1941— British warships HMS Prince Of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by Japanese planes off Malaya. Midshipman Robert Davies RAN commanded of one of Repulse’s guns and brought down several enemy aircraft after the order to abandon ship had been given.
1942— Operation FAUNA began in Korea. It was 1 RAR’s last action of the Korean War.
1917 — The Desert Mounted Corps occupied Jerusalem. The capture of this city was one of the triumphs for British Empire’s forces in the Middle East.
1942 — Australian troops occupied Gona, Papua New Guinea.
1917 — An aircraft was successfully launched for the first time from a platform on a gun turret in HMAS Sydney. This was the first successful aircraft take-off from an Australian ship.
1941 — In the first air action of the war in the Pacific, aircraft from No 1 Squadron RAAF attacked a Japanese naval convoy off Kota Bharu, Malaya.
1941 — Australia announces that it was at war with Japan. Some 17,000 Australians would die during the war in the Pacific.
1915 — The Evacuation of ANZAC Forces from Gallipoli commences. The Evacuation took place without loss of life.
1941 — The Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour. It marked the beginning of the war in the Pacific against the forces of the Japanese Empire.
1940 — The Corvette HMAS Bathurst is launched. She is the first of 60 ships in her class to be built, of which 56 would serve with the RAN.
1951 — HMAS Sydney began its second patrol off the Korea Peninsular. Sydney’s aircraft were used to protect South Korean held islands of the north-west coast.
1939 — First official RAAF operation of the Second World War when No 10 Squadron flew with RAF Coastal Command against U-Boats in the Atlantic.
1940 — MV Nimbin sank with the loss of 7 lives after hitting a German mine off Norah Head, New South Wales. She was the first Australian registered merchant ship to be lost during the Second World War.
1941 — Flight Lieutenant Clive Caldwell shot down five Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers in a single action. For this feat he was awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross.
1951 — 3 RAR is awarded the US Presidential Citation for its action in the Battle of Kapyong during the Korean War.
1990 — Approval is given by the Australian Government for the RAN's involvement in the Persian Gulf. Ultimately eight Australian warships served in the Gulf.
1914 — The First AIF disembarked in Egypt. The entry of the Ottoman Empire into the Great War dictated that the first Australian troops would to be sent to Egypt to protect the vital Suez Canal.
1918 — HMAS Swan enters the Sea of Azov to support White Russian forces against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.
1968 — Battle of Hat Dich, South Vietnam, involving the 1st Armoured and 3rd Cavalry Regiments, and 1 RAR.
1914 — Australian aircraft and their crews left to form the 'Mesopotamian Half Flight', fighting in Mesopotamia.
1940 — The 8th Division of the 2nd AIF embarked from Sydney to Malaya and Singapore.
1943 — Battle of Nongoro, Papua New Guinea.