you have to be kidding don't you, britain never thought of asia as secondary as we were relying on the india for men and material, if britain could have she wopuld have sent more help but when you are losing ground hand over fist on your doorstep and need every available man to maintain your base of operations and protect you means to wage war (middle east oil) you have to prioritise. once america was in the war and fighting in the pacific chruchill knew that australia was safe.

my area of knowledge is 4th indian division and the western desert, i have spoken to many british vets who have all said that the aussies were marvelous troops who you could rely upon at any time, not once has friction been mentioned amongst the men. you will actually find too that all commenwealth and dominion troops were regarded as suspect fighters until they actually won the respect of the commanders on the battle fields, despite having already fought with extreme bravery in three campaigns when montgommery arrived he didnt take a liking to the 4th indians, after el alamain he left them on battlefield clear up duties, finnaly General Tucker there C.O went to monty and said he wanted to be replaced as co if his troops were not to be used, within a week they had been called forward to the mareth line.

you see british generals were of the old order and didnt trust non english troops, wether they were indians,poles, south africans or Aussies.

i am pleased to say that 4th indians forget an excellant partnership with 2nd New Zealand division and shared many battle honours.

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It was proper we should wear eagles upon our shoulders, for only birds could have reached the heights we did or visited the lands we did.