This Month In Australian Military History

November

Date Year Title Event
1 November 1911 Compulsory military training introcuced The early Federal government introduced compulsory military training at the instigation of Lord Kitchener, who inspected and advised on Australia's defence forces in 1910.
1 November 1914 First AIF sails The first Australian and New Zealand contingent sails from Albany, Western Australia, bound for Egypt. Only one in four of those who sailed in the first convoy would return un-wounded at the end of the First World War.
1 November 1945 Australia ratifies United Nations Charter Australia played a leading role in the formation of the United Nations, a product of its commitment to the ideals for which the Allies fought in the Second World War.
1 November 1951 No. 77 Squadron awarded South Korean Presidential citation No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, is awarded a Republic of South Korea Presidential Citation. 77 Squadron was awarded this citation for its early service in Korea as an effective ground-support unit.
1 November 1989 National Army Memorial dedicated Dedication of the National Army Memorial in ANZAC Parade, Canberra, by the Governor General, The Hon. Bill Hayden. The memorial commemorates the service of Australians as members of the Australian Army in all wars.
2 November 1942 Kokoda airstrip re-occupied The capture of Kokoda, New Guinea, and its airstrip enabled the Australian advance across the Owen Stanley Range to continue.
3 November 1918 Armistice with Austria-Hungary signed With Turkey having already signed an armistice Germany was left to confront the Allies alone for the remaining days of the war.
4 November 1944 Jacquinot Bay 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.
5 November 1950 Battle of Pakchon, Korea The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, successfully assault and hold crucial hill features overlooking Pakchon in the face of heavy North Korean and Chinese resistance.
5 November 1950 77 Squadron supports 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment No. 77 Squadron, for the first time in the Korean War, flies in support of the 3rd Battlion, Royal Australian Regiment, in the Pakchon - Sinanju road area, Korea. Australian Mustang fighters strafed Chinese positions just before 3rd Battlion, Royal Australian Regiment commenced its assault at Pakchon.
6 November 1971 HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau HMAS Sydney embarks the bulk of its final Australian army units from Vietnam at Vung Tau.
7 November 1916 Third battle of Gaza After the outflanking advance at Beersheba, British empire forces, including the Australian Light Horse, rapidly advanced northwards toward Jerusalem.
8 November 1944 'G' George arrives at Amberley This Lancaster bomber survived 90 operations with 460 Squadron RAAF. After touring to support war loan campaigns, it was presented to the Memorial. George is now on display at the Memorial in ANZAC Hall.
9 November 1914 HMAS Sydney sinks the Emden HMAS Sydney sinks the German cruiser Emden, off the Cocos Islands. The Emden had menaced the first convoy carrying Australian troops toward Egypt, but was driven ashore and destroyed by the Sydney in a brief but bloody action.
10 November 1942 Japanese forced from Oivi Japanese forced back from Oivi by Australian troops. Japanese troops doggedly contested the Australian pursuit down the northern face of the Owen Stanley Ranges.
10 November 1964 Selective conscription introduced Australian Government introduces selective conscription of 20 year old males by ballot under the National Service Act. The National Service Scheme saw 19,450 young men serve in Vietnam.
11 November 1918 Germany signs armistice Germany signs an armistice ending the fighting on the Western Front. The First World War ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
11 November 1941 Opening of the Australian War Memorial By the time a memorial to the dead of the First World War was ready to open, Australia had been involved in the Second World War for over two years.
12 November 1940 HMAS Sydney in action at Strait of Otranto HMAS Sydney in action at the Strait of Otranto in a diversion for the British attack on Taranto. The cruiser HMAS Sydney became the most celebrated ship in the RAN after its performance in the Mediterranean against the Italian navy in 1940.
12 November 1943 Last Japanese air raid on Darwin This, the 64th raid since February 1942, saw a conclusion of the air war fought across northern Australia.
13 November 1965 Warrant Officer K. Wheatley, VC Warrant Officer K. Wheatley, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, wins the first Victoria Cross of the Vietnam War posthumously in the Tra Bong Valley, Quang Ngai province.
14 November 1917 End of third battle of Ypres, Western Front Australian troops had been involved in the third battle of Ypres for three and a half months and suffered heavy losses at such places as Menin Road, Glencourse Wood, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele.
14 November 1974 Australian White Ensign lowered for the last time in Papua New Guinea The Royal Australian Navy's base, HMAS Tarangau, and HMA ships Buna, Salamaua, Aitape, Lae and Madang were transferred to the Papua New Guinea Self Defence Force.
