Just before midnight on 7 December 1941, Flying Officer Peter Gibbes stepped off the train at Kota Bharu on the coast of northeast Malaya after a long, tiring journey up the peninsula from Singapore. Gibbes, an airline pilot in peacetime, had been newly posted to the Royal Australian Air Force’s 1 Squadron, which in the ensuing hours would become the first Australian military unit to see action in the Pacific War.
This video vividly tells the story of Australia’s first action of the Pacific war.
This excellent video was created by the Australian Military Aviation History Association. See more of their great videos and information here.
Quantity Becomes a Quality All of Its Own
In the history of warfare, there have been mismatched conflicts where skilled forces have been gravely outnumbered By Caitlan Hester What leads to success or failure when quality grapples with quantity? Does victory boil down to ingenuity or is it a sheer numbers game? In this post, we’ll examine three times the underdog was underestimated; […]
Australia’s first known female voter, the famous Mrs Fanny Finch
Reading time: 7 minutes
On 22 January 1856, an extraordinary event in Australia’s history occurred. It is not part of our collective national identity, nor has it been mythologised over the decades through song, dance, or poetry. It doesn’t even have a hashtag. But on this day in the thriving gold rush town of Castlemaine, two women took to the polls and cast their votes in a democratic election.
Weekly History Quiz No.224
1. Which was the largest empire in the pre-European conquest Americas?
Try the full 10 question quiz.
