Curtin, John Joseph

Born Jan. 8, 1885, in Creswick, Victoria; died July 5, 1945, in Canberra. Australian statesman and politician.

Curtin entered parliament in 1928 as a member of the Labor Party. As prime minister of the Commonwealth of Australia from October 1941 to July 1945 he mobilized the country’s resources for war, focusing mainly on the war with Japan. While Curtin was prime minister, Australia began shifting from a British to an American (USA) orientation, and the country became a major base of American military operations in the Pacific Ocean.