Echoes of the Crimean War, 1853–56
Names like Alma, Inkerman, Balaklava, Sebastopol–battlefields of the Crimean War (1853–56)–and the British heroes and villains of that war like Lords Raglan and Cardigan, the doomed General Cathcart, or the legendary nurse Florence Nightingale can be found on the street signs, and in the titles of suburbs and towns around New South Wales. That remote, and now largely forgotten, conflict had an enormous impact on the colony of New South Wales and its echoes can still be heard in those place names, and in mute monuments like the Martello Tower on Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour. They remind us of the thousands of British veterans who came to NSW in the decades following the war and the contribution they made to the life of the colony.

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