1941— 27th Bde 8th Div land at Singapore

1945 — VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC DAY

1921 — “Royal” prefix added to Australian Air Force title

1940 — Ten people, including three members of the Australian Cabinet, Chief of General Staff Sir C. White, and other Senior Officers, are killed in aircraft crash near Canberra, later known as the Canberra Air Disaster. The Air Base, RAAF Base Fairbairn, is named after James Valentine Fairbairn, Minister for Air and Civil Aviation, one of those Caninet Ministers killed in the crash

1941 — Government approves formation of Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS)

1916 — PTE M. O’Meara won a Victoria Cross at Pozieres, one of the Battles of the SOMME 1916

1918 — GEN Monash is knighted in the field by King George V. This was the first time this had happened in over 200 years

1918 — SGT P. Statton won a Victoria Cross at Proyart as part of the Battle of AMIENS

1900 - The Protector, the flagship of South Australia's naval force, leaves Sydney for China. Whilst she played a limited role in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, she went on to become the longest serving ship in Australia.

1914 — Volunteer recruitment began for the First Australian Imperial Force. The AIF remained a volunteer force throughout the war despite two attempts to introduce conscription

1918 — The battle of Proyart a part of the battle of AMIENS, began. Intense fighting led to the death of about one quarter of the 37th Battalion

1919 — CPL A. SULLIVAN won a Victoria Cross while fighting with a British unit against the Bolsheviks following the Russian Revolution

1915 — LT W. SYMONS, CPL A. BURTON,CPL W. DUNSTAN, PTE J. HAMILTON,CAPT A. SHOUT (Posthumous), and CAPT F. TUBB won Victoria Crosses for their outstanding courage during the battle of LONE PINE, GALLIPOLI

1918 — PTE R. BEATHAM won a Victoria Cross for his bravery during battle at AMIENS. It was a posthumous award

1942 — HMAS CANBERRA was hit by torpedoes and gunfire at point-blank range in the Battle of SAVO ISLAND. 84 men were killed before CANBERRA was sunk by American destroyers when the extent of the damage was realised

1915 — Hill 971, a part of the SARI BAIR range on the GALLIPOLI Peninsula was attacked, with the expectation that capturing it would open the way to the Dardanelles

1915 — LT L. KEYSOR won a Victoria Cross for his bravery during the fighting at LONE PINE, GALLIPOLI

1916 — Battle for MOUQUET FARM, France, began.This was the first of nine separate attacks by Australian troops to capture this area on the SOMME. The campaign resulted in 11,000 Australian casualties.

1915 — The Nek, a narrow strip of land on the GALLIPOLI Peninsula, was the scene of a disastrous action involving Australian Light Horse troops, fighting as infantrymen. The closeness of the enemy trenches, (20-60 metres), the terrain, and poor planning, led to the death of 234 of the 600 men involved, and a further 140 were  wounded

1915 — First Australian Brigade troops attacked Turkish positions at LONE PINE, an area on the southern flank of the Anzac position at GALLIPOLI.  In three days of battle the Australians suffered 2277 casualties. Seven Victoria Crosses were awarded

1918 — Troops of “Dunsterforce” under the command of an Australian officer, helped protect 80,000 refugees against marauding Turks and Kurds at KARAWARAN, (MESOPOTAMIA)

1914 — A Royal Australian Garrison Artillery gun at Fort Nepean, Victoria, fired the first Allied shot of World War 1 when a shot was fired across the bows of the German merchant ship SS PFALZ attempting to escape from Port Phillip

1944 — 378 Japanese escaped from the prisoner of war camp at COWRA, NSW.  284 escapees were killed in the subsequent battle while 108 were wounded. Four Australian guards were killed. PTE B. Hardy and PTE R. JONES were posthumously awarded the George Cross for their part in the action