December

Date	Year	Title	Event
1 December	1942	HMAS Armidale sunk	HMAS Armidale was sunk by Japanese aircraft near Timor. As the Armidale sank Able Seaman Teddy Sheehan fired at attacking bombers until he was lost with his ship.
1 December	1951	Air battle over Sunchon, North Korea	In this, the largest air-to-air battle fought by the RAAF during the Korean war, twelve 77Squadron Meteors met between 40-50 Chinese Mig-15s. The fight precipitated a change from an air interception to a ground attack role for No. 77 Squadron.
2 December	1914	First Australian military aircraft despatched to war	Australian aircraft and their crews left to form the 'Mespopotamian Half Flight', fighting in what is now Iraq. Many were captured at the fall of Kut in 1916.
3 December	1915	Siege of Kut begins in Mesopotamia.	Nine members of the Australian Flying Corps serving with 30 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, became trapped in Kut with the forces of Major General Charles Townsend when the town was besieged by the Turks. The Kut garrison surrendered in April 1916.
3 December	1914	First AIF disembarked in Egypt	Though many had expected to go to Britain, after Turkey's entry into the war the first Australian troops were sent to Egypt to protect the vital Suez Canal. .
3 December	1954	No. 77 Squadron RAAF returns from Korea.	77 Squadron achieved a high level of operational performance throughout the war, flying Mustangs and then Meteors.
4 December	1990	Royal Australian Navy involvement in the Persian Gulf approved.	Approval given by the Australian Government for the Royal Australian Navy's involvement in the Persian Gulf. Ultimately 8 Australian ships served in the Gulf.
5 December	1939	First official RAAF operation of World War Two	A Sunderland aircraft of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, flew on the first official RAAF operation of the Second World War. This was the beginning of six years of war for 10 Squadron, which flew as part of RAF Coastal Command continuously against U-boats in the battle of the Atlantic.
5 December	1950	Evacuation of Chinnampo, Korea	HMA Ships Bataan and Warramunga took part in evacuating Chinnampo, which involved operating in the very shallow waters of the Taedong River estuary at night.
6 December	1951	HMAS Sydney begins its second patrol off Korea	Sydney's aircraft were used to protect South Korean-held islands on Korea's north-west coast.
7 December	1915	Evacuation of ANZAC begins	Though the Gallipoli campaign had failed British empire forces at least planned and executed the evacuation without loss.
7 - 8 December	1941	Pearl Harbour	Japanese aircraft attack the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour. With the Japanese attack on European possessions in Asia the Second World War was now a truly global conflict.
8 December	1941	Japan invades Malaya and Thailand	This attack (which occurred virtually simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbour) would lead within three months to the loss of Malaya and Singapore.
8 December	1941	Australia at war with Japan	Australia announces that it is at war with Japan. Some 17,000 Australians would die in the three-and-a-half-year war against Japan, 8,000 as prisoners of war.
9 December	1917	Jerusalem occupied by the Desert Mounted Corps	The capture of Jerusalem, a city significant for Christians, Jews and Moslems, was one of the triumphs for British empire forces in the Middle East in 1917.
9 December	1942	Australians occupy Gona, New Guinea	The Japanese withdrawal from the Kokoda trail enabled the allies to plan the encirclement of important Japanese positions in the Buna, Sanananda and Gona beachhead. Gona was the first of the three to fall to the allies after weeks of heavy fighting.
9 December	1997	Death of Mr Ted Matthews	About 50,000 Australians served on Gallipoli. Some 8,000 died in 1915. Ted Matthews was the last survivor of those who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
10 December	1941	HM Ships Repulse and Prince of Wales sunk	The sinking of these powerful warships by Japanese torpedo bombers off Malaya came as a shock to those who had under-estimated Japan's military ability and had relied on the imagined impregnable Singapore naval base. The sinkings heralded the significance of air power in the Pacific war.
11 December	1941	Germany and Italy declare war on the United States	Though they had no need to do so, the declaration of war against the United States aligned the world's greatest economic and military power against them and virtually ensured their eventual defeat.
11 December	1952	Operation Fauna, Korea	The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment begins Operation Fauna in Korea, its objective is to capture prisoners and destroy enemy defences. Operation Fauna was a major trench raid on Chinese positions near Hill 355 to snatch a prisoner. Although no prisoners were taken, Chinese dispositions near Hill 355 were seriously disrupted.
