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. 

1942— Battle of Koepang. Japanese troops land in Timor and face a spirited resistance from the Australian troops but the battle cost 84 Australian lives.

1915— Allied warships attempted to force a passage through the Dardanelles against Ottoman defences. The failure of this attempt led to the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. 

1942—Japanese aircraft attack Darwin, the first of 64 attacks on Darwin and its surrounds over the next twenty months. At least 243 people were killed in the attack, including Wing Commander Archibald Tindal who became the first RAAF member to die on active service on Australian soil.

1917— HMAT Berrima is torpedoed in the English Channel by German submarine U-84. She was badly damaged, and four lives were lost.

1941— Australian troops arrived in Singapore.  Recognising that Singapore was vital to the defence of Australia, the 8th Australian Division was sent to bolster the island’s defence if the Japanese entered the war.

1900— Troops of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles take part in the attack of Paardeberg, South Africa.  This attack led to the surrender of Boer General Piet Cronje and 4000 of his troops. 

1970— 8 RAR and 1st Armoured Regiment were engaged in the Battle of Long Hai, Vietnam. 8 RAR was awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation including the Cross of Valour with Palm Unit Citation by the South Vietnamese Government for this action.

1942— Banka Island Massacre – Following the sinking of the SS Vyner Brook, many survivors reached the shore of Banka Island, where they sought to surrender. Instead, Japanese soldiers machine-gunned all able-bodied men and forced 22 Australian nurses and a British civilian woman to wade into the sea, where they were also gunned down. The remaining immobile survivors were bayoneted, but Australian nurse Sister Vivian Bullwinkel pretended to be dead and became the sole surviving nurse.

1942— Singapore is surrendered to the Japanese Army by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. Over 100,000 Allied troops, including more than 15,000 Australians, were taken prisoner.

1900— The relief of Kimberley, Orange Free State, South Africa. A major operation undertaken to break the Boer siege of the town. Five hundred Australians of the Queensland Mounted Infantry, New South Wales Mounted Rifles and New South Wales Lancers were involved in the breaking of the siege.

1942— The SS Vyner Brook, with the last refugees to escape from Singapore after the Japanese invasion, was bombed and sank off Banka Island.  Sixty-five nurses and many wounded were among the passengers.