1918— Petty Officer Percy Kempster, a RAN sailor seconded to the Royal Navy, died when HM Submarine G8 was lost in the North Sea. PO Kempster had been awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his bravery and dedication to duty while serving in G8 only weeks before his death.
1900— “A” Squadron, NSW Mounted Rifles marched on the rebellious township of Prieska during the Boer War in South Africa.
1916— 189 men of the RAN Bridging Train, in camp on Imbros Island, mutinies over lack of pay. They were all arrested but released three weeks later.
1965— The Australian military commitment to the Indonesian Confrontation commences with the arrival of 1 Squadron SAS in Borneo.
2005— HMAS Kanimbla reached Banda Aceh to provide medical and food support to the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
1943— The Allied attack on Sanananda, New Guinea, commences.
1988— Captain Peter McCarthy, of the Australian Army, became the first Australian killed in United Nation peace-keeping duties when his vehicle hit a land mine in Lebanon.
1973— Australia’s War in Vietnam ended. In the eleven years that Australia had been at war in Vietnam, 521 Australian service personnel died while on active service and over 3,000 were wounded.
1993— An RAAF Hercules transported an advance party of 1RAR troops to Mogadishu, Somalia, as part of a United Nations operation. Operation SOLACE was to provide a safe zone for the conduct of humanitarian relief operations in the area.
1940— Following in the footsteps of the 1st AIF, the 2nd AIF sailed for the Middle East where they would be heavily involved in the fighting in North Africa.
1942— Japanese forces launched air raids against Singapore as a prelude to the invasion of the island.
1958— Australian Artillery in action at Ipoh, Malaya, in Operation GINGER, during the Malayan Emergency.
1916— The evacuation of Helles, Gallipoli. British and French troops landed on Cape Helles on 25th April 1915 but could not achieve their objectives despite the assistance of ANZAC troops and artillery at Helles and in the Second Battle of Krithia.
1952— RAAF Meteor jets launched their first rocket attacks against ground forces in Korea after being forced out of the air-to-air combat role by superior MiGs.
1952— HMAS Tobruk bombarded Chomi Do, Korea, and delayed a North Korean invasion of Yongmae Do, South Korea.
1915— HMAS Australia captured a German supply ship north of the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It was subsequently scuttled by a boarding party from the Australia.
1916— The RAN Bridging Train is commended by General Humphrey Bland for its tireless efforts before and during the Evacuation of Gallipoli. These men were described as being bent on proving to the Royal Navy and the Army that they could overcome any difficulty.
1941— The Australian 6th Division captures Bardia, Libya, taking 40,000 prisoners. 130 Australians were killed and 326 wounded in Australia’s first major ground campaign of the Second World War.
1945— HMAS Arunta and HMAS Australia are damaged by a kamikaze aircraft, resulting in 27 dead and 30 wounded.
1969— Australian Army Landing Ship Clive Steel came under rocket attack in South Vietnam.
1917— The Australian Destroyer Squadron patrolled the waters south and west of Singapore in the area known as Malaysia.
1942— Japanese aircraft launch attacks against Rabaul, New Britain. Rabaul provided an ideal base for launching air strikes against New Guinea and north-eastern Australia.