked on ships bound for Australia. At the time of the two world wars, Australia was a self-governing dominion within the British Empire, and its foreign and defence policies were strongly influenced by those of the British Government. Most Australians were either descended from Britons or had been born in the British. The UK accommodated the rear base for the First Australian Imperial force for most of World War I. Historian Roger Beckett has written that from summer 1916 to the end of the war there were never fewer than 50,000 Australia troops in Britain. In November 1918, all A IF personnel in. France were gradually transferred to the British Isles, from where they embarked for Australia, and by the end. of 1919, almost all Aif personnel had departed. The force was formally disbanded. in April 1921. Four AIF infantry divisions were eventually established, of which three were deployed to the Middle East and one to Malaya between 1941 and 1941. The Australians departed the country in several convoys between mid-November 1940 and January 1941 to concentrate the Aif in the Mideast. In October 1940, Lieutenant General Edward Smart was appointed the head of Australian Military Mission to the. UK.

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