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The demobilisation of the Australian military after World War II involved discharging almost 600,000 men and women from the military, supporting their transition to civilian life and reducing the three armed services to peacetime strengths. Planning for the demobilisation process began in 1942 and thousands of servicemen and women were discharged in the last years of the war in response to shortages of labour in the domestic war economy. The general demobilisation of the military began in October 1945 and was completed in February 1947. The demobilisation process was largely successful, though some military personnel stationed in the South West Pacific complained that their repatriation to Australia was too slow. The disposal of surplus military equipment took place at the same time as the size of the services was being reduced. The disposal process was managed to limit its economic impact. Most equipment was transferred to other government agencies, sold or destroyed by the end of 1949. ==Planning== Planning for the demobilisation of the Australian military began at the end of 1942 when the Department of Post-War Reconstruction was formed.〔James (2009), p. 14〕 The department was involved with drawing up plans for determining veterans' entitlements and the assistance which would be provided to discharged personnel to help them settle into civilian life. This included planning the delivery of training, housing and ensuring that jobs were available.〔Hasluck (1970), p. 445〕 An important consideration was to ensure that civilian employment opportunities were created at an appropriate rate as the size of the military was reduced. In order to achieve this, it was decided to continue many wartime economic regulations such as price controls in order to limit inflation and direct resources to where the Australian Government believed they were most needed.〔Butlin and Schedvin (1977), p. 773〕 The Australian War Cabinet approved the Department of Post-War Reconstruction's proposed principles to govern demobilisation on 12 June 1944. The key element of these principles was that the order in which personnel would be demobilised was to be based on a points system, with service men and women being allocated points on the basis of their period of service, age, marital status and employment or training prospects.〔Hasluck (1970), p. 612〕 An extensive demobilisation plan was then developed by an inter-service committee following further consultation with trade unions, employers and returned servicemen. This plan was accepted as the basis for planning by the War Cabinet on 6 March 1945.〔Hasluck (1970), p. 613〕 The rate at which personnel were to be discharged was set at 3,000 a day for six days a week and was to be capable of being increased in the event of an emergency.〔 The final demobilisation plan assigned differing scales of points for service men and women. Service men were allocated two points for each year of age based on their age at enlistment and a further two points for each month of service if they did not have dependent children or three points if they did. Service women received three points for each year of age at enlistment and a point for each month of service. Women with children were given priority for demobilisation, followed by those who had married before the end of the war. Service women who married after the war could ask for an early discharge on compassionate grounds.〔 Men were also eligible for early discharge on compassionate or health grounds, if they had skills which were important to the Australian economy or had been accepted into a full-time training course.〔 Limited demobilisation began during the final years of the war. In order to meet the needs of the war economy 20,000 soldiers were released from the Australian Army in October 1943. Further reductions took place in August 1944 when another 30,000 soldiers and 15,000 personnel from the Royal Australian Air Force were discharged. In mid-1945 the Government implemented a policy in which service men and women who had completed five years of service, including at least two years outside Australia, could volunteer for discharge.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Demobilisation of the Australian military after World War II」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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