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.
1917 — First Battle of Bullecourt, France. Australian troops of the 4th and 12th Divisions attempted to penetrate the Hindenburg Line. While the Line was breached, lack of artillery and tank support meant that the gains could not be held. Barely 660 men out of 3000 members of the 4th Brigade remained alive or uninjured; the 12th Brigade suffered 950 casualties. 1170 were taken prisoner, the largest number of Australians captured in one battle.
1941 — Troops of the 6th Australian Division engaged German forces in Europe for the first time in the Second World War. This was in an attempt to delay German advances in Greece, allowing other Allied troops to be withdrawn in safety.
1871 — HMVS Cerberus, the most powerful warship in the southern hemisphere at the time, arrived in Melbourne, after a 123-day voyage from England.
1917 — Private Thomas Kenny’s actions at Hermies, France were later awarded a Victoria Cross. During an operation in which his platoon was pinned down, Kenny rushed the enemy position, killing or capturing all at the post and making a significant contribution to the capture of the village.
1917— For his tenacity and disregard for his own safety while encouraging his men, as well as his courage in both the attack and counter-attack near the villages of Lagnicourt and Boursies, France, Captain James Newland was later awarded the Victoria Cross.
1916 — The first Australian units of the 2nd Division arrived on the Western Front and were initially deployed in the ‘nursery sector,’ a relatively quiet area near Armentieres, France, where they were introduced to life in the trenches opposite the German Army.
1917 — Lieutenant Percy Storkey, originally from New Zealand, performed the act for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in leading bayonet assaults against enemy machine-gun positions at Hangard Wood, near Villers-Bretonneux.
1917 — The United States declared war on Germany.
1941 — Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece.
1952 — Soldiers from 1RAR arrived in Korea, for service with the United Nations force.
1918 — Germany launched a new attack near Dernancourt, France, and were able to breach the railway embankment which formed part of a defensive barrier for the Australian troops. A counter-attack later in the day was able to halt the German advance. This engagement was the strongest attack faced by the Australians in the Great War. Two Australian Brigades faced two and a half German Divisions. The Germans suffered 1600 casualties; the Australians suffered nearly as many with 1230 casualties.