Military History

5 OCT 1951: Korea, and the Second Australian battalion is committed to The war. From September 1950 the main Australian army unit in Korea had been the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. The Australian Government annouced that the 1st Battalion, would join it in March 1952. Photo: An unidentified soldier of the 3rd Battalion, […]

5 OCT 1918: World War I and Lieutenant George Mawby (Morby) Ingram, MM, 24th Battalion, originally from Bendigo, Victoria, earns the Victoria Cross at Montbrehain, east of Peronne, France. Ingram was born in Bendigo, Victoria, on 18 March 1889 to George Ronald Ingram, a farmer, and his wife Charlotte (née Hubbard). Initially educated at the […]

4 OCT 1917: World War I and Sergeant Lewis McGee, 40th Battalion, originally from Campbelltown, Tasmania, earns the Victoria Cross near Ypres, Belgium. It was a posthumous award. Lewis McGee (1888-1917), railway engine driver and soldier, was born on 13 May 1888 at Campbell Town, Tasmania, son of John McGee, labourer and later farmer, and […]

4 OCT 1917: World War I and Lance Corporal (later Warrant Officer Class 2) Walter Peeler, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, originally from Castlemaine, Victoria, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Broodseinde Ridge, during the battle of Ypres, Belgium. Walter (Wally) Peeler was born on 9 August 1887 at Barker’s Creek, near Castlemaine, Victoria, […]

3 OCT 1992: The Vietnam Forces National Memorial, Anzac Parade, Canberra, was opened by the Prime Minister, the Hon. Paul Keating, MP, and honours those Australians who served and died in the war in Vietnam. The Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial is the principal ceremonial and memorial avenue in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. […]

3 OCT 1918: Lt Joseph Maxwell, VC, MC, DCM, 18th Battalion, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, performed the action that resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross, on the fortified ‘Beaurevoir line’, near Estrees, France. Joseph Maxwell (1896-1967), often claimed as the second most decorated Australian soldier in World War I, was born […]

2 OCT 1943: World War II and Australia’s 9th Division captures Finschhafen in New Guinea, which subsequently becomes the base for the protracted Huon Peninsula campaign, 1943-44. Following the capture of Lae by the 7th and 9th Australian Divisions in early September 1943, the 7th Division was ordered into the mountains to pursue Japanese forces […]

1 OCT 1918: World War I and Australian Light Horsemen take Damascus. The Light Horse advances into Damascus, the Syrian capital, at the end of the long and victorious advance that ended the First World War in the Middle East. The Capture of Damascus occurred on 1 October after the capture of Haifa and the […]

30 SEP 1918: World War I and 1717 Private Edward John Francis Ryan, 55th Battalion, originally of Tumut, New South Wales, earns the Victoria Cross at Bellicourt, France. Jack Ryan was born on 9th February 1890 at Tumut, New South Wales. His father Michael was a labourer born in Australia to Irish parents. Michael Ryan […]

30 SEP 1918: World War I and 2143 Lance Corporal (later Corporal) Ernest Albert Corey, MM, a stretcher bearer with the 55th Battalion earns a third bar to his Military Medal, first won on 5 May 1917. The winning of four Military Medals is a unique feat. Ernest Albert Corey was born near Cooma, New […]