History

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 HMAS 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	2RAR arrives in Vietnam	By 1967 Australia's commitment to the war in Vietnam was increasing as the task force expanded its control over areas of Phuc Tuy Province.
3 June	1942	Battle of Midway begins	The battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat inflicted on Japan by America 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 Is 15 P-40Ns from 78 Squadron attacked 15 Japanese aircraft comprising 12 fighters and 3 dive bombers and succeeded in shooting down 7 fighters and all of the dive bombers for the loss of one P-40 and pilot.
4 June	1900	Six Mile Spruit	Victorians and West Australians heavily engaged at Six Mile Spruit.
4 June	1944	Allied troops enter Rome	The Italian campaign, aimed at exploiting the Allied victory in North Africa and distract German forces from France and the Eastern Front, became a lengthy war of attrition that was not brought to an end with the fall of Rome.
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	1942	Battle of Midway ends	The battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat inflicted on Japan by America 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.
6 June	1944	D-Day	Allies land in Normandy on D-Day opening 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 five kilometres north of the Australian base at Nui Dat was the site of a battle between a combined force of Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese Army troops after they occupied the village. They were driven off after more than a day's fighting. This was the last large-scale clash in Phouc Tuy.
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	3RAR patrols sent across the Imjin River and they begin to win control of the north bank.
7 June	1968	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	In addition to launching the midget submarines that attacked Sydney Harbour and attacking shipping on Australia's east coast Japanese submarines shelled Sydney and Newcastle, but with little effect.
8 June	1950	General Sir Thomas Blamey appointed Field Marshall	General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander-in-Chief Allied Land Forces, South West Pacific Area, in the Second World War, made a Field Marshal. (The only Australian appointment ever to 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 crossed the Litani River in canvas boats and captured several French positions on the far shore.
10 June	1940	Italy declares war on the Allies	The Italian dictator Mussolini wished to profit from the German successes early in the war and 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 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	Williamsrust, South Africa	Victorians trapped in a surprise attack at Williamsrust; 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	The 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 in 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 Tse Tung, admitted one of the principal factors in denying the Chinese and North Korean victory was the superiority of United Nations naval power. Australia's contribution to the naval war in Korea was significant.
16 June	1942	HMAS Nestor sunk	The HMAS Nestor was in the Mediterranean, north of Tobruk, when she was bombed and sunk.
16 June	1948	Malayan Emergency declared	Lasting 13 years, involvement in the Malayan Emergency was the longest continuing military commitment in Australia's history. Fifty-one Australian servicemen died in Malaya (although only 15 of these deaths occurred as a result of operations) and 27 were wounded, the majority of whom were in the army.
17 June	1945	Australians land at Weston, North Borneo	The Australian landings on Borneo were aimed at denying the Japanese oil and establishing 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 seems that such an invasion was never planned by the Japanese.
18 June	1953	Australian prisoners of war of the Korean War released at Panmunjon	Twenty-nine Australians were taken prisoner in Korea. One prisoner died while in captivity.
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 A.R. 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.
20 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. Most joined the Waikato militia regiments and became involved in patrolling and garrison duties.
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 3RAR for "extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance" at the battle of Kapyong, Korea.
22 June	1941	Operation Barbarossa launched	Germany's invasion of Russia 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	1927	Opening of the Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium	The Menin Gate Memorial to the missing records the names of over 56,000 Allied soldiers, among them 6,176 Australians missing in the battles near Ypres in the First World War.
24 June	1942	Afrika Korps attacks Egypt	Afrika Korps 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 was later killed at Gallipoli.
27 June	1950	UN recommends assistance to South Korea	United Nations Security Council recommends United Nations 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 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	Paris Peace Conference was concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, signed between Germany and representatives of 27 victorious powers, punished Germany territorially and financially for her role in the First World War. The treaty was supposed also to prevent Germany having the means to make war in the future
28 June	1945	Private L.T. Starcevitch, VC	Private L.T. Starcevitch, 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 United Nations 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		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 committed 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.