1914 — HMA Submarines AE1 and AE2 sailed from Portsmouth for Australia. The passage took 83 days and was, at that time, the longest voyage ever undertaken by a submarine.
1943 — Battle of the Bismarck Sea. A convoy of Japanese troop ships and destroyers attempting to reinforce the Japanese garrison at Lae, was attacked by Australian and American aircraft. Over half of the 6000 Japanese troops embarked in the transports were killed.
1901 — The creation of the Australian Commonwealth Naval and Military Force, marked by the transfer of naval and military forces from the former colonies to the federal government, with the Governor-General assuming the role of Australian Commander-in-Chief.
1904 —The first Defence Act is passed by the Australian Parliament.
1914 — The first Australian military flight, by a Bristol Boxkite, from the Central Flying School at Point Cook, Victoria.
1967 — The RAN adopts the Australian White Ensign.
1942— Japan invades Java, signalling the defeat of the Netherlands East Indies. This was another in the series of Japanese victories in the opening six months of the war in the Pacific.
1991— The Gulf War ends. Coalition forces called a halt to the fighting when Iraqi forces were driven from Kuwait and defeated in the field.
1942— Battle of the Java Sea. A multinational naval strike force that suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Japanese. HMAS Perth was involved in the battle and was one of the few allied ships to survive.
1943— Fighting ended at Wau, New Guinea. Japanese forces were defeated after weeks of heavy fighting. Australia would lose nearly 350 soldiers, while the Japanese lost over 1200.
1951— Soldiers from 3RAR capture Hill 614, Korea, an important piece of high ground, enabling UN forces to continue their advance.
1968— Australian Centurion tanks of the 1st Armoured Regiment arrive in Vietnam.
1994— HMAS Nirimba, the RAN’s Apprentice Training Establishment, was decommissioned after providing about 13,000 skilled tradesmen and women for the RAN and other Navies.
1971— Captain Joseph Smith, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, was awarded a second Military Cross for his actions in Vietnam.
1991— Operation DESERT SABRE, a massive Allied ground assault, was launched from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, against Iraqi forces.
1942— Australian troops were overwhelmed after the Japanese invasion of Timor and were forced to surrendered. Those who remained continued to wage a guerrilla war against the Japanese for the next year.
1967— Major Peter Badcoe, as a member of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, led an attack against Viet Cong forces in the Phu Thu District of South Vietnam. It was the first of three acts of bravery for which he was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross. He was also awarded a US Silver Star and a South Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.
1970— HMAS Perth bombarded enemy troop assembly points near Nui Dat, Vietnam, in support of 1st Australian Task Force attacks. Perth destroyed buildings, wells, bridges, and boats.
2003— Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diving Team 3 arrived in Bahrain, for service in the Persian Gulf and Iraq as part of Australia’s commitment to Operation FALCONER.
1918— 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment captured Jericho, Palestine.
1956— RAAF Lincoln bombers of No 37 Squadron aircraft bombed a communist camp in Central Johore, Malaya.