Gladiators Of World War II

The Anzacs (1x10)

Air date: Jan 19, 2002

The Anzacs - the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, first saw active service in Libya with the British, when they forced an Italian army to surrender. The real test came when Rommel and his Afrika Korps entered the desert arena. At Tobruk, the largely Australian garrison, know as "the rats of Tobruk", held out against overwhelming odd to repel the Axis forces. Initial defeats in the Mediterranean in Greece and Crete against the German Blitzkrieg might have disillusioned lesser troops, but not the indomitable Anzacs. The war took on new meaning for them after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese invaded Malaya, and Australians and New Zealanders suddenly found their own terrirtory under direct threat. A typical Anzac victory occurred in the jungle of Papua, New Guinea. Half trained Australian troops fought a desperate battle against superior Japanese forces on the 150 mile long Kokoda Trail, both sides suffered from disease and supply line problems, but against all the odds, the Australians emerged triumphant. The contribution made by the Anzacs to ultimate victory in World War II was out of all proportion to the size of the populations of Australia and New Zealand, but the cost had been high.