-
HMAS Sydney sinks the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni off Crete
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian Condottieri class light cruiser that served in the Regia Marina in World War II. It was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century and was sunk at the Battle of Cape Spada early in the war. Bartolomeo Colleoni served in the Mediterranean until November 1938, when she sailed to relieve the cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli in the Far East. Despite their speed advantage, the Italian cruisers failed to outrun HMAS Sydney. -
Australia declares War on Germany
On 3 September 1939, Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies announced that Australia was at war with Germany.
Australia had anticipated Britain’s declaration of war against the Germans as early as August 1939. Heavy artillery units were mobilised and outlying military centres such as Port Moresby, received supplies of weapons and ammunition in case such a declaration stimulated further Japanese aggression. -
Tobruk captured by the Allies: April 10th- November 27th 1941
The Siege of Tobruk was a confrontation between Axis and Allied forces that lasted for 241 days in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The siege started on 10 April 1941, when Tobruk was attacked by an Italo–German force under Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel, and continued for 240 days up to 27 November 1941, when it was relieved by the Allied 8th Army during Operation Crusader. The result was an Allied victory. -
HMAS Sydney sunk in Indian Ocean
HMAS Sydney, named after the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three modified Leander-class light cruisers operated by Royal Australian Navy. During her operational history, Sydney helped enforce sanctions during the Abyssinian crisis, and at the start of World War II was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties in Australian waters. On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and was lost with all 645 aboard. -
Australia declares War on Japan
One hour after Japanese bombers struck at Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941, Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia declared that "from one hour ago, Australia has been at war with the Japanese Empire." War was formally declared at 11:15 A.M., December 9, Australian time. Announcing Australia's recognition that a state of war existed.
This happened because Japanese naval and air forces launched an unprovoked attack on on British and U.S territory. -
Japanese aircraft bomb Darwin
The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, was both the first and the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On this day, 242 Japanese aircraft attacked ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasions of Timor and Java.
The result: Japanese victory. Over half of Darwin's civilian population flees south -
Japanese midget submarines attack Sydney Harbour: May 31st- June 8th 1942
During World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales. Three Ko-hyoteki-class submarines, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could successfully engage any Allied vessels, and the crews scuttled their boats and committed suicide. -
HMAS Canberra sunk in Battle of Savo Sea
In the darkness of the early hours of the morning of 9 August 1942 the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was severely damaged off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) in a surprise attack by a powerful Japanese naval force in an action that became known as the Battle of Savo Island. Canberra was hit 24 times in less than two minutes and 84 of her crew were killed including Captain Frank Getting. Following an order to abandon ship the Canberra was sunk the next day by a torpedo from a US destroyer. -
Battle of El Alamein (2nd) October 23rd- November 11th 1942
The Second Battle of El Alamein took place near the Egyptian coastal city of El Alamein. With the Allies victorious, it marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. It followed the First Battle of El Alamein, which had stalled the Axis advance into Egypt. Second El Alamein revived the morale of the Allies, being the first major offensive against the Axis since the start of the European war in 1939 in which the Western Allies had achieved a decisive victory -
Australians recapture Kokoda
On 25 October 1942, while the two armies fought at Eora-Templeton’s 25 kilometres to the south, having come from an Australian patrol base in the Yodda valley, crossed the Kokoda airstrip and entered Kokoda government station. It is however 2 November 1942, when the Australians returned permanently, which is the official date of the recapture of Kokoda. On that day a patrol from 2/31st Battalion, the vanguard of Maroubra Force, entered Kokoda Government Station to find the Japanese had left. -
Australians capture Brunei: June 10th- August 15th 1945
The Battle of North Borneo took place during the Second World War between Allied and Japanese forces. The battle involved a series of amphibious landings by Australian forces on various points on the mainland around Brunei Bay and upon islands situated around the bay. The Australians were successful in seizing control of the region, although to a large extent the strategic gains that possession of North Borneo provided the Allies with were ultimately negated by the sudden conclusion of the war. -
Victory over Japan
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan’s surrender was made. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan, aboard the battleship USS Missouri. In Japan, August 15 usually is known as the “memorial day for the end of the war”
