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.
THE PHANTOM OLYMPICS-Why Japan Forfeited Hosting the 1940 Olympics
When the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was only the fourth time that international events prevented the games from going forward. Perhaps surprisingly, this was the second time for Tokyo, although 2020 was ultimately postponed a year rather than canceled By Paul Droubie The 1940 Tokyo Summer […]
General History Quiz 213
1. What was the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt?
Try the full 10 question quiz.
Why we should remember the Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 has become the touchstone for the Australian-American strategic relationship. The 75th anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on why this engagement, in which for the first time the opposing fleets did not sight one another, still resonates. By Peter Jones During the six months after the […]
