March

Date	Year	Title	Event
1 March	1901	Naval and military forces of the States transferred to Commonwealth control	With Federation state and federal authorities began planning for the establishment of federal military forces.
1 March	1942	HMAS Perth sunk in Sunda Strait	Having survived the Battle of the Java Sea HMAS Perth and the United States Cruiser Houston were sunk in a battle against overwhelming Japanese forces off the western tip of Java. 353 of Perth's 680 crew were killed in the battle.
2 March	1943	Battle of Bismarck Sea begins	A Japanese convoy of 8 transport ships and 8 escorting destroyers was almost annihilated by Allied air attacks as they attempted to reinforce the garrison at Lae. Of the 6,000 Japanese troops bound for Lae only 2,890 survived.
2 March	1972	Last RAAF flight out of Vietnam	Australia's involvement in Vietnam was among the most divisive issues in Australia during the second half of the twentieth century, leaving a legacy of bitterness that continued long after the conclusion of the war.
3 March	1885	Sudan contingent departed Sydney	New South Wales' offer to send a contingent to the Sudan was a demonstration of the depth of imperial sentiment in colonial Australia.
3 March	1942	Broome and Wyndham bombed	The Japanese air raid on Broome came when the port was crowded with refugees fleeing the Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. About 70 people, including many civilians are thought to have been killed in the raid. Japanese Attacks on Wyndham focused on the town's aerodrome.
4 March	1942	HMAS Yarra sunk south of Java	Yarra was escorting a convoy of three ships from the fighting in the Netherlands East Indies to Java to Fremantle when they were attacked by three Japanese heavy cruisers and two destroyers. All four ships were sunk and only 13 of Yarra's 151 crew survived.
5 March	1970	HMAS Sydney arrives at Fremantle, en route to Sydney.	On board was 5RAR which had completed a tour in Vietnam. HMAS Sydney made 21 voyages to Vietnam during the war.
7 March	1942	Japanese occupation of Java complete	Allied forces offered little resistance to the Japanese invasion of Java, the former Dutch colony fell to the Japanese 16th Army on 12 March.
7 March	1965	3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, deploys to Borneo	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment along with two squadrons of the Special Air Service, several artillery batteries, parties of the Royal Australian Engineers and ships of the Royal Australian Navy constituted Australia's support for the new Federation of Malaysia against Indonesia during the 4 years of Confrontation.
8 March	1942	Japanese land at Lae and Salamua	Lae and Salamaua were occupied by the Japanese to provide defensive depth for their important air and sea base at Rabaul.
9 March	1942	7th Division AIF arrives in Adelaide	Leading brigade of the 7th Division AIF arrives in Adelaide from the Middle East. Elements of the Division had been sent to Java where they soon became prisoners of the Japanese.
10 March	1942	Japanese land at Finschhafen	The Japanese needed to capture towns such as Finschhafen and Salamaua to protect the their forward air base at Lae.
11 March	1845	First Maori War	British troops based in Australia were sent to suppress an uprising by Maoris who were unhappy at the continuing expansion of European settlement in New Zealands North Island.
11 March	1917	Baghdad occupied	Members of the 1st Anzac Wireless Signal Squadron attached to Lieutenant General Stanley Maude's force of two British Army Corps and one Indian Cavalry Division occupy Baghdad.
12 March	1900	Australians arrive at Bloemfontein, South Africa	Members of the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, under Lord Roberts, reached Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, under Roberts' strategy of taking the war into the Boer Republics.
13 March	1943	Japanese reconnaissance flight over Darwin	In addition to the 64 air raids on Darwin the Japanese made numerous reconnaissance flights over northern Australia.
14 March	1942	Horn Island bombed	Japanese bomb Horn Island, Torres Strait. Horn Island, in the Torres Strait, was the main tactical base for Allied air operations in the Torres Strait. The island was subject to 9 Japanese air raids during the Second World War.
15 March	1940	First two women from the Voluntary Aid Detachments organisation enlist in the AIF.	Most Voluntary Aids transferred after August 1942 into the new Australian Army Women's Medical Service. Over 200 Voluntary Aids served in the Middle East and Ceylon during World War II.
16 March	1943	Newton, VC	Flight Lieutenant W.E. Newton, originally from St Kilda, Victoria, was awarded Victoria Cross for action at Salamua Isthmus, New Guinea. This was a posthumous award.
