The Battle for Australia

The battle for Australia stemmed the unprecedented Japanese advance from the north on a hopelessly weak and unprepared nation. It was fought in Malaya, Singapore, the East Indies, Borneo, Timor, Ambon and across New Guinea. It spread southward to the skies over in northern Australia and to the seas around the Australian continent. This is the story of Australia's war Prime Minister John Curtin - a flawed, sensitive leader haunted by the prospect of disaster and plagued by depression and anxiety. By early 1942, Australia was at its most vulnerable. At this time John Curtin stood at the edge of a psychological precipice. Remarkably, at the worst possible time in January 1942, Curtin abandoned defence headquarters in Melbourne and took a slow train home across the Nulllabor. The question was: could Australia's new Prime Minister carry on his enormous responsibilities.