12 December	1917	HMAS Australia damaged	The battle cruiser HMAS Australia damaged in a collision with the battle cruiser HMS Repulse.
13 December	1915	Light Horse fight at Um Rakham	The Light Horse was deployed against pro-Turkish Arabs of an Islamic sect known as the Senussi, in Egypt's western desert.
14 December	1941	Japanese forces land at Penang, Malaya	Penang's military importance lay in the island's port facilities and its stocks of ammunition and stores. When the allies were unable to stop the Japanese advance on the mainland it became clear that the island would have to be evacuated.
15 December	1900	Australia's first Governor General arrives	HMS Royal Arthur, bringing the first Governor General of Australia, the Earl of Hopetoune, arrives in Sydney.
16 December	1944	Battle of the Bulge	Germans launch their final offensive of the Second World War in the west in the Ardennes Forest, in Belgium. The offensive, known as the battle of the Bulge, was defeated by British and American ground and air forces.
17 December	1967	HMAS Perth under fire	HMAS Perth comes under fire off Dong Hoi, Vietnam.
18 December	1944	'Arty' Hill, Bougainville, captured	'Arty Hill', as it was known, was captured by the Queensland 9th Battalion, and was a major Japanese position on the Numa Numa Trail leading across Bougainville.
19 December	1951	HMAS Sydney completes a tour of operations off Korea's west coast.	Aircraft from Sydney left no operable railway lines in its area of operations, significantly disrupting enemy supply routes.
20 December	1915	Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli	The evacuation of Gallipoli, largely planned by Brigadier General C.B.B. White, was a triumph of careful planning and bold execution.
20 December	1917	Second conscription referendum held in Australia	With the AIF further weakened by the losses of 1917, W.M. Hughes again asked Australians to vote for conscription for overseas service. The proposal was again defeated.
21 December	1916	Light Horse capture El Arish	Originally intended as an outpost for the defence of the Suez Canal, El Arish became one of the first steps in the Allied advance on Palestine.
22 December	1941	First United States troops arrive in Australia	Australia soon became a major base for US forces in the war against Japan. They were warmly welcomed as representing a defence for Australia.
23 December	1916	Battle of Magdhaba, northern Sinai.	The capture of Magdhaba by Chauvel's Mounted Brigade and the Imperial Camel Corps helped open the way for the successful Allied campaign in Palestine.
24 December	1941	Benghazi recaptured	Benghazi changed hands three times as the North African campaign ebbed and flowed along the Mediterranean coast
26 December	1941	Japanese forces capture Hong Kong	Hong Kong, a tiny British colony on the Chinese coast, withstood a three-week siege by the Japanese.
27 December	1941	Prime Minister Curtin announces that 'Australia looks to America'.	Once the United States entered the Second World War and the United Kingdom's weakness in South East Asia had been exposed the United States became Australia's main ally; a situation that would endure long after the war ended.
27 December	1943	7th Division capture 'The Pimple', Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea	The four-month battle for Shaggy Ridge culminated with the capture of this Japanese position on the ridge's summit.
28 December	1940	6th Division in their first action near Bardia	Bardia, the Second AIF's first battle, involved an attack on an Italian frontier fortress. The preliminary operations began several days before the main attack was launched..
29 December	1860	Action at Matarikoriko, New Zealand	Sailors from the Victorian Colonial warship, Victoria, take part in the action at Matarikoriko, New Zealand. The Victoria's service in New Zealand waters during the second Anglo-Maori war, represents the first overseas military operation by an Australian unit, the beginning of Australia's overseas war history.
30 December	1944	Australians of the 25th Battalion occupy Pearl Ridge, Bougainville.	The capture of the heavily defended Japanese position on Pearl ridge gave the Australians possession of this important vantage point that provided views over both sides of Bougainville.
31 December	1914	The second convoy of the First AIF departs Albany	Volunteers for the Australian Imperial Force enlisted so readily that a second convoy of reinforcements left within two months of the first. Many of those aboard its ships would land on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
31 December	1967	3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment arrives in South Vietnam	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, sailed to Vietnam on HMAS Sydney.