16 March	1942	Darwin bombed	Darwin was subject to 64 Japanese air raids during the Second World War
17 March	1917	Australians occupy Bapaume, Western Front	Originally the objective for the first day of the Somme campaign, Bapaume was occupied by the 5th Division after fighting rearguards from the German retreat of early 1917.
17 March	1942	General MacArthur flies to Darwin	Having left the Philippines after the Japanese invasion, General MacArthur was appointed to command the newly created South West Pacific Area. Australia became the base from which he would launch offensive action against the Japanese in the Pacific.
18 March	1915	Allied fleet attempts to force the Dardanelles.	This was the second allied attempt to force a naval break through of the Turkish defences in the Dardanelles.
18 March	1943	Admiral Yamamoto, Imperial Japanese Navy, killed.	American Intelligence decoded signals that provided the timetable for Yamamoto's flight. His aircraft was intercepted and shot down near Bougainville by American Lightnings from Guadalcanal. Yamamoto, Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
19 March	1916	Sir John Maxwell withdrawn from Egypt, leaving Sir Archibald Murray in command	Murray ultimately led Allied forces, including the Australian Light Horse, in the war against Turkey in the Sinai and Palestine.
20 March	1916	Anzac Corps land in France	With Gallipoli behind them the bulk of Australia's forces were now sent to France where the terrible fighting on the Western Front awaited.
20 March	1917	McNamara, VC	Lieutenant McNamara, originally from Rushworth, Victoria, becomes the first Australian airman to win a Victoria Cross for rescuing a downed comrade in Palestine.
21 March	1918	Final German offensive of the First World War begins	The Germans hoped to split the Allied forces around Amiens and drive towards the English channel. After initial success their advance slowed and was turned into the retreat that eventually led to the end of the First World War.
21 March	1942	Air battle for Port Moresby begins	The Japanese had hoped to occupy Port Moresby as a base from which to cut off shipping to Eastern Australia. Their defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea thwarted the planned naval attack and invasion against Port Moresby.
22 March	1942	Japanese aircraft bomb Katherine	This was the only air raid against Katherine in the Second World War, one man was killed.
22 March	1945	Rattey, VC.	Corporal Rattey , 25th Battalion, originally from Barmedman, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross on Bougainville
23 March	1945	Waitavolo and Tol plantations captured by Australians, New Britain	In 1942 the Tol plantation was the scene of the massacre of some 150 Australians as they attempted to flee Rabaul. The capture of the plantations in 1945 enabled the Australian XXX division to establish a line across the Gazelle Peninsula from which they were able to conduct patrols against Japanese positions in the North of New Britain.
24 March	1901	Veldfontein	Australians capture Boer convoy and guns at Veldfontein
24 March	1942	Port Moresby bombed by Japanese	The Japanese had hoped to occupy Port Moresby as a base from which to cut off shipping to Eastern Australia. Their defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea thwarted the planned naval attack and invasion against Port Moresby.
25 March	1945	Chowne, VC	Lieutenant Chowne, 2/2 Battalion AIF, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross posthumously at Dagua, New Guinea.
26 March	1917	Cherry, VC	Captain Cherry, 26th Battalion AIF, originally from Drysdale, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Lagnicourt. It was a posthumous award.
26 March	1917	First Battle of Gaza begins	This was the first Allied attempt to capture this major Turkish centre lying 32 kilometres inside the border of Palestine. The Allied strength included two Australian Light Horse Brigades and the ANZAC Mounted Division under Major General Harry Chauvel.
27 March	1944	First Victory Loan	Australian Government launches first Victory Loan aimed at raising £150 million for the war effort. Twelve major Government war loans were offered to the Australian public during the Second World War.
27 March	1953	Last engagement between Meteors and MIGS in the Korean War.	Meteors had been found to be inferior to MIGS in air to air combat in Korea and were transferred to ground attack duties.
28 March	1918	McDougall, VC.	Sergeant McDougall, 47th Battalion, originally from Recherche, Tasmania, wins Victoria Cross at Dernancourt.
29 March	1885	New South Wales contingent arrive in Sudan	New South Wales' offer to send a contingent to the Sudan was a demonstration of the depth of imperial sentiment in colonial Australia.
29 March	1941	Battle of Matapan, Greece	HMA ships Perth, Vendetta and Stuart were among 13 Allied ships involved in the battle which saw the loss of five Italian ships and 1,230 men. Victory at Matapan gave the Allies sea control of the Eastern Mediterranean until the end of the campaigns in Greece and Crete.
31 March	1921	Formation of the Australian Air Force	The Australian Air Force became the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 31 August 1921.