 In the United States , newspapers praised the 6th Division . Favourable articles appeared in The New York Times and the Washington Times @-@ Herald , which ran the headline " Hardy Wild @-@ Eyed Aussies Called World 's Finest Troops " . An article in the Chicago Daily News told its readers that Australians " in their realistic attitude towards power politics , prefer to send their boys to fight far overseas rather than fighting a battle in the suburbs of Sydney " . During the battle , Wavell had received a cable from General Sir John Dill stressing the political importance of such victories in the United States , where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was attempting to get the Lend @-@ Lease Act passed . It was finally enacted in March 1941 . 
