June

Date Year Title Event
1 June 1918 RAN aircraft first used in combat First use of aircraft in combat by ships of the Royal Australian Navy in the Heligoland Bight. Aircraft were launched from HMAS Sydney and Melbourne to intercept two German aircraft.
1 June 1941 Evacuation from Crete completed Over 16,000 troops were successfully evacuated from the island over four successive nights.
2 June 1967 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrives in Vietnam By 1967 Australia's commitment to the war in Vietnam was increasing as the Australian Task Force expanded its control over areas of Phuc Tuy Province.
3–6 June 1942 Battle of Midway The battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat inflicted on Japan by the United States in the Second World War. The battle shifted the balance of sea power in the Pacific towards the Allies and forced Japan to abandon plans for advances on New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa and delayed their offensive in New Guinea.
3 June 1944 Last major air combat by RAAF in the Second World War South of Biak Isand 15 P-40Ns from No. 78 Squadron attacked 15 Japanese aircraft (12 fighters and three dive-bombers) and succeeded in shooting down seven fighters and all of the dive-bombers for the loss of one P-40 and pilot.
5 June 1941 Cyprus reinforced by Australian troops After their heavy losses during the invasion of Crete German plans to launch a similar attack against Cyprus were abandoned.
6 June 1944 D-Day Allies land in Normandy, opening up a third front against Germany and beginning an eastward drive across northern Europe that ended with Germany's surrender in May 1945.
6 June 1969 Battle of Binh Ba, South Vietnam Binh Ba, located 6 kilometres north of the Australian base at Nui Dat was the site of a battle between an Australian Ready Reaction Force and a combined force of Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese Army troops who had occupied the village. The enemy were driven off after more than a day's fighting.
7 June 1917 Captain R.C. Grieve, VC Captain R.C. Grieve, 37th Battalion, originally from Melbourne, wins the Victoria Cross at Messines.
7 June 1951 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, patrols sent across the Imjin River and they begin to win control of the north bank.
7 June 1968 Australian Prime Minister visits Vietnam Prime Minister Gorton begins two-day visit to Vietnam against a background of both a growing Australian military commitment to the war and steadily increasing, though not yet overwhelming, domestic opposition.
7–10 June 1917 Private J. Carroll, VC Private J. Carroll, 33rd Battalion, originally from Brisbane, wins the Victoria Cross at St Yves (battle of Messines).
8 June 1941 Australians attack Vichy French in Syria 7th Division and Imperial forces attack Vichy French in Syria.
8 June 1942 Sydney and Newcastle shelled A week after they launched the midget submarines that attacked Sydney Harbour, four large Japanese submarines shell Sydney and Newcastle, but to little effect.
8 June 1950 General Sir Thomas Blamey appointed Field Marshal General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander-in-Chief Allied Land Forces, South West Pacific Area, in the Second World War, promoted to the rank of field marshal. (He remains the only Australian ever to attain this rank.)
9 June 1941 Litani River, Lebanon Having seen the bridge over the river destroyed by Vichy French troops, two platoons of the 7th Division cross the Litani River in canvas boats and capture several French positions on the far shore.
10 June 1940 Italy declares war on the Allies Hoping to profit from the German successes early in the war, the Italian dictator Mussolini declared war on the Allies in June 1940, by which time the most vocal Italian dissidents were in exile or in prison.
10 June 1941 Recruiting begins for Torres Strait Defence Force Recruitment commenced for the Torres Strait Defence Force to be drawn from the Indigenous population of the Torres Strait Islands.
10 June 1944 Last Japanese aircraft shot down in New Guinea campaign Flight Lieutenant Baker pursued and shot down a Japanese dive bomber, making it the last Japanese aircraft shot down by the RAAF in the New Guinea campaign.
10 June 1945 Landings at Brunei, Labuan and Muar, Borneo Codenamed Oboe 6, the 9th Division's landings at Brunei, Labuan and Muar, were designed to secure the Brunei Bay area north of Borneo, to permit the establishment of an advanced fleet base to protect Brunei's oil and rubber resources.
11 June 1900 Diamond Hill, South Africa Members of the 1st Australian Horse and the New South Wales Lancers participate in the battle of Diamond Hill, South Africa.
12 June 1901 Wilmansrust, Cape Colony (South Africa) Victorians trapped in a surprise attack at Wilmansrust; 18 were killed and 42 wounded in a five-minute-long engagement.
13 June 1941 Battle for Jezzine, Lebanon The battle was one of several hard fought actions in the five-week-long campaign by the allies against Vichy French forces in Syria and Lebanon.
13 June 1945 Australians capture Brunei The Australian occupation of Brunei was aimed at permitting the establishment of an advanced fleet base to protect Brunei's oil and rubber resources.
14 June 1966 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrives in South Vietnam The deployment of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to Vietnam formed part of Australia's build up of forces in Phouc Tuy province in the mid-1960s. D Company from this battalion became involved in the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966.
15 June 1901 Sergeant J. Rogers, VC Sergeant J. Rogers, South African Constabulary, originally from Moama, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross near Thaba 'Nchu, Orange Free State. Rogers was a New South Welshman by birth.
15 June 1951 HMAS Bataan bombards Chongjin, Korea After the war in Korea had ended, the Chinese leader, Chairman Mao Zedong, admitted that one of the principal factors in denying the Chinese and North Korean victory was the superiority of UN naval power. Australia's contribution to the naval war in Korea was significant.
16 June 1942 HMAS Nestor sunk HMAS Nestor was in the Mediterranean, north of Tobruk, when she was bombed and sunk.
16 June 1948 Malayan Emergency declared

The Australian involvement in Malayan Emergency lasted from 1950 to 1960, making it the longest continuing military commitment in our history. 39 Australian servicemen died in this conflict.

