Military anniversaries 2024: a quick guide

19 April 2024

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David Watt
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security

This quick guide outlines some significant military anniversaries during 2024. In particular, it will focus on the 110th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and the 80th anniversary of events in 1944. It does not deal with anniversaries such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day that are commemorated every year.

First World War

On 4 August 1914, Britain declared war against Germany, the first of 4 declarations of war; the second was against Austria-Hungary on 12 August 1914; the third against Turkey (as it was known then) on 5 November 1914; and the fourth against Bulgaria on 15 October 1915.

Parliament was not sitting during the period in which war broke out in Europe, having had been prorogued on 27 June 1914 and then dissolved during July of that year. A double dissolution election was held on 5 September 1914 leading to the election of the Fisher ALP Government.

The Governor-General had been informed on 30 July that war was imminent, but the Australian Government, like the other parts of the British Empire, was not consulted about the decision to declare war. Regardless, most Australians would probably have agreed with Prime Minister Joseph Cook who said:

If there is to be a war, you and I shall be in it. We must be in it. If the old country is at war, so are we.

By 1915, Australian forces would be at war in the Dardanelles, but during the remaining months of 1914 the war was considerably closer to home.

Bitapaka, 11 September 1914

Australia’s war started in German New Guinea between 9 and 11 September 1914 when personnel from the Australian Naval and Military Expedition Force (AN&MEF) landed at Rabaul and Kabakaul Bay with the intention of forcing the surrender of the German authorities in the colony, thus preventing the use of its facilities by the German navy.

The Kabakaul party headed down the Bitapaka Road in search of a German wireless station that was known to be in the area and it was here that the first casualties of Australia’s war occurred. The advancing Australians met a group of Melanesian soldiers under the command of German officers, with one of the Germans, Sergeant Major Mauderer, wounded in the hand (later amputated without anaesthetic).

In the somewhat confused fighting on the road and in the surrounding jungle Australia suffered a number of casualties with Able Seaman William Williams of Northcote (Victoria) becoming the first death of the war. Captain Brian Pockley of the Australian Army Medical Corps treated both Mauderer and Williams and was himself killed in the fighting, becoming the first Australian officer killed during the war.

The attack on the wireless station also resulted in Lieutenant Bond winning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). The citation reads:

On 11th September, 1914 during the attack upon the wireless station, Bita Paka, German New Guinea, Lieutenant Bond displayed conspicuous ability and coolness under fire in leading his men through most difficult country and enforcing the terms of surrender whilst drawing off an attack by another body of the enemy. He showed great daring, when accompanied by only one officer and one man, in suddenly disarming eight Germans in the presence of twenty German native troops drawn up under arms, all of whom were marched off and held prisoners. Later he personally captured five armed natives.

The wireless station was captured, albeit damaged, for the loss of 7 Australian lives. One German officer and thirty Melanesian troops were also killed. The German Governor surrendered the colony on 17 September 1914.

AE1

The loss of Australia’s first submarine AE1 on 14 September 1914 while patrolling off the coast of New Guinea resulted in the death of all 35 crew members. AE1 was Australia’s first submarine and was almost new at the time of her loss, having been built by Vickers in its shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness (UK) during 1913.

During September 1914 AE1 was part of the forces taking part in the capture of German New Guinea. On the day of her loss, she was patrolling with the destroyer HMAS Parramatta (I) in St George’s Channel to the south and east of the Duke of York Islands. The 2 vessels became separated during the afternoon and AE1 was never seen again. The wreck of AE1 was found on 20 December 2017 by a team comprised of the Silentworld Foundation, the Australian National Maritime Museum, Find AE1 Ltd, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Fugro, N.V. The process by which AE1 was located has been described by Peter Briggs.

Experts from the Australian National Maritime Museum assessed the images of the submarine and stated that it is possible that a ventilation valve which was open to allow air into AE1 in the warm conditions around New Guinea malfunctioned or was not properly closed when the submarine dived. This would have allowed water into the engine room, causing AE1 to sink below her crush depth of 100 metres.

