October

Date	Year	Title	Event
1 October	1918	Australian Light Horsemen take Damascus.	The Light Horse advances into Damascus, the Syrian capital, at the end of the long and victorious advance that ended the First World War in the Middle East
2 October	1943	9th Division captures Finschhafen	Finschhafen, in New Guinea, subsequently becomes the base for the protracted Huon Peninsula campaign, 1943-44.
3 October	1918	Maxwell VC	Lieutenant J. Maxwell, 18th Battalion, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, performed the action that resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross, on the fortified 'Beaurevoir line', near Estrees, France.
3 October	1992	Dedication, Australian Vietnam Veterans' National Memorial	The Vietnam Veterans' National Memorial, Anzac Parade, Canberra, was opened by the Prime Minister, the Hon. Paul Keating, MP, and honours those Australians who served and died in the war in Vietnam.
3 - 8 October	1951	Battle of Maryang-San, Korea	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, made a successful assault against Chinese positions on Hill 317 (Maryang-San) and held the important feature in the face of fierce counter-attacks.
4 October	1917	McGee VC	Sergeant L. McGee, 40th Battalion, originally from Campbelltown, Tasmania, wins the Victoria Cross near Ypres, Belgium. McGee was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously.
4 October	1917	Peeler VC	Lance Corporal W. Peeler, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, originally from Castlemaine, Victoria, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Broodseinde Ridge, during the battle of Ypres, Belgium.
5 October	1918	Capture of Montbrehai, France	Montbrehain was the AIF's final action in France in the Great War, in which the 2nd Division captured the village at a cost of 430 casualties.
5 October	1918	Ingram VC	Lieutenant G. Ingram, 24th Battalion, originally from Bendigo, Victoria, wins the Victoria Cross at Montbrehain, east of Peronne, France.
5 October	1951	HMAS Sydney in Korean waters	The commencement of the aircraft carrier, HMAS Sydney's, first patrol off Korea's west coast made Australia the third country (after the USA and Britain) to operate a carrier in the Korean War. The carrier operated Firefly and Sea Fury aircraft (both types can be seen in the Memorial's Bradbury Aircraft Hall).
5 October	1951	Second Australian battalion committed to Korea	From September 1950 the main Australian army unit in Korea had been the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. The Australian Governmenrt annouced that the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment would join it in March 1952.
6 October	1971	HMAS Sydney at Vung Tau	The carrier embarked the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, as Australia's participation in the Vietnam war wound down.
7 October	1950	UN command forces authorised to cross 38th parallel	In the northern autumn of 1950 when it seemed that the North Koreans had been defeated, the United Nations General Assembly authorised UN command forces to pursue North Korean troops across the parallel. The subsequent advance precipitated China's entry into the war.
7 October	1951	Fighting continues at Maryang-San, Korea	The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, drives towards 'The Hinge' on Hill 317, the final obstacle to throwing the Chinese from the feature and fends off strong counter-attacks.
8 October	1942	Templeton's Crossing	25th Brigade, 7th Division, contacts Japanese rear-guard at Tempelton's Crossing. The pursuit of the Japanese retreating along the Kokoda Trail involved hard fights. Templeton's Crossing was named after an officer of the 39th Battalion, lost without trace in the retreat from Kokoda.
9 October	1950	United Nations Forces advance into North Korea	Following the surprise landing at Inchon, behind North Korean lines, United nations forces rapidly pushed back the North Koreans and advanced deep into North Korea.
10 October	1917	Battle of Poelcappelle, Western Front.	Australian divisions continued to attack in the third battle of Ypres. The attack on Poelcappelle, launched amid heavy rain, was to cost 1250 casualties for no gain of ground.
11 October	1944	Australians land at Jacquinot Bay, New Britain	The Australians' arrival opened the successful New Britain campaign in which a small Militia force successfully contained the large Japanese garrison holding Rabaul.
12 October	1917	Jeffries VC	Captain C. Jeffries, 34th Battalion, originally from Wallsend, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross at Passchendaele, Belgium, a posthumous award.
13 October	1969	HMAS Brisbane returns to Sydney	This was the end of the Brisbane's first deployment to Vietnam. A turret from HMAS Brisbane is on display outside the Memorial.
14 October	1927	HMAS Adelaide at Solomon Islands	HMAS Adelaide arrives at the British Solomon Islands Protectorate as part of a British punitive expedition. The Royal Australian Navy operated as part of a British empire force in one of the first instances in which Australian forces intervened in regional affairs.
