JonS Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 31 July 1917 Belgium (Western Front) – the Third Battle of Ypres begins. 1st (NZ) Brigade make a second, and completely successful, attack on La-Basse-Ville . Corporal Leslie Andrew (2 Btn, Wellington Infantry Regiment) earns the Victoria Cross for his actions in leading a group of men in the attack, in which he advanced upon enemy machine gun posts, capturing several and killing a number of the enemy. During the Second World War he commanded 22 Battalion in Crete, and retired a Brigadier. 31 July 1960 The Malayan Emergency officially ends. New Zealand infantry battalions served in the area for many years during and after the Emergency. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 04 August 1914 Britain declares war on Germany. New Zealand will declare war on the following day. 04 August 1916 Middle East - Turkish forces attack in an attempt to outflank the Allied positions in and around Romani, Egypt. This move is checked by the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division. 04 August 1944 Italy - 2 NZ Division enters Florence. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 05 August 1863 England - Recruiting for military settlers to New Zealand begins. They enlisted for three years, were liable for service in the militia, and granted land to farm. 05 August 1914 New Zealand joins the United Kingdom and declares war on the German Empire. It is announced by the Governor, the Earl of Liverpool, on the steps of Parliament in Wellington to a crowd of 15,000. 05 August 1994 Mozambique - The New Zealand Army mine clearance team is increased in size. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 06 August 1846 New Zealand - British forces attack Te Rangihaeata's fortified position of Horokiwi Pa, just north of Wellington. 06 August 1914 New Zealand is asked by the Imperial Government to occupy German Samoa. The request is accepted. 06 August 1915 Gallipoli - Old No 3 Post is retaken and the Table Top and Beauchop’s Hill are captured by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles on the night of 6 August. On the night of 6/7 August Allied troops, forming two columns, attempt an attack aimed at capturing the heights of Chunuk Bair, Hill Q and Hill 971. Australian forces mount a diversionary attack to distract Turkish forces. New Zealand Mounted Rifles and Otago Mounted Rifles secure their objectives. The right side assaulting column, including the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, does not make it to the meeting point of Rhododendron Spur 500 metres from Chunuk Bair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 07 August 1914 New Zealand offers the Imperial Government an expeditionary force for service overseas. Following this offer the value of having a Territorial Force becomes immediately apparent to the NZ government. 07 August 1915 Gallipoli - A morning attack is launched by the New Zealanders at Chunuk Bair in conjunction with an Australian assault against the heavily fortified Turkish position at the Nek. The attempt by the New Zealand Infantry Brigade to capture Chunuk Bair fails. Corporal Cyril Bassett (New Zealand Divisional Signal Company) earns the Victoria Cross for laying telephone wires up to Chunuk Bair while in broad daylight and under consistent enemy fire. His is the only New Zealand VC earned at Gallipoli. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the War Cabinet is formed, led by Prime Minister William Massey and Sir Joseph Ward. Its formation is announced in Wellington. 07 August 1942 Pacific - The Guadalcanal Campaign in the Solomon Islands begins. New Zealand is involved in the Campaign through its Navy and Air Force. A small number of officers and NCOs from 2NZEF also take part in guerrilla missions during the campaign. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 11 August 1943 Pacific - During fighting for Munda airfield, on New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, First Commando Fiji Guerrillas kill over 1,000 Japanese troops. Six New Zealanders in the Guerrillas are killed and three wounded. 11 August 1943 Atlantic - Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg, a pilot in 200 Squadron (RAF) earns the Victoria Cross, one of the only to have been awarded based solely on an enemy’s evidence. During a patrol over the Central Atlantic Trigg and his crew encountered a German U-Boat and attacked it. Despite the aircraft being then heavily damaged Trigg pressed home the attack, crashing into the sea after bombing the U-Boat. The U-boat escaped. