Victoria Remembers Calendar 2016 Did you know?

November 2016

November 2016

^Tuesday	1	Melbourne Cup Chinese forces enter the Korean War, 1950.
^Wednesday	2	Kokoda airstrip captured by Australian forces, 1942.
^Thursday	3	A Canberra bomber of 2 Squadron, RAAF is reported missing in action, 1970.
^Friday	4	6 Brigade lands at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, 1944.
^Saturday	5	Battle of Pakchon, Korea, 1950.
^Sunday	6	RAAF component of British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan substantially downgraded, 1948.
^Monday	7	Gaza falls to British forces, including the Australian Light Horse, 1917.
^Tuesday	8	460 Squadron RAAF Lancaster bomber G-George arrives at Amberley airfield, Brisbane, 1944.
^Wednesday	9	HMAS Sydney sinks the German cruiser Emden off the Cocos Islands, while escorting the 1st AIF convoy to the Middle East, 1914.
^Thursday	10	Australian Government introduces conscription for 20 years via ballot, 1964.
^Friday	11	At the Shrine Commemorative service: Remembrance Day
^Saturday	12	Battle of Strait of Otranto, 1940.
^Sunday	13	Warrant Officer Class 2 Kevin Wheatley, AATTV, is awarded a posthumous VC after refusing to leave a wounded team member and both are killed, Tra Bong Valley, Vietnam, 1965.
^Monday	14	Sergeant Len Waters becomes the first Indigenous Australian fighter pilot, 1944.
^Tuesday	15	460 Squadron, RAAF formed, 1941.
^Wednesday	16	Battle of Buna-Gona begins following the successful conclusion of the Kokoda Track Campaign,1942.
^Thursday	17	Battle of Sattelberg, New Guinea, begins, 1943.
^Friday	18	Battle of the Somme officially ends, 1916.
^Saturday	19	HMAS Sydney sunk by the German raider Kormoran approximately 280 kilometres off Carnarvon, Western Australia, 1941.
^Sunday	20	A Japanese-based C-47 Dakota is tasked to evacuate Australian embassy in Nanjing, China, as the communist forces approach the city, 1948.
^Monday	21	3rd Australian Division arrives in France, 1916.
^Tuesday	22	Japanese night air raid on Moratai Island, Halmahera, destroys 15 Allied aircraft of the RAAFs 1st Tactical Air Force, 1944.
^Wednesday	23	Kilmore-born Lieutenant Leslie Maygar is awarded the VC for rescuing a comrade during the Boer War, 1901.
^Thursday	24	The National Service Act (1964) passes Federal Parliament, 1964.
^Friday	25	Battle of Belhamed, Tobruk, North Africa, battle honour awarded to 2/13th Battalion, 1942.
^Saturday	26	Battle of Brisbane, 1942.
^Sunday	27	HMAS Parramatta (U44), an Australian sloop, is sunk by the German submarine U-559 in the Mediterranean while escorting a supply convoy to the besieged garrison of Tobruk, 1941.
^Monday	28	Battle of Wareo, New Guinea, 1943.
^Tuesday	29	Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton is awarded a posthumous VC for piloting his seriously damaged Stirling bomber back to England and allowing the majority of his crew to bail out safely, 1942.
^Wednesday	30	Battle of Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, 1942.

December 2016

December 2016

^Thursday	1	Corvette HMAS Armidale is sunk by Japanese bombers off Portuguese Timor, 1942.
^Friday	2	Russia and the Central Powers reach an armistice at Brest, 1917.
^Saturday	3	AIF disembark at Alexandria, Egypt,1914.
^Sunday	4	3RAR are presented with the Presidential Unit Citation by US Commander James Van Fleet, for their actions during the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951, 1952.
^Monday	5	First operational sortie by an RAAF aircraft in World War Two, when a Sunderland flying boat of No 10 Squadron flies an anti-submarine patrol from England. 1939.
^Tuesday	6	Aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney begins her second patrol of the Korean War, 1951.
^Wednesday	7	Pacific War begins after The Imperial Japanese military launches attacks at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 1941.
^Thursday	8	Prime Minister John Curtin announces that Australia is now at war with Japan, 1942.
^Friday	9	Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Honner, 39th Victoria Battalion, leads his men into Gona Village, 1942
^Saturday	10	HMS Battleship Repulse and Battlecruiser Prince of Wales sunk by Japanese carrier aircraft, 1941.
^Sunday	11	1RAR launches Operation Fauna, Korea, their last attack before returning to Australia, 1952.
^Monday	12	Battlecruiser HMAS Australia damaged in a collision with HMS Repulse, 1917.
^Tuesday	13	From 11-13 December, units of the Australian Light Horse were in action against the Senussi at Um Rakham in Egypt, 1915.
^Wednesday	14	Japanese forces land at Penang, Malaya, after several days of air raids, 1941.
^Thursday	15	The last Australian forces depart Tarin Kot, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, after 12 years of combat, 2013.
^Friday	16	Two Victorian battalions of the 4th brigade lead the advance on Fortification Point, New Guinea, 1943.
^Saturday	17	Empire Air Training Scheme agreement signed by several Commonwealth nations, 1939.
^Sunday	18	18 Brigade, 7th Division, launches assault on Buna, Papua, supported by tanks of 2/6th Armoured Regiment, 1942.
^Monday	19	Battle of Adele River, Bougainville, 1944.
^Tuesday	20	Second conscription referendum, 1917.
^Wednesday	21	Battle of Jaffa, Palestine, 1917.
^Thursday	22	The first US troops begin arriving in Australia, 1941.
^Friday	23	Capture of Magdhaba, Sinai, by General Harry Chauvel's Mounted Brigade, 1916.
^Saturday	24	Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin and sinks HMAS Arrow, a Royal Australian Navy patrol boat, with the loss of two sailors, 1974.
^Sunday	25	Christmas Day A 37 Squadron RAAF C-130 Hercules is the first plane into Darwin to help evacuate survivors, 1974.
^Monday	26	Boxing Day Japanese forces capture Hong Kong, 1941.
^Tuesday	27	Christmas Day Holiday Prime Minister John Curtin's speech "Australia looks to America", is published in The Herald, 1941.
^Wednesday	28	6th Australian Division in action for the first time, probing the Italian defences outside the fortress of Bardia, 1940.
^Thursday	29	Sailors from the Victorian Colonial warship Victoria see action on shore at Matarikoriko, during the Maori Wars, 1860.
^Friday	30	Battle of Pearl Ridge, Bougainville, 1944.
^Saturday	31	2nd AIF convoy departs Albany, WA for Egypt and Gallipoli, 1915.

Australia's military history spans more than a century, from the late 1800s to current conflicts and peacekeeping operations in which our men and women serve proudly today. This calendar presents just a small snapshot of that history. We encourage all Victorians to learn more about our story of service and to share their own stories so that we may continue to preserve and pass on this rich history to future generations.

This is an accessible version: A PDF version of this publication is available at

the Victoria Remembers website (www.vic.gov.au/victoriaremembers)

Images reproduced courtesy of the Australian War Memorial and Susan Gordon-Brown.

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