Three British plantation managers were murdered in two separate incidents in Perak which led to the British enacting emergency measures two days later (18th) for Perak only. This was widened to include all of Malaya in July as the insurgency escalated.
17 June 1945 Australians land at Weston, North Borneo The Australian landings on Borneo were meant to deny the Japanese oil and to establish bases for naval operations. The value of these operations has been subject to continuing debate.
18 June 1943 Australian government announces that Australia is no longer threatened with invasion By 1943 it was clear that the Japanese no longer had the capacity to threaten Australia with invasion (though it later emerged that no such invasion was ever planned by the Japanese).
19 June 1952 Jamestown Line, Korea The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, relieved the 1st Battalion, the Leicestershire Regiment, on the Jamestown line, Korea.
19 June - 6 July 1941 Lieutenant A.R. Cutler, VC Lieutenant Roden Cutler, 2/5th Field Regiment, 7th Division, originally of Manly, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross for a series of actions at Merdjayoun and in the Damour area, Lebanon.
21 June 1864 Australians in action at Te Ranga, New Zealand More than 2,500 men from the Australian colonies crossed the Tasman to fight in the New Zealand wars. The British victory at Te Ranga ended Maori resistance in the Tauranga campaign.
20 June 1943 Darwin bombed Darwin was bombed by Japanese aircraft 64 times during the Second World War.
21 June 1941 Damascus occupied Damascus was a secondary objective for the Allies during the five-week Syrian campaign, in which the capture of coastal towns of Damour and Beirut and the inland town of Merdjayoun were more important to the outcome.
21 June 1951 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, awarded United States Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation United States Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation awarded to 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, for "extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance" at the battle of Kapyong, Korea.
22 June 1941 Operation Barbarossa launched Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union led to the greatest clash of arms in history. The war occupied by far the greatest proportion of German manpower and much of the burden of defeating Germany fell to Russia.
22 June 1945 Beaufort, Borneo occupied The Australian occupation of Brunei was aimed at permitting the establishment of an advanced fleet base to protect Brunei's oil and rubber resources.
22 June 1945 Japanese resistance on Tarakan ends Codenamed Oboe 1, the landings at Tarakan, were primarily aimed at establishing a fighter airfield, though in the end this was not done.
23 June 1885 Sudan contingent disembarks The New South Wales contingent spent a little over two months in the Sudan without seeing any serious action. Upon their return they spent some time at the North Head Quarantine Station.
24 June 1942 Panzerarmee Afrika attacks Egypt Rommel's Panzerarmee Afrika attacks Egypt, forcing Allied forces back to El Alamein, where one of the pivotal battles of the war was fought later in the year.
25 June 1917 US troops in France US troops begin to arrive in France.
25 June 1950 North Korea invades South Korea. Beginning of the three-year-long Korean War.
25 - 26 June 1916 Private J.W.A. Jackson, VC Private J.W.A. Jackson, 17th Battalion, originally from Gunbar, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross south-east of Bois Grenier, near Armentières, France.
26 June 1956 Sungei Siput, Malaya Men of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, attacked a Communist camp near Sungei Siput in Perak, Malaya. Three of the Communists were killed in the fight.
27 June 1911 Royal Military College, Duntroon, opens The Royal Military College, Duntroon, was created at the suggestion of Field Marshal Lord Kitchener; its first commandant was Colonel W.T. Bridges, who later died of wounds received on Gallipoli.
27 June 1950 UN recommends assistance to South Korea The United Nations's Security Council recommends UN assistance to South Korea after the North Korean invasion of 25 June.
27 June 1950 RAAF bomber Squadron to Malaya Six RAAF Lincolns of No. 1 Squadron, RAAF, and a flight of Dakotas from No. 38 Squadron formed part of the Far East Air Force. The RAAF's contribution represented Australia's first involvement in the Malayan Emergency.
28 June 1918 1918 Corporal P. Davey, VC Corporal P. Davey, 10th Battalion, originally from Goodwood, South Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Merris, France.
28 June 1919 Treaty of Versailles signed The Paris Peace Conference concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, signed between Germany and representatives of 27 victorious powers, punished Germany both territorially and financially for its role in the First World War. The harsh terms of the treaty was intended to prevent Germany from ever having the means to make war in the future.
28 June 1945 Private L.T. Starcevich, VC Private L.T. Starcevich, 2/43rd Battalion, originally from Subiaco, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at Beaufort, North Borneo.
28 June 1950 Seoul captured The North Korean People's Army captured Seoul in their initial southward advance; by the end of the Korean War the city had changed hands four times.
29 June 1950 Australia commits military units to the United Nations Force in Korea Australia was one of the first nations to commit units, from each of the three services, to the war in Korea. Australians in Korea fought as part of the UN Command.
30 June 1941 HMAS Waterhen sunk HMAS Waterhen was sunk on the Tobruk run.
30 June 1942 Australian troops raid Salamaua The raid on Salamaua was carried out by men of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and the 2/5th Independent Company, they caused damage to Japanese facilities and supplies.
30 June 1950 No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, committed to Korea Prime Minister Menzies announced that No. 77 Squadron, RAAF, was to be committed to combat duties in Korea. This was the first Australian unit sent to the war in Korea; they were equipped with Mustangs.
30 June 1971 Final anti-war rally 110,000 people in Australian cities demonstrated against the war in Vietnam.

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