Us and Them Trivia Quiz

The South African Wars, also known as the Second Anglo-Boer War or, simply The Boer War) saw Australian and New Zealand troops committed to an international conflict for the first time. Between the years 1899 and 1902 Australia committed 16,000 troops and New Zealand 8,000. Highly valued for their abilities to ride and shoot, they mainly served as mounted units.

Some 600 Australians and 230 New Zealanders died in the conflict, though most were through diseases caught during the action. During this engagement Captain Neville Howse, in 1900, became the first Australian to earn the Victoria Cross for valour.

On April 25, 1915, a combined force of Australian and New Zealand forces landed on the beaches of Gallipoli with the aim of capturing the peninsula. This would open up the sea channels for the British navy and the ultimate goal of capturing Constantinople (now Istanbul) which, at the time, was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, a staunch ally of Germany. Things didn't go according to plan as the troops were met with fierce resistance in a campaign that lasted eight months and, ultimately, failed. The Allied forces were evacuated at the end of 1915 but only after suffering some heavy losses. It was estimated that some 8,700 Australian and 2,800 New Zealand soldiers died during the conflict.

Despite the failure of the campaign, it was here, through the actions of the troops from both countries, that gave rise to the ANZAC legend. In the process they created an enduring identity and a powerful legacy for both nations.

After their withdrawal from Gallipoli troops from both New Zealand and Australia were shipped off to conflicts in Northern France. For the most part the two nations fought in separate theatres. Australia's first engagement was at the Battle of Fromelles where they suffered one of the worst days in their military history, losing some 5,500 troops on the 16th of July in 1916.

Both nations were involved in the Battle of the Somme and they were brutalised. In six weeks of fighting New Zealand lost some 2,100 troops while 23,000 Australians were either killed or wounded. However, both nations were to fight decisive battles on the Somme in the early parts of 1918, at Hebuterne, Dernancourt and Villers-Bretonneux, which were significant in halting the German offensive.

ANZAC forces arrived in Greece in April of 1941, just before the German invasion, to provide the region with assistance. Unfortunately the plan was put together in haste and the German advance was so well organised and rapid that an evacuation was promptly arranged.

The majority of the troops that were moved out of Greece found themselves on Crete in an endeavour to repel a large scale landing on May 20 by German paratroopers. They had much more success than in the previous campaign and were able to both slow the Germans and inflict heavy losses upon them. The critical point in this conflict was at Maleme where the German forces were desperate to secure the airfield. They were held back by the New Zealand 22nd Battalion but, fearing they'd been cut-off from any support the New Zealand commander made the fateful decision to withdraw. The Germans secured the area and were able to fly in additional troops. Faced with overwhelming odds, this ultimately led to the need to evacuate the island. Thanks to a rear-guard action by the New Zealand 28th (Maori) Battalion and the Australian 2/7th Battalion, Allied forces were able to make their escape through Suda Bay. 274 ANZACs were killed in this engagement and approximately 3,000 others were taken prisoner.

Japan entered the World War II in 1941 and took their conquest to the Pacific. This bought the hostilities close to Australia with the Japanese bombing the city of Darwin and having submarines enter Sydney Harbour.

In May of 1942 the Japanese movement south began to recede, which eased the fears of an Australian invasion. AIF (Australian Imperial Force) veterans in the Mediterranean returned to assist, the Australian Navy re-directed ships to protect the home front and armed and air forces were strongly recruited for. Between July and November of 1942 Australian and New Zealand troops were channeled into New Guinea where they were involved in fierce encounters along the Kokoda Trail with the Japanese. Despite inhospitable conditions and numerous bitter encounters,the ANZACs were able to stop the Japanese, halting their advance on Port Moresby and then turning them back.

This, along with some vicious battles at Buna, Sanananda, Gona and Lae, opened the door for the Allies to advance across New Guinea and Borneo.

On the 16th of June in 1948, in the Malaysian state of Perak, three Europeans were murdered by supporters of the MCP (Malayan Communist Party). Immediately, a state of emergency was declared for the area by the British, which escalated to the whole country two days later. This was the beginning of the Malay Emergency.

New Zealand committed to the engagement in 1949 with a squadron of Dakotas. The Australian Air Force was committed to the conflict in 1950 and, a short while later, so too was its Army. One of their great successes was a counter-insurgency campaign called Operation Termite, conducted in Perak estate, which involved air attacks on Communist camps, paratrooper drops, ground offensives and a series of bombing runs. In all, 181 camps were destroyed in the exercise.

On the 25th June 1950 the Korean People's Army (KPA) launched a massive offensive against South Korea. As the Chinese moved in to support the KPA, US President Truman committed the United States to the engagement. Commitments from Australia and New Zealand soon followed.

One of the key battles for the ANZACs was at Kapyong Valley where the Chinese launched an offensive on 22 April 1951 to reach the city of Seoul. Australian 3RAR (Royal Australian Regiment) troops and members of the Canadian Light Infantry's First Battalion, held the high ground and were supported by the New Zealand Artillery and US Sherman tanks. After two days of heavy fighting the Australians were forced to retreat from their position but with the support of the Canadian and New Zealand artillery units were able to find a path down the ridge into valley where they were able to stop the Chinese advance.

In 1963 Indonesia conducted a series of raids into Borneo in an attempt to wrest the control of the country from Malaysia. This was an undeclared insurgency that would become known as "The Confrontation". The origins of this conflict go back to the British looking at divesting some of their interests in South East Asia and the formal agreement to create the state of Greater Malaysia. After initially rejecting calls for support from the British, New Zealand committed their assistance in 1964 and Australia in 1965. The issue for both countries was that they both agreed that Malaysia was deserving of their support but the flipside was that Indonesia was their nearest Asian neighbour and they did not wish to upset the relations between them.

Both countries would provide their support to Malaysia and the British until the conflict ceased in 1966. However, this would mark the last time that both countries would provide support for a British cause.

In 1962 Australia sent a team of advisers to South Vietnam and so began their involvement with the Vietnam War. By the time they had withdrawn some ten years later, almost 60,000 Australian soldiers had been involved in the conflict. New Zealand reached their peak in personnel committed at 548 by 1968.

In August of 1966 the Australian 6RAR (Royal Australian Regiment) became engaged in an action in a rubber plantation at Long Tan. It would prove to be one of their heaviest actions during this war. 108 soldiers of D Company held off a force of Viet Cong, estimated at 2,000, for four hours in the midst of a savage tropical downpour. They were ably assisted in the encounter by New Zealand's 161 Battery. After the enemy's withdrawal the Australian counted 17 dead and another 25 wounded.

Australia and New Zealand's involvement in this insurgency was, primarily, a peace keeping role.

Grievances erupted at the Panguna mine-site, owned by Conzinc Riotinto Australia Ltd. The mine, at the time, was the largest open pit gold and copper mine in the world and a number of the locals were upset at the way revenues were being distributed and jobs were being allocated. This grew into a struggle between the Papua New Guinea (PNG) military and police forces and a growing group of separatists that became known as the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). When the military withdrew it effectively ceded control to the BRA. In 1997 the government employed Sandline International, a group of mercenaries, to resolve the dispute but all it did was trigger a massive mutiny among members of the PNG defence forces.

In October of 1994 Australia sent a peacekeeping force into the area for what would become known as Operation Lagoon. This was short-lived. The New Zealand government led a Truce-Monitoring Group to the dispute in 1997 and they were followed by an Australian Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) in 1998. The latter would remain in the area until 2003 and would set up the conditions that would eventually lead to the creation of the Autonomous Bougainville Government.