Wartime Leaders - Who were they?

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Australia - Sir Robert Menzies: (One of five WW2 Prime Ministers)

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, FRS, QC (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving eighteen and a half years. He had a rapid rise to power, but his first term as Prime Minister was a failure. He spent eight years in opposition, during which he founded the Liberal Party. He was re-elected Prime Minister at the 1949 elections, and he then dominated Australian politics until his retirement in 1966. Menzies was renowned as a brilliant speaker, both on the floor of Parliament and on the hustings, but one example being the forgotten people.

Oz PM's ww2.jpg

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Menzies

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Australia - Arthur Fadden 2nd Wartime Prime Minister

August - October 1941.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Fadden

http://john.curtin.edu.au/behindthes...ms/fadden.html

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Australia - John Curtain - Third Wartime Prime Minister October 141 - July 1945

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Curtin

John Joseph Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945), Australian politician and 14th Prime Minister of Australia, led Australia when the Australian mainland came under direct military threat during the Japanese advance in World War II. He is widely regarded as one of the country's greatest Prime Ministers.[1] General Douglas MacArthur said that Curtin was "one of the greatest of the wartime statesmen".[2] His Prime Ministerial predecessor, Arthur Fadden of the Country Party wrote: "I do not care who knows it but in my opinion there was no greater figure in Australia public life in my lifetime than Curtin."[3]


http://john.curtin.edu.au/behindthes...ms/curtin.html

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Australia - Frank Forde - 4th Australian Prime Minister 6th - 13th July 1945

Francis Michael Forde (18 July 1890 – 28 January 1983) was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia.
Born at Mitchell, Queensland (where his father was a grazier), Forde was educated at Catholic schools and became a teacher. Settling in Rockhampton, he became active in the Labor Party and in workers' education groups.
In 1917 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as Labor MP for Rockhampton. In 1922 he resigned and was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for Capricornia.
Forde soon advanced in the Labor ranks. When Labor won the 1929 election, he became Assistant Minister for Trade and Customs in the Scullin government. In the last days of the government he became Minister for Trade and Customs. As one of the few senior Labor MPs to survive defeat at the 1931 elections, Forde became Deputy Opposition Leader in 1932. He remains the only Federal Deputy Leader of the ALP to have come from Queensland. When Scullin retired in 1935, Forde contested the leadership ballot but was defeated by one vote by John Curtin, mainly because he had supported Scullin's economic policies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Forde

http://john.curtin.edu.au/behindthes...pms/forde.html

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Ben Chifley - 5th Wartime Prime Minister - July 1945 - December 1949

Joseph Benedict Chifley (22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951), Australian politician and 16th Prime Minister of Australia, was one of Australia's most influential Prime Ministers. Among his government's accomplishments were the post-war immigration scheme under Arthur Calwell, the establishment of Australian citizenship in 1949, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, the national airline TAA, a social security scheme for the unemployed, and the founding of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). One of the few successful referendums to modify the Australian Constitution took place during his term.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Chifley

http://john.curtin.edu.au/behindthes...s/chifley.html