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After the Nth. Africa campaign, Churchill ordered the Australian 9th Div to Burma to join the 14th Army. This was against the demand of the Australian PM John Curtin. But he was barking into the wind.
Curtain made 3 demands and all were ignored. So he gave the order that the troop ships return to Australia. By then they were well on the way to Burma. The Australian Cabinet was fearful of upsetting Churchill and Curtain found himself isolated but took the decision nonetheless.
Somehow they managed to return safely despite the ships not being escorted. It was done in complete secrecy with no radio contact. After a period of jungle training at Canungra, they were sent to relieve the Militia troops in New Guinea. The rest is history.
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