Death in the Skies: The Story of Second Lieutenant Gilbert Perry, AFC
Flimsy fabric tore, control lines snapped and wooden frames splintered as a stream of machine gun bullets ripped through the Sopwith Snipe biplane from No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC). Within seconds, the aircraft was spiralling out of control, plummeting to earth. The formation leader, Captain Roy ‘Bo’ King, a 6’ 3” (191cm) tall bicycle mechanic from Bathurst in NSW, looked around him and saw his wingmen scatter as a dozen German Fokker D.VII fighters attacked them from beneath. The Germans were from the elite Jasta Boelcke, led by fighter ace and Oxford University graduate Rittmeister Karl Bolle. Attackers and the attacked looped and dived as both formations dissolved into individual battles in the sky.

On this day

On this day
3 June

1942 — Battle of MIDWAY began. This decisive victory by the US Navy over the Japanese Navy shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific and forced Japan to abandon plans to attack New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. Japanese losses were 4 aircraft carriers, 1 cruiser, 248 aircraft, and over 3,000 sailors.  American losses were 1 aircraft carrier, 1 destroyer, 150 aircraft, and 307 men

1944 — 78 Squadron, RAAF, carried out the last major air combat by the RAAF in WW2, off BIAK Island, New Guinea. 10 enemy planes were shot down for the loss of one Australian plane and pilot

1969 — HMAS MELBOURNE collided with USS FRANK E EVANS in the South China Sea.  EVANS was cut in half and 74 of her crew were killed