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King George
VI.
"If the 'greatness' of a King can
be measured by the extent to which his qualities correspond to the needs
of a nation at a given moment in its history, then George VI was a great
King, and perhaps a very great King". His
wife was later famous as The Queen Mother.
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Prime
Minister John Curtain. "It
was the inspiring leadership of John Curtin that pulled Australia
successfully through World War Two. He united a country still suffering
the divisions caused by
the conscription referenda of World War One and
the Depression. It was Curtin who argued with Churchill for the sending
of Australia's forces back to New Guinea to fight off the Japanese
thrust. This was to be until the United States could mobilise for the
drive back to Japan. It was Curtin who battled unsuccessful with both
Churchill and Roosevelt to have the Pacific war against the Japanese
given the same priority as the European war against the Germans".
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General
Douglas MacArthur. "You couldn't
shrug your shoulders at Douglas MacArthur," observes historian
David McCullough. "There was nothing bland about him, nothing
passive about him, nothing dull about him. There's no question about his
patriotism, there's no question about his courage, and there's no
question, it seems to me, about his importance as one of the
protagonists of the 20th century."
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Field Marshal
Sir Thomas Blamey. A
general who attracted controversy but retained the confidence of prime
ministers, who upheld Australia’s interests against British and
American demands, and under whom the Australian Army was developed for
the vital battles of the war in the Pacific. He was recalled from the
Middle East by Prime Minister John Curtin to become Commander-in-Chief
of the Australian army and led the Australian forces through the
desperate and dark days of Japanese advances, to eventual victory in
1945. A close and mutually supportive relationship developed between
Blamey and Curtin. Despite misgivings from some Labor MPs, Blamey
retained Curtin’s confidence and was given a public reception upon his
arrival in Australia at the Melbourne Town Hall at which time the prime
minister promised that Blamey would enjoy unfettered control in his new
command. In an acknowledgement of Blamey’s contribution to the war
effort, Prime Minister John Curtin said: "History
will give to General Blamey one of the highest places in the annals of
this country for the service he has rendered to it."
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Prime Minister
Hideki Tojo
was born in Tokyo, Japan,
on 30th December 1884. He joined the Japanese Army
and his military service included periods in Switzerland and
Germany.
Tojo became prime
minister on 16th October 1941. He initially backed the foreign office's
efforts to reach agreement with the United States.
However, when convinced that a negotiated deal was not possible, ordered the
attack on Pearl Harbor
on 7th December, 1941.
As well as prime minister Tojo also held the
posts of minister of war, home minister and foreign minister. From
February 1944 he was also Commander in Chief of the General Staff. Tojo,
aware that Japan
was unable to win the war, resigned from office after the loss of Saipan
in July 1944. He shot himself in the chest just before he was arrested
by the US Military in 1945. Tojo survived and after being nursed back to
health was tried as a war criminal. Hideki Tojo was executed on 23rd
December 1948.
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Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto
"In
the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great
Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the
war continues after that, I have no expectation of success."
Admiral Yamamoto, 1940
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