Cocos Islands – Emden, 9 November 1914

The German light cruiser SMS Emden had commenced raiding allied shipping in the Indian Ocean almost as soon as war was declared. On 9 November 1914, the Emden arrived at the Cocos Islands intent on destroying the wireless station on Direction Island and cutting one of the underwater communications cables that linked Australia to Great Britain. Unbeknown to the Emden’s captain, Carl von Muller, the first troop convoy to leave Australia was only 80 kilometres from the Cocos Islands and HMAS Sydney was excused from escort duties in order to investigate.

The Emden sailed out to meet the larger and faster Sydney, but 90 minutes later the battle was over and the Sydney’s Captain John Glossop was able to signal ‘Emden beached and done for’.

Glossop later described the action in somewhat colourful terms:

My God, what a sight! Her captain had been out of action ten minutes after the fight started from lyddite fumes, and everybody on board was demented – that’s all you could call it, just fairly demented – by shock, and fumes, and the roar of shells among them. She was a shambles. Blood, guts, flesh, and uniforms were all scattered about. One of our shells had landed behind a gun shield, and had blown the whole gun-crew into one pulp. You couldn’t even tell how many men there had been. They must have had forty minutes of hell on that ship, for out of four hundred men a hundred and forty were killed and eighty wounded and the survivors were practically madmen. They crawled up to the beach and they had one doctor fit for action; but he had nothing to treat them with – they hadn’t even got any water. A lot of them drank salt water and killed themselves. They were not ashore twenty-four hours, but their wounds were flyblown and the stench was awful – it’s hanging about the Sydney yet. I took them on board and got four doctors to work on them and brought them up here.

The first convoy of Australian troops leaves Australia on 1 November 1914

The first contingent of the Australia Imperial Force (AIF) set sail for Europe from Albany in Western Australia on 1 November 1914. The convoy consisted of 38 transport ships (as well as a further 10 from New Zealand) escorted by 7 warships. While in transit, the troops were ordered to disembark in Egypt where they formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Further reading

Department of Veterans’ Affairs, ‘First Convoy of Australian Troops in World War I’, Anzac Portal, 2 September 2021.

Department of Veterans’ Affairs, ‘Transport of Australians to War Zones in World War I’, Anzac Portal, 24 February 2022.

Peter Burness, ‘Going to War in 1914’, Wartime (Spring 2014): 20–24.

Second World War

Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea, 19–31 January 1944

Shaggy Ridge is a long ridge line which is the highest part of the Finisterre Ranges in what was then north-eastern New Guinea. It was steep and difficult terrain and during December 1943 and January 1944 it was the scene of intense fighting as the attacking Australians pushed towards the northeast coast attempting to wrest the Huon Peninsula from the Japanese. During the second half of January 1944 the 18th Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Frederick Chilton, took part in Operation Cuthroat. The aim of this operation was to capture the Kankiryo Saddle, at the northern end of the Ridge. The Japanese defenders contested this advance with great vigour. When the 18th had taken Kankiryo Saddle, the Japanese continued to fight from Crater Hill, which overlooked the saddle. By this time, they were all but surrounded, and by 31 January those who had not been killed or wounded, retreated. The 18th Brigade suffered 46 deaths and 147 casualties. The Japanese are thought to have suffered up to 500 casualties.

Cowra – Japanese prisoner breakout, 5 August 1944

On 5 August 1944, Japanese prisoners of war housed at the detention camp in Cowra (NSW) attempted to break out. Many of the POWs were armed and the guards opened fire on the would-be escapees. Some 231 prisoners were killed, along with 4 Australians.

Leyte Gulf, October 1944

Few Australian ground forces played a part in the campaign to reclaim the Philippines from the Japanese, which took place from October 1944. The Australia Government and General Douglas MacArthur had been unable to reach an agreement about the involvement of Australian troops, with MacArthur wanting 2 Australian Divisions strictly under his control and the Curtin Government unwilling to cede so much control.

