Military History

29 SEP 1918: World War I and Captain George Hubert Wilkins, MC, official AIF photographer, rallies United States troops at the battle of the Hindenburg Line, while taking photographs. For this action he was awarded a bar to his Military Cross, becoming the only Australian official photographer to be decorated for bravery in the field. […]

29 SEP 1918: World War I and the Battle of St Quentin canal begins. Originally built to connect the Somme and Scheldt Rivers, the Germans utilised the St Quentin Canal as an additional defensive barrier forward of the Hindenberg Line. East of Peronne the canal ran through a tunnel for approximately six kilometres between Bellicourt […]

29 SEP–1 OCT 1918: World War I and Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Blair Anderson Wark, 32nd Battalion, originally from Bathurst, New South Wales, earns the Victoria Cross during action from Bellicourt to Joncourt, France. Blair Wark, army officer and quantity surveyor, was born on 27 July 1894 at Bathurst, New South Wales, fourth child of […]

28 SEP 1950: Korea, and the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment arrives in country. The Battalion was immediately committed to the United Nation forces’ northward advance against the retreating North Koreans. On 28 September 1950, 3RAR landed at Pusan, South Korea. The battalion was part of the 27th British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade. Troops from […]

26–28 SEP 1917: World War I and Private Patrick Joseph Bugden, 31st Battalion, originally from South Gundurimba, New South Wales, earns the Victoria Cross at Polygon Wood, near Ypres. It was a posthumous award. Patrick Bugden was born in the Australian state of New South Wales, at South Gundurimba on 17 March 1897. His father, […]

26–27 SEP 1943: World War II and Operation Jaywick destroys Japanese shipping. An Australian Special Operations Australia Unit operating from the former fishing vessel, Krait, mines Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour. Seven ships were sank or badly damaged. Operation Jaywick was a raid on shipping in Japanese-occupied Singapore harbour between September and October 1943. The […]

26–27 SEP 1943: World War II and Operation Jaywick destroys Japanese shipping. An Australian Special Operations Australia Unit operating from the former fishing vessel, MV Krait, mines Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour. Seven ships were sunk or badly damaged. The Krait is a wooden hulled vessel famous for its use during World War II by the […]

26 SEP 1917: World War I and Sergeant (later Lieutenant) John James Dwyer, 4th Machine Gun Company, originally from Lovett, Tasmania, earns the Victoria Cross at Zonnebeke, Belgium. Jack Dwyer was born at Lovett (now Cygnet) Tasmania. He enlisted in early 1915 and served on Gallipoli with the 15th Battalion. In 1916 he went to […]

25 SEP 1942: World War II and HMAS Voyager is grounded and destroyed at Betano Bay, Timor. Voyager brought the 2/4th Independent Company to Timor to reinforce Australian troops already on the island. The ship came close in shore to land the troops but ran aground. The Australians were left with no option but to destroy […]

25 SEP 1918: World War I and the ANZAC Mounted Division captures Amman. The capture of Amman came during the final days of the fighting in Palestine, as British Empire troops routed the Turkish armies and won a series of decisive victories. In September, following months of reorganisation, the training of new troops and formations […]