1915— HMA Ships Parramatta, Warrego, Yarra, and Una on patrol in the Malay Archipelago, Malaysia.

1916— HMAS Melbourne, in company with other warships, took part in a sweep of the North Sea off the coast of Norway.

1919— The Australian Naval Board approved the inclusion of Advance Australia Fair in the repertoire of RAN bands. 

1943— Battle of Siki Cove, New Guinea. Imperial Japanese forces were defeated after several days of fighting.

1944— HMAS Geelong sank after colliding with a US tanker off New Guinea.

1967— HMAS Perth is struck by return fire from a Viet Cong battery near Cape Lai, Vietnam, with four crewmen were injured. This was the only time an Australian warship suffered casualties from enemy fire in the Vietnam War.

1950— Soldiers of 3RAR are involved in the Battle of Sariwon, Korea. At least 215 North Korean soldiers were killed, and 2,000 taken prisoner.

2001— Prime Minister John Howard announces Australia’s military commitment to the “War on Terrorism”. This will come to be known as Operation SLIPPER.

1900— New South Wales Lancers in action at Lake Chrissie, South Africa, during the Boer War.

1916— Saboteurs cut all electrical connections in HMAS Brisbane, under construction at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney.

1967— Royal Australian Navy helicopters deployed to Vietnam, joining the US Army 135th Assault Helicopter Company at Vung Tau. Five RAN helicopter crew died in Vietnam.

1942— Battle of Templeton’s Crossing, New Guinea.  This battle continued the effort by Australian troops to clear the Kokoda Trail as the Japanese were pushed northwards.

1971— HMAS Brisbane returns to Australia from Vietnam, marking the end of the RAN’s combat role in the Vietnam War.

1917— HMAShips PARRAMATTA, SWAN, HUON, WARREGO, YARRA, and TORRENS began operations in the Mediterranean Sea  to assist in the containment of Austro-Hungarian ships in the Adriatic Sea. This operation was known as the OTRANTO BARRAGE

1944— Gen Erwin ROMMEL, the Desert Fox, facing trial for treason for his alleged role in a plot to kill Hitler, committed suicide

1944— Athens and Piraeus liberated by Allied troops

1950— 3 RAR suffered its first casualties in the KOREAN WAR

1942— HMAS Launceston rescued 61 crew members of the merchant ship Martaban which had been torpedoed south of Sri Lanka.

1943— Italy declares war on Germany (Second World War).

1969— HMAS Brisbane returned to Sydney after its first deployment to Vietnam.

1899— The Boer War commences in South Africa.

1917— First Battle of Passchendaele, part of the Ypres offensive, began in Belgium. All five of the Australian divisions were involved and sustained 38,000 casualties, one of the costliest engagements of the First World War.

1917— Captain Clarence Jeffries, 34th Battalion, won a Victoria Cross for his bravery during the Battle of Passchendaele.

1914— Komet, yacht of the German Governor of Deutsch-Neuguinea (in today’s Papua New Guinea), was captured by Australian sailors. Komet was refitted and returned to the war as HMAS Una.

1944— Australians landed at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. This force opened a campaign in which a small militia force successfully contained a large Japanese garrison at Rabaul.