North Beach Review

1901

How old is Australia’s Navy?  This might seem a simple question, but over the years the Australian Navy’s birthday has remained a source of some confusion.  The date now accepted is 1 March 1901.  The previously accepted date of 10 July 1911 is not the birth date of naval forces in Australia, rather it was the date that the Sovereign granted the title ‘Royal Australian Navy

The Australian Army was formed on March 1st, 1901, as the Commonwealth Military Forces, through the amalgamation of the Australian colonial forces following Federation

For the record, A Field Battery, raised on 1 August 1871, is Australia’s oldest, continuously-serving, full-time military unit.

1921

Formation of the Royal Australian Air Force

1931

General Sir John Monash, GCMG, KCB, VD; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931, was a civil engineer. lawyer and an Australian military commander of the First World War.   He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the war and then, shortly after its outbreak, became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt, with whom he took part in the Gallipoli campaign.  In July 1916 he took charge of the newly raised 3rd Division in north western France and in May 1918 became commander of the Australian Corps, at the time the largest corps on the Western Front.  Monash is considered one of the best Allied generals of the First World War and the most famous commander in Australian history.

1941

Australia on 9 December 1941 declared war with the Empire of Japan.

The 6th Division went into action at Bardia on 3 January 1941.  Although a larger Italian force manned the fortress, with the support of British tanks and artillery the Australian infantry quickly penetrated the defensive lines, and it was a major victory for the Australians.

The collapse of British power in the Pacific also led Australia to reorient its foreign and military policy towards the United States. Curtin stated in December 1941 “that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom.”[

The massive expansion of the military led to a critical shortage of male workers and increased female participation in the labour force.  The number of Australian women in paid employment increased from 644,000 in 1939, to 855,000 in 1944.  Large numbers of women moved from traditionally “female” roles into “male” roles in industry.

Female branches of the armed forces were established in 1941, and by 1944 almost 50,000 women were serving in the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service, Australian Women’s Army Service and Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force.  Thousands more served with the civilian Australian Women’s Land Army or undertook voluntary war work.

Workforce shortages became an increasingly significant economic issue towards the end of the war, and the Australian military was reduced in size from 1944, to free up personnel for war industries and the civilian economy.

1951

The first parachute training unit was formed in 1942 the Paratroop Training Unit (PTU) and at the end of the war was disbanded.[2] On 12 August 1951, the Parachute Training Wing was formed as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) unit at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales.  The unit’s first Commanding Officer/Chief Instructor was Squadron Leader C.A.V. Bourne.  The instructors on the staff were both Army and RAAF personnel.[3] The first course of trainees commenced in September 1951.  In 1958, the wing was renamed the Parachute Training Flight.  In 1961, the first Military Free Fall (MFF) Paratroop Course was conducted.

In 1951, all men aged 18 were required to register for national service and to undertake various training obligations, depending on which force they served in.  Once training was completed, national servicemen were required to remain in the Reserve for five years, with some 33,000 men being trained annually for the scheme’s first six years.

Those called up under this scheme did not see active service.  In 1957, the universal obligation for national service ended and a selective system of training was introduced.  This lasted until the scheme ended in 1959.

On 22–25 April 1951 at Kapyong River, Korea, the Battle of Kapyong.  3RAR awarded Presidential Citation, and 24 April is commemorated as Kapyong Day within 3 RAR.

1961

In 1961, three Charles F. Adams-class destroyers were purchased from the United States to replace the ageing Q-class destroyers.  Traditionally, the RAN had purchased designs based on those of the Royal Navy and the purchase of American destroyers was significant.  HMAS Perth and HMAS Hobart joined the fleet in 1965, followed by HMAS Brisbane in 1967.  Other projects included the construction of six River-class frigates, the conversion of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne to an anti-submarine role, the acquisition of ten Wessex helicopters, and the purchase of six Oberon-class submarines.

In 1961 and 1962, the leader of the South Vietnamese government, Ngo Dinh Diem, asked for assistance from the US and its allies in response to a growing insurgency supported by communist North Vietnam.  Australia offered 30 military advisors from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, which became known simply as “The Team”.

1971

It was reported in Australian newspapers that on 7^th November 1971 – Australia’s combat role in the Vietnam war ended when 1100 men of the 4th Battalion withdrew from Nui Dat which had been the main Australian base in Vietnam for five years.  The entire base was turned over to the South Vietnamese army just before midday.

1981

The first ‘proto-paramedic’ course was developed at the RAN Medical Training School (MTS) at HMAS Cerberus in 1981, in response to an ongoing shortfall in Navy medical officer recruiting after the Vietnam War that precluded the previous practice of putting doctors aboard every Fleet unit.

1991

On 26 January 1991, HMAS Westralia replaced HMAS Success.  A Navy clearance diving team was also deployed for explosive ordnance disposal and demolition tasks.  Australian ships were in danger of sea mines and possible air attacks.  In a number of recorded incidents, HMAS Brisbane encountered free floating mines, on one occasion narrowly avoiding a collision.  Both HMA Ships Brisbane and Sydney encountered significant air threat warnings from Iran and Iraq throughout the initial period of the commencement of the Desert Storm Campaign.  The detection of land based Silkworm anti-ship missiles from Iran throughout the campaign also added to the challenges for both crews as well as the multi-national Naval Forces