DVA 24 Monday 19 March 2001

This Week in History - Our Wartime Heritage

Issued by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Bruce Scott, to foster awareness of Australia’s wartime history and heritage during the Centenary of Federation.

March 22-29

22 March 1942: Japanese aircraft bombed Katherine, 315km south of Darwin.  This was the only World War II inland air raid against Australia.  One man was killed.

24 March 1942: Port Moresby was heavily bombed by the Japanese.  An air battle was waged over Port Moresby from 21 March to 9 May 1942, as Australian and American pilots warded off repeated air attacks.  The Japanese had hoped to occupy Port Moresby as a base from which to cut off shipping to Australia.  Their defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea thwarted the planned naval attack and invasion of Port Moresby.  The RAAF’s 75 Squadron played a crucial role in the defence of the town.

25 March 1945: Lieutenant Albert Chowne, 2/2nd Battalion, 16th Brigade, 6th Division, born in Sydney, NSW, and his company attacked a Japanese position near Dagua, New Guinea.  Lieutenant Chowne, seeing that his commander had been killed, rushed ahead and knocked out two enemy machine-guns.  Calling on his men to follow him and firing his sub-machine gun from the hip, Lieutenant Chowne charged the enemy.  Although seriously wounded, he pushed forward and killed two more Japanese before being killed himself while firing into two enemy foxholes.  His actions contributed greatly to the capture of this heavily defended position and paved the way for the division’s advance to Wewak, on the north-east coast of New Guinea. Lieutenant Chowne was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery and courage.

26 March 1917: The 7th Australian Brigade, led by Captain Percy Cherry, of Drysdale, Victoria, captured Lagnicourt, France, which had been held by about 300 German soldiers.  During the German counter-attack, Captain Cherry noticed that the German infantry were firing yellow flares to notify their gunners of the Australians positions.  He obtained some of the flares and fired them to lure away the Germans.  Captain Cherry was later killed and posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Lagnicourt.

26 March 1944: The ANZAC Mounted Division took part in the Allies’ first attempt to capture Gaza, at the time a major Turkish military stronghold 32km inside the Palestinian border.

28 March 1918: Sergeant Stanley McDougall, 47th Battalion, 12th Brigade, 4th Division, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of Dernancourt, south of Albert, France. When a Lewis-gun team was killed by a German bomb, Sergeant McDougall grabbed the gun and attacked two

enemy machine-gun teams, killing their crews.  He turned one of the captured machine-guns on to the enemy, killing several, and routing that wave.  When 50 Germans crossed the Australian-held railway, Sergeant McDougall fired on them before they could establish themselves behind the battalion.  When his ammunition was spent he seized a bayonet and charged, killing four soldiers.  Sergeant McDougall then used a Lewis-gun on the enemy, killing many and forcing the surrender of the remaining 33 soldiers. Miraculously, he was uninjured and after the war returned home to Tasmania. His uniform and Lewis-gun are displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial.

Media Contact: Mark Croxford  02 6277 7820 or 0408 645 787



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