1917 — The Imperial War Graves Commission, now known as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, responsible for the erection and maintenance of war memorials and cemeteries, was founded.
1918 — Baron Manfred von Richthofen, ‘The Red Baron’, was shot down near Amiens, France. His body was recovered and buried by members of 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps.
1969 — HMAS Hobart was awarded a United States Navy Unit Citation for her service in Vietnam.
1915 — A ‘Half Flight’ of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) embarked for service in Mesopotamia. Following a request from the British Government in India for air support for the Indian troops fighting the Ottomans in Mesopotamia, the AFC, still in its infancy, could provide enough air and ground crews for only half of a flight.
1941 — ANZAC troops, faced with the advance of the numerically stronger and better organised German troops, withdrew to the Thermopylae Line, Greece.
1944 — HMA Ships Quiberon, Napier, Nepal, and Nizam were part of a large force attacking the Japanese at Sabang, Sumatra. The success of this action, which included the destruction of oil installations, radar stations, shipping, and port facilities, contributed to the cessation of Japanese hostilities in Burma.
1941 — Battle of Tempe (Pinior) Gorge, Greece. The Australian 2/2nd and 2/3rd Battalions and the 21st New Zealand Battalion stemmed a German advance, enabling the Allies to establish a defensive line across the Thermopylae Peninsula.
1942 — Prime Minister Curtin handed operational control of all combat sections of the Australian Navy, Army, and Air Force to Lieutenant General MacArthur.
1966 — The first National Service troops departed for service in Vietnam.
1917 — A second attack on the Ottoman stronghold at Gaza was repulsed by its defenders, inflicting over 6000 Allied casualties.
1918 — Battle of Kemmel, Belgium. Kemmel Ridge was a key feature on the France/Belgium border. Troops of the 9th and 10th Battalions, and the 4th Light Horse withstood several assaults by German forces between 17-19 April.
1945 — Halifax bomber MZ467 of 462 Squadron RAAF, was shot down by a German night-fighter. This was the last Halifax to be shot down by a night-fighter in the Second World War.
1895 — The Royal Navy depot at Circular Quay was transferred to Garden Island.
1941 — During a single patrol in a period of aggressive night raids and patrols around the perimeter of the besieged port of Tobruk, 2/48th Battalion troops captured 803 prisoners. There were two Australian casualties.
1967 — HMAS Hobart began her involvement in Operation SEA DRAGON during the Vietnam War.
1915 — Lieutenant Charles Pope was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Louverval, France. Having been ordered ‘to hold this post at all costs’, Pope and his men, depleted of ammunition, charged a large German force. Later, his body, and those of his men, was found close to 80 dead Germans.
1942 — HMAS Vendetta, which had been stranded in dry-dock in Singapore when the Japanese invaded, arrived in Melbourne after being towed over 8000Km in 72 days.
1941 — German Afrika Korps infantry forces, backed by 50 tanks, attacked the besieged port of Tobruk, Libya. During the short battle, 17 tanks were destroyed, 150 Germans were killed, and 250 taken prisoner. Australian forces suffered 26 dead and 64 wounded.
1916 — A squadron of the 9th Light Horse Regiment captured the Ottoman outpost of Jifjaffa in the Sinai. This was the first engagement for the Light Horse in the Sinai and demonstrated their potential for desert fighting.
1941 — After the defensive line around Tobruk was breached by the Germans, a seven-man section, including Corporal John Edmondson, charged the German position. Despite being mortally wounded Edmondson continued the advance under heavy fire. For his actions, he was later posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
1918 — Battle of Hazebrouck, France. The 1st Australian Division repelled several heavy German attacks on this crucial rail centre 30Km from Armentieres on the Western Front.
1941 — The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was reformed by Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey to fight alongside the British and Greek troops in the ill-fated Greek campaign.
1951 — The first call-up notices for National Service were issued. Between 1951 and November 1959, when the scheme ended, 227,000 men had undertaken the compulsory military training of 176 days.