2020 Calendar of events
Due to the Corona Virus the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ANZAC Memorial in Sydney, Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and National ANZAC Centre in Albany were closed to the public but have now re-opened with restrictions on numbers and the times of visits. Please check each venue for the current opening times and any other requirements.
Gatherings such as lectures, meetings and Commemorations can no longer be conducted as they have been in previous years. Events planned by FFFAIF and kindred organisations are impacted and in some cases alternatives are being considered.
This Calendar of events is therefore indicative of key dates and events and will be updated to advise of alternative arrangements, deferrals and cancellations.
Tuesday 1 December, FFFAIF AGM
Zoom Meeting
7:00pm Australian EDT
8:00 am Greenwich Mean Time
9:00 am Central European Time
RSVP to agm.rsvp@fffaif.org.au
Dates in History
August
1 August 1917 Third Battle of Ypres begins.
3 August 1914 Australia offers assistance to Great Britain in the event of War.
3 August 1916 Australian Light Horse in Battle of Romani, Egypt .
4 August 1914 Great Britain Declares War on Germany.
6 August 1915 Battle for Lone Pine, Gallipoli.
7 August 1915 Australians charge at the Nek, Gallipoli.
8 August 1916 Battle for Moquet Farm.
8 August 1918 Battle for Amiens begins.
10 August 1914 Voluntary recruitment for the 1st AIF begins.
13 August 1914 Establishment of the Australian Red Cross.
19 August 1914 Expeditionary force sails from Australia to capture German possessions in the Pacific.
21 August 1915 Last major fighting on Gallipoli takes place at Hill 60.
24 August 1916 Official inauguration of the Australian Comforts Fund (ACF).
26 August 1916 6th Australian Brigade attacks Moquet Farm on the Somme.
31 August 1918 Battle of Mont St. Quentin begins.September
1 September 1918 Battle of Mont St. Quentin continues
11 September 1914 Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force lands at Rabaul.
14 September 1914 HMA Submarine AE1 lost off New Guinea
17 September 1918 Australian attack on Hindenburg Line in the Picardy region of France.
19 September 1918 5th Light Horse brigade capture Nablus.
20 September 1912 Official formation of the Australian Flying Corps.
21 September 1914 German New Guinea surrenders.
25 September 1918 Anzac Mounted Division capture Amman.October
1 October 1918 Australian Light Horse take Damascus.
5 October 1918 Capture of Montbrehai, France by AIF.
10 October 1917 Battle of Poelcappelle, Western Front. (Third Battle Ypres).
21 October 1915 Australian Red Cross Missing & Wounded Bureau established.
21 October 1916 5th Australian Division enter the front line near Flers, Somme.
28 October 1916 First conscription referendum.
30 October 1918 Armistice with Turkey.
31 October 1917 4th Light Horse charge at Beersheba, Palestine.November
1 November 1914 1st AIF Convoy sails from Albany, Western Australia.
7 November 1916 Third Battle of Gaza.
9 November 1914 HMAS Sydney sinks the Emden.
11 November 1918 Germany signs the Armistice. REMEMBRANCE DAY.
11 November 1941 Opening of the Australian War Memorial
14 November 1917 End of Third Battle of Ypres, Western Front.December
2 December 1914 First Australian military aircraft despatched to war.
3 December 1914 First AIF disembarked in Egypt
3 December 1915 Siege of Kut begins in Mesopotamia.
7 December 1915 Evacuation of ANZAC troops from Gallipoli begins.
9 December 1917 Jerusalem occupied by the Desert Mounted Corps.
12 December 1917 HMAS Australia damaged in a collision with HMS Repulse.
13 December 1915 Australian Light Horse fight at Um Rakham.
20 December 1915 Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
20 December 1917 Second conscription referendum held in Australia.
21 December 1916 Australian Light Horse capture El Arish
23 December 1916 Battle of Magdhaba, northern Sinai
31 December 1914 The second convoy of the First AIF departed Albany Western Australia.January
9 January 1917 Light Horse captures Rafa.
17 January 1917 No. 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps sail for France
18 January 1919 Versailles Peace Conference opensFebruary