15 October	1942	Fighting at Templeton's crossing	25th Brigade, 7th Division, drive Japanese attackers back from Templeton's crossing
16 October	1967	Royal Australian Navy Helicopters deploy to Vietnam	An RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam (RANHFV '67) joins the US Army's 135th Aviation Company at Vung Tau, supporting American troops in South Vietnam.
17 October	1950	Sariwon, Korea	3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in action at Sariwon, Korea. In a bold bluff, the battalion's second-in-command, Major Ferguson, convinces at least 1,500 North Korean soldiers to surrender at Sariwon during confused fighting.
18 October	1944	HMAS Geelong sunk	HMAS Geelong was one of four corvettes lost during the Second World War. It collided with an American merchant ship off New Guinea.
18 October	1967	HMAS Perth hit	HMAS Perth struck by return fire near Cape Lai, Vietnam, while on the United States 7th Fleet 'gunline'. This was the only occasion on which an Australian warship suffered casualties from enemy fire during the Vietnam War.
19 October	1945	War Widow's Guild of Australia founded	The guild's first president was Mrs Jessie Vasey, widow of Major General G.A. Vasey. It is still an active organisation today. Major General Vasey was killed in an aircraft accident near Cairns while returning to operational service.
20 October	1900	New South Wales naval contingent enters Peking	New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia sent naval contingents as part of a British empire force deployed against anti-western Chinese secret societies.
21 October	1915	Australian Red Cross Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau established	Miss Vera Deakin, daughter of ex-Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, establishes the Australian Red Cross Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau in Cairo. The Missing and Wounded Enquiry Bureau handled many thousands of enquiries from Australian families seeking information on wounded and missing soldiers during the Great War.
21 October	1916	5th Australian Division on Western Front	The 5th Australian Division entered the front line near Flers on the Somme. By October the Somme battlefield was a waste of mud-bound craters. The troops' misery is depicted in the Somme Winter diorama in the Memorial's galleries.
21 October	1944	HMAS Australia damaged by Kamikaze aircraft	The Japanese first used suicide attacks on warships in the Allied fleet supporting the American landings on Leyte in the Philippines.
22 October	1946	Sewell GC	Corporal J. Sewell, 10th Australian Bomb Disposal Platoon, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, was awarded the George Medal for his rescue of Japanese survivors after an explosion in a boat carrying high explosives.
22 October	1950	Battle of the Apple Orchard, Yongju, Korea.	C Company, The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, involved in their first major action of the Korean War in an apple orchard near Yongju.
23 October	1942	Battle of El Alamein begins	The battle of El Alamein, in Egypt, one of the turning point battles of the Second World War, began with a massive artillery bombardment preceding attacks by British and Australian divisions.
23 - 31 October	1942	Kibby VC	Sergeant W.H. Kibby, 2/48th Battalion, originally from Durham in the United Kingdom, wins the Victoria Cross at the battle of El-Alamein, Egypt.
24 October	1942	Eora Creek, Kokoda Trail	The 16th Brigade, 7th Division, continued to drive the Japanese back along the Kokoda Trail but met heavy resistance at Eora Creek in late October.
25 - 26 October	1942	Gratwick VC	Private P.E. Gratwick, 2/48th Battalion, originally from Katanning, Western Australia, wins the Victoria Cross at El Alamein, Egypt.
27 October	1950	Chinese enter the Korean War.	Having secretly moved at least 180,000 men into North Korea, Chinese forces began attacking south, surprising UN Command.
28 October	1916	First conscription referendum	Dismayed by heavy losses at Fromelles and Pozières on the Western Front, Prime Minister W.M. Hughes proposed that conscription be introduced for overseas service. The proposal was defeated.
29 - 30 October	1950	Australians reach Chongju	Australian troops of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, reach Chongju, the most northerly point of their advance into North Korea. In two days fierce fighting against determined North Korean opposition the Australians clear Chongju and the surrounding ridges.
30 October	1918	Armistice with Turkey	Armistice signed with Turkey, ending Turkish involvement in the First World War. Australian troops had taken a prominent part in the war against the Ottoman empire, especially on Gallipoli and in Sinai-Palestine.
31 October	1917	Beersheba, Paelstine	At Beersheba the 4th Light Horse Brigade's bold charge against Turkish positions at Beersheba, seized a critical wells that enabled British empire forces to break the Ottoman line near Gaza and advance into Palestine.