As a result of this lack of agreement, Australia’s main involvement in the campaign to retake the Philippines was through the RAN and the Royal Australian Air force (RAAF). Many of Australia’s casualties in the campaign to retake the Philippines were the result of kamikaze attacks and of these, the majority were on the Country Class heavy cruiser HMAS Australia. The losses included HMAS Australia’s outstanding commanding officer, Emile Dechaineux.

The Americans decided that the initial attack would be at Leyte because they had identified that Japanese defences were weak there. The target date, named ‘A day’, was set for 20 October 1944.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs provides some background to Australian involvement on its Australia’s War 1939–45 website:

As the naval invasion fleet approached Leyte, at its forefront was a hydrographical survey group plotting and marking the approaches to the beaches. It included the Australian frigate HMAS Gascoyne and Fairmile motor launch HDML 1074 laying buoys to mark the approach channels. The ships that followed delivering American troops included the three Australian landing ships, or LSIs (Landing Ships, Infantry), HMA Ships Kanimbla, Manoora and Westralia. As well as the Americans on board, they carried landing craft to ferry the troops ashore. On board also were several Australian soldiers who served in landing craft liaison teams. Protecting the force were many more Allied warships including the Australian cruisers HMA Ships Australia and Shropshire and the destroyers HMA Ships Arunta and Warramunga. The warships bombarded enemy positions on the shore before sailing further out to sea to protect the flanks of the invasion fleet.

In the days that followed, the Allied ships endured repeated air attacks as the Japanese reacted to the landing. The Australia became the first Allied warship struck by a kamikaze (suicide) aircraft when it was rammed on 21 October. Thirty of Australia’s crew, including Captain Emile Dechaineux DSC, were killed or died of wounds. Another 64 men, including a soldier who was a member of a liaison team from the Army’s 1^st Australian Naval Bombardment Group, were wounded; 26 of these were classified as seriously wounded with burns and shrapnel wounds. Badly damaged, the Australia was escorted out of the battle area by the Warramunga for repairs. The Shropshire and Arunta stayed on battle station and took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, part of the wider Battle of Leyte Gulf, in which the Allied naval forces defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy’s attempt to attack the invasion fleet.

At this point, kamikaze attacks were a new development in the war and undoubtedly a shock to those on board the vessels being attacked. The Nichols article below captures some of this:

On the morning of 21 October, Trafalgar Day, a Japanese Val dive bomber suddenly appeared between Shropshire and Australia. Australia had just weighed anchor, making ready to provide fire support for the Americans ashore. Captain Nichols in Shropshire reports what happened next: During the dawn stand-to a low aircraft approached from the land between Australia and Shropshire. It was taken under fire and retired to the westward. Observers in Shropshire report that the aircraft was hit and touched the water but recovered. It then turned east again and although under heavy fire, passed up the port side of Australia, and crashed into the foremast at [6.05 am].

Lieutenant Commander Richard Peek, Australia's gunnery officer, was on the bridge at the time. He called to Captain Emile Dechaineux, "Just look at this. She's aiming for us." The Val was heading straight for the bridge and the safety training stops on the 4 inch guns and the pom poms prevented their firing till the aircraft had dropped to an angle of about 30 degrees. By that time it was over the stern. Its cannon played over the upper deck, causing many casualties. According to one observer on Australia, the gun crews "engaged the enemy with no appreciable result, although the pilot's aim was slightly upset, so that he hit the foremast with his wing root and went over the side, instead of falling on board and adding to the fires." But its petrol tanks had exploded, soaking those on the bridge. Commodore John Collins, commander of the Australian Squadron, suffered bums and other wounds; Dechaineux and the navigator, Commander John Rayment, were mortally wounded.

In all, 30 officers and men were killed or died of wounds, with 64 wounded, 26 of these seriously. Many of the men were badly burnt, and almost unrecognisable. The luckiest survivors were two men in the crow's nest when the plane struck it just a metre below them. The explosion cut away two of the legs supporting it, and bent the mast back. Neither was injured.