15 November 1944 Australian government approves sending of Australian Women's Army Service members overseas Australian Women's Army Service went to Lae, New Guinea, to replace men for service in forward areas. Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service and the Australian Army Medical Women's Service were already serving in New Guinea.
16 November 1943 Mountbatten appointed Suprememe Allied Commander, South East Asia Admiral Louis Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia.
17 November 1943 Sattelberg The 9th Division begins its attack on Sattelberg. Sattelberg, a high peak and the key to the occupation of the Huon Peninsula, involved a hard, four-month campaign for the 9th Division.
18 November 1916 Somme campaign ends After four months and more than 1,200,000 casualties on both sides, General Douglas Haig calls off the failed Somme offensive.
18 November 1942 Popondetta captured by Australians Popondetta, 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.
19 November 1941 HMAS Sydney 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. Its loss remains controversial to this day.
20 November 1968 HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau HMAS Sydney disembarks the 9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, at Vung Tau, Vietnam.
21 November 1943 Japanese counter-attack at Scarlet Beach The Japanese surprise raid at Scarlet Beach, near Lae, Papua New Guinea, was narrowly held by American and Australian defenders.
22 November 1940 HMAS Canberra rescues merchant ship survivors The Canberra picked up three boatlaods of survivors from the merchant ship, Port Brisbane, which was sunk in the Indian Ocean by the German raider Pinguin.
23 November 1901 Lieutenant L.C. Maygar, VC Lieutenant L.C. Maygar, 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, originally from Kilmore, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Geelhoutboom, Natal. Maygar was the sixth and last Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Boer War.
23 November 1944 Australian troops relieve Americans at Cape Torokina, Bougainville The Australian arrival opened the campaign on Bougainville that cost over 500 Australian lives by the war's end.
23 November 1948 Formation of the Australian Regiment Formation of The Australian Regiment, which became the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) on 10 March 1949. The Royal Australian Regiment has taken a prominent role in Australia's wars and peacekeeping operations since its formation.
24 November 1943 Sergeant T. C. Derrick, VC Sergeant T.C. Derrick, 2/48th Battalion, wins the Victoria Cross at Sattelberg, New Guinea. Derrick, one of the great Australian soldiers of the Second World War, seized the summit of Sattelberg virtually single-handedly, leading the way for the Australian occupation of the dominating feature. He was from Adelaide, South Australia.
25 November 1899 Battle of Graspan, South Africa Members of the New South Wales Lancers involved in the battle of Graspan, South Africa. This, one of the series of defeats suffered by the British in the opening months of the Boer War, involved 29 members of the NSW Lancers, the first Australian troops to reach South Africa.
26 November 1943 Fighting at Pabu Hill, New Guinea 2/43rd Battalion repulses strong Japanese attacks on Pabu Hill, New Guinea. The 2/43rd Battalion, from South Australia, held Pabu, one of the outlying features near Sattelberg, against strong Japanese attacks.
27 November 1939 Inauguration of the Empire Air Training Scheme Over 37,000 Australian airmen trained under the scheme, in Australia, Canada and Rhodesia, one of the Commonwealth's greatest achievements in wartime.
27 November 1941 HMAS Parramatta sunk HMAS Parramatta was sunk by a German submarine in the Mediterranean near Tobruk. The Parramatta was part of the navy's 'Tobruk ferry', whose destroyers and sloops kept the besieged port supplied.
28 - 29 November 1942 Flight Sergeant R.H. Middleton, VC Flight Sergeant R.H. Middleton, RAAF, attached to No. 149 Squadron, Bomber Command, RAF, wins the Victoria Cross after a raid on Turin, Italy. This was a posthumous award. Though terribly wounded, Middleton kept his damaged bomber flying, saving the lives of his crew at the cost of his own. Middleton came from Sydney, New South Wales.
29 November 1950 Teadong River crossing secured The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, secures the Teadong River ferry crossing, Korea. This was one of only two north-south roads available for the US Eighth Army's retreat in the face of Chinese forces. 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment secured the crossing and protected it from Chinese and North Korean infiltrators.
30 November 1950 President Truman threatens use of atomic weapons in Korea United States President Truman refers publicly to the possible use of atomic weapons in Korea. Fortunately, despite the crisis that United Nations troops faced after China's entry into the war, atomic weapons were not used in Korea.

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