DVA 145 Monday 1 October 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.

5-11 October

5 October 1918: The Australian 2nd Division captured the French town of Montbrehain, in the last action of World War I involving the Australian Imperial Force. After the Allied forces broke through the Hindenburg Line, British troops had taken the town on 3 October but were driven out by a strong German counter-attack. The 2nd Division’s 6th Brigade was ordered to make an another attack on the town and captured it along with 400 prisoners. That night, the AIF left the front line and moved to a rest area west of Abbeville.

During the battle, Lieutenant George Ingram, 24th Battalion, originally from Bendigo, Victoria, won the Victoria Cross. Early in the attack when his platoon was held up by a strongpoint, Lieutenant Ingram rushed the post at the head of his platoon, capturing nine machine-guns and killing 42 enemy troops. Later, the situation became critical, with the company suffering severe casualties including a number of officers. Lieutenant Ingram rallied his men and led them forward. He single-handedly rushed the first post, shot six of the enemy and captured a machine-gun. On two other occasions he displayed great courage in capturing enemy posts, taking another 62 prisoners.

5 October 1951: HMAS Sydney began operating in Korean waters, making Australia the third country to operate an aircraft carrier in the Korean War.

5-8 October 1951: The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Hassett, fought the battle of Maryang San, described by Australia’s official historian as "probably the greatest single feat of the Australian Army during the Korean War". 3RAR aimed to take Hill 317 (Maryang San) under cover of darkness by scaling the eastern slopes. The attack began in heavy mist in the early morning of 5 October. The mist lifted late in the morning, leaving D Company exposed halfway up the slope. The Chinese, apparently expecting an attack from the north, were slow to react, enabling the Australians to take the first line of defence in a 20-minute firefight. The central ridgeline was taken the next morning, but 3RAR had to hold its position against a number of fierce counter-attacks before the hill was secured on the evening of 6 October. The next day, the Australians supported the Northumberland Fusiliers in taking the nearby Hill 217. That hill was finally taken on 8 October and the Australians were relieved later that day, having lost 20 men killed and another 104 wounded.

8 October 1990: HMAS Adelaide fired warning shots across the bow of an Iraqi cargo ship in the

Persian Gulf. Adelaide was part of the operation to enforce trade sanctions on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait. When the Al Wasitti refused to comply with orders to stop, Adelaide opened fire, first with a machine-gun, then with its 76mm gun. It was the first time since Vietnam that a Royal Australian Navy vessel had fired its main gun in anger.

10 October 1917: The Battle of Poelcappelle, part of the Third Ypres campaign on the Western Front, was fought by the Australian 2nd Division. The 2nd Division attacked the German lines with the objective of approaching the town of Passchendaele. However, torrential rain turned the battlefield into a sea of mud, bringing the advance to a halt. The Australians made some ground but without support could not hold their positions. The operation resulted in 1250 Australian casualties with no ground gained.

10 October 1939: The sloops HMA Ships Swan and Yarra commenced the first minesweeping operations on the Australian coast during World War II, after reports of an unidentified ship sighted off Gabo Island.

11 October 1944: Australian forces landed at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, at the beginning of a successful campaign to push back and contain the large Japanese garrison holding Rabaul.

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



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