Which country in ww2 kicke the most......

Originally posted by edgewaters My vote goes for the USSR, but I think it is silly that Australia is one of the choices, and Canada is not. No disrespect to Australia, but Canadian fighters were equally feared by the Germans.

In fairness, the reason for Australia being on the list is that Australia's involvement was decisive in securing victory - or at the very least greatly expedited it. This is for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the Australian economy under PM John Curtin was one of the most efficient in WWII, it was a fully geared total war economy. This greatly contributed to Australia's involvement in the Pacific. In battles such as Guadalcanal, where victory was determined only by the US forces being only slightly better logistically supplied, Australian supply of materials was decisive.

Then there is the fighting. Australia was the first Western nation to inflict a decisive strategic defeat on the IJA in WWII, which took place on the Kokoda Trail in spite of being hugely outnumbered.

Australian military tenacity and adaptability also served well in other theatres. Australian forces in North Africa held the town of Tobruk against overwhelming enemy forces, critically delaying the advance of Rommel's forces for most of a year. Such determination allowed the hard pressed British to regroup and prepare. Had Tobruk not been held, the fall of Egypt and critical oil supplies in the Mid East would have had disastrous consequences.

Australian adaptability to jungle warfare, never developed as well by other Western powers, proved enormously useful in liberating huge swathes of Southeast Asia from Japanese rule.

Australian participation was also crucial in the Battle of the Coral Sea, where joint Australian and US forces turned back the until then triumphant Japanese navy. This strategic retreat of Japan would be followed up by large scale tactical destruction of Japanese ships at Midway shortly after.

All in all, Australian support was critical in achieving a decisive outcome in a number of theatres (North Africa, the Pacific) on the one hand. On the other hand, their performance in a range of battles demonstrated tenacity and adaptability required to bring about victory in a range of difficult conditions when heavily outnumbered by a well equipped enemy.