3 February 1915 Turkish forces attack the Suez Canal
5 February 1917 Captain H.W. Murray wins Victoria Cross in France
19 February 1915 Allied warships shell DardanellesMarch
17 March 1917 Australians occupy Bapaume, Western Front
18 March 1915 Allied fleet second attempts to breach Turkish defences of Dardanelles
20 March 1916 Anzac Corps land in France
21 March 1918 Final German offensive begins
26 March 1917 Captain Cherry, 26th Battalion wins VC at Lagnicourt
28 March 1918 Sergeant McDougall, 47th Battalion wins VC at Dernancourt
31 March 1921 Formation of the Australian Air Force-
Recent News
- Patron-in-Chief – His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd)
- Inaugural Patron-in-Chief – The Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO
- Fromelles Day Sydney 20 July 2020: Commemorative Procession from the Archibald Fountain to the Anzac Memorial and Commemorative Service
- Fromelles Day 2020 Commemorations @ Fromelles, Melbourne and Sydney
- DIGGER 71
- ANZAC Day in the time of Coronavirus
- DIGGER 70
- DIGGER 69
Topics
Past News
Photos
- The Families and Friends of the First AIF supports DNA testing on the remains of Australian and British soldiers found on the battlefields of the Great War and efforts to identify as many of the fallen as is possible.
Author Archives: FFFAIF
24 April 2019 ANZAC Day Service at Fromelles
ANZAC Day was commemorated in the village of Fromelles on Wednesday 24 April, commencing with a dawn service at the Cobbers statue in the Australian Memorial Park. The following photos,2019 Fromelles ANZAC Service 24 April 2019 supplied by Carole Laignel, … Continue reading
DIGGER 67
CONTENTS Articles Fromelles: a veritable Hell , Lieut George Wilson, X5A MTMB, compiled by Phillip Mannell 3-8 Bdr 1319 Thomas Throsby (Smyth) King MM, 6 LHR/15 FAB/14 FAB , Geoff Lewis 9-13 Memories of Digger Days (1), found on Trove … Continue reading
National network of Headstone Projects gathering in Canberra
Representatives from The Headstone Project in Tasmania and similar projects in South Australia, Victoria, NSW, and Western Australia gathered in Canberra on Saturday 13 April 2019 as a follow-on from the Headstone Projects Roundtable session in Hobart in December that … Continue reading
2/3 of the Diggers from Pheasant Wood now have their own headstones
19 July 2018 Headstone rededications. Photographs by Carole Laignel [Click on images to enlarge] The names of 233 or 93% of the 250 soldiers buried by the German Reserve Bavarian Infantry Regiment soldiers following the Battle of Fromelles are known. … Continue reading
DIGGER 66
CONTENTS Articles Memoirs of the 47 Battalion , Major John T Jones MC, RMO 47 Bn (AAMC) 3-18 Major Harold Charles Howden MC & Bar, 13 , 45 & 48 Bns, Graeme Hosken 19-24 For Valour: forgotten VCs of … Continue reading
Australian DIGGER stories on-line
The Families and Friends of the First AIF has brought its vast collection of Australian DIGGER stories on-line for its Members. First Issue 2002 and 2003 All 69 editions of DIGGER published from October 2002 are now available for reading … Continue reading
DIGGER 65
CONTENTS Articles The impact of the Great War, Sue Tongue 3-4 ‘Overheard on a train’, anon. reporter, ‘Burnie Advocate’, 1931 4 Report on 2018 John Laffin Memorial Lecture Day, Paul Simadas 5-6 1917 letter: Pte 3774 Fred Chin, 19th Bn, … Continue reading
DIGGER 64
CONTENTS Articles Montbrehain: the AIF’s last battle of the war, Evan Evans 3-8 Ptes 6509 Huntsman, 6987 Eacott, 7th Bn, and 6831 Neilson, 8th Bn, Andrew Pittaway 9-10 SALIENT: Contemporary artists at the Western Front (exhibition), Compiled by Jill Hayes … Continue reading
DIGGER 63
CONTENTS Articles Captain Alick Burgess, 11th Bn, Graeme Hosken with Ross Burgess 3-16 Post-traumatic stress disorders and shell-shock in WWI, Jessica Bourke, JLMHP recipient 17-20 Book release: ‘The Little Stowaway’, Vicki Bennett 21-22 Soldier’s letter: Pte (later Lieut) 927 Vincent … Continue reading
DIGGER 62
CONTENTS Articles Lieut Francis William Goodwin MC, 8th Bn, Evan Evans and Heather Armstrong 3-23 Medical diagram found in service record of Lieut AO Duprez, 3rd Bn, Graeme Hosken 23 Billeting of 26th Bn in Belgium after the Armistice, Claire … Continue reading