23 NOV 1944: World War II and Australian troops relieve the Americans at Torokina, Bougainville. The Australian arrival opened the campaign on Bougainville that cost over 500 Australian lives by the war’s end. During 1942, Torokin was occupied by the Japanese. On November 1, 1943 the United States Marine Corps (USMC), 3rd Marine Division landed […]
WW2
Scarlet Beach Raid
21 NOV 1943: World War II and the Japanese counter-attack at Scarlet Beach on the Huon Peninsula. The Japanese surprise raid at Scarlet Beach, near Lae, Papua New Guinea, was narrowly held by Australian and American defenders. The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 1943–44 during […]
HMAS Sydney Sunk
19 NOV 1941: HMAS Sydney is sunk. Sydney was lost with its entire crew of 645 men in a sudden and disastrous encounter with the German raider, Kormoran, off the Western Australian coast. The circumstances surrounding its loss remain controversial to this day. HMAS Sydney, a light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy with an […]
Popondetta Captured
18 NOV 1942: World War II and Popondetta, captured by the Australians, on the steamy kunai plains north of the Owen Stanley Range, became a major Allied base for the attack on the Japanese-held beachheads in Papua. Popondetta is the capital of Oro (Northern) Province near to Buna on the Northern Papua coast and is […]
Battle of Sattelberg
17 NOV 1943: Today in the Pacific Campaign, Australia’s 9th Division begins its attack on Sattelberg (also spelt Satelberg, translation ‘Saddle Mountain’), a village on the Huon Peninsula, in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea). The Battle of Sattelberg took place between 17 and 25 November 1943, during the Huon Peninsula campaign of the Second World […]
AWAS to Deploy
15 NOV 1944: World War II and Australian government approves sending Australian Women’s Army Service members overseas. Australian Women’s Army Service went to Lae, New Guinea, and served in the forward area for the first time. Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service and the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service were already serving in New Guinea. […]
Battle of the Strait of Otranto
12 NOV 1940: World War II and HMAS Sydney [II] is in action at the Strait of Otranto in a diversion for the British attack on Taranto. The Australian cruiser became the most celebrated ship in the RAN after its performance in the Mediterranean against the Italian navy in 1940. The battle occurred when an […]
“G for George” Arrives
8 NOV 1944: World War II and “G for George” arrives at RAAF Base Amberley. This Lancaster bomber survived 89 operations with No. 460 Squadron RAAF. After touring to support war loan campaigns, it was presented to the Australian War Memorial Canberra. G-George flew 96 combat missions over occupied Europe with 460 Squadron, and is […]
Landing on New Britain
4 NOV 1944: World War II and troops of the 6th Brigade land at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain. Jacquinot Bay became an important base for Australian operations against the Japanese on New Britain. The first echelon, consisting of the 14th/32nd Battalion and a company of the 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion, was transported by two […]
PTE Percy Gratwick, VC
25-26 OCT 1942: World War II and WX10426 Private Percival Eric Gratwick, 2/48th Battalion, originally from Katanning, Western Australia, earns the Victoria Cross at El Alamein, Egypt. Percy Gratwick was a 38-year-old former gold prospector from Western Australia. Gratwick was born in Katanning, Western Australia on 19 October 1902, the fifth son of the local […]