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 11 August 1943 Pacific - During fighting for Munda airfield, on New Georgia Island in the Solomon Islands, First Commando Fiji Guerrillas kill over 1,000 Japanese troops. Six New Zealanders in the Guerrillas are killed and three wounded. ..... Interesting - I'd never heard of this unit - a quick google search turns up a fair bit. Here's a (longish) extract from the first page of a quite long work on the Pacific commando units, explaining the rationale for them being set up: At the "Washington Conference in 1922, Great Britain and America agreed to the expansion of the Japanese Navy within certain limits. However, this Navy grew and grew until, in 1941, Japan had absolute supremacy in the north-west Pacific. By the early months of 1942, the Japanese had had a succession of victories (though mostly unresisted), which brought them as far south as Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands: they had also established bases in the Gilbert Group, less than eight hours flying time from Fiji. At this period the British Navy was being kept busy in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, while the American Navy had not yet recovered from the Pearl Harbour attack. The combination of these factors placed Fiji in a very critical position for several months while the United States was organising her forces. Fiji possesses, among other things, two good harbours and two airfields: its geographical position put it astride the sea and air routes of all supplies transported from America to Australia and New Zealand. Thus, apart from the use Japan could make of Fiji as a base, the enemy was well aware that to deny the Allies the use of Fiji would mean disaster to New Zealand and Australian life lines. The small number of troops garrisoned in Fiji was reinforced with all the men New Zealand could spare, or divert from her commitments in the Middle East. It also became necessary to mobilise Fijian manpower where practicable. Even with reinforcements the Force was not large enough to maintain defensive positions at all points of the Fiji Group, so it was divided and troops stationed at each end of Viti Levu, the main island of the Group. These troops were to defend the important strategical points of Suva Harbour and Naurosi Airfield in the east, and Lautoka Harbour and Nandi Airfield in the west. The rest of the island was covered by mechanised patrols; but as there was only one road winding for three hundred miles around the island, and as visibility was restricted because of the dense bush on all sides, the position was not entirely satisfactory. The Third New Zealand Division therefore decided to set up commando units at all the most inaccessible spots between the fixed defence positions. The commandos were to oppose, with delaying action, enemy landings from sea or air, and to deny the enemy the use of the road until the main Allied forces could be brought into position. The island was divided into three sectors — Western, Eastern, and Southern—and in April, 1942, commando companies were formed in each of these sectors. The name "commando" was used in its older sense and applied to these units because they were independent companies, almost self-contained. They were more strictly speaking, "guerrillas," for had the Japanese actually landed in Fiji they would have adopted a harassing role; and while they were not large enough forces to prevent a landing, they would have been sharp thorns in the sides of an invading enemy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 13 August 1846 Wellington - Te Rangihaeata abandons his fortified pa at Horokiwi. 13 August 1945 Pacific - Japan begins negotiations to end the Second World War. RNZAF operations in the Pacific cease. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 14 August 1945 New Zealand - With the end of the Second World War attempts begin to cancel all aircraft arriving under the lend-lease scheme, with 167x Mustangs and 49x C-47s still to arrive in New Zealand. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 15 August 1914 New Zealand - A force of 1,382 New Zealand volunteers and four guns, under the command of Colonel Robert Logan, sails for German Samoa, following the Imperial Government's request that New Zealand occupy the country. 15 August 1942 England - 487 (NZ) Squadron is formed with Lockheed Venturas. A day bomber squadron, it soon transitioned to Moquitos, and served in the European theatre during World War II under the operational command of the Royal Air Force. Pilots in this Squadron were awarded 1 Victoria Cross (awarding for leading a latter day 'charge of the light brigade'), 7 DFCs, one Bar to DFC, a DSO and a DFM. The squadron's Māori motto was "Ki te Mutunga", which translates as "Through to the End". 15 August 1942 Mediterranean - Surviving ships of the Operation Pedestal convoy arrive in Valetta, Malta. Nine of the convoy's 14 merchant ships were sunk, including SS's WAIRANGI and WAIMARAMA. Four New Zealand seamen on the WAIMARAMA were killed when the ship was sunk on 13 August. Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get much needed supplies to Malta, which was under siege by Axis forces. 15 August 1945 Pacific - VJ Day. HMNZS GAMBIA fires some of the last shots of the Second World War as all offensive action against Japan ends. 15 August 1951 South East Asia - The troopship WAHINE runs aground on Masela Island in the Arafura Sea, east of Timor, while carrying Kayforce troops to the Korea War. Everyone on board is safely evacuated but the ship is lost. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 18 August 1965 A 40 Squadron RNZAF Hercules completes a round-the-world flight, taking 85 hours to complete it. 18 August 1971 Vietnam - Prime Minister Holyoake announces that New Zealand combat forces will leave South Vietnam by the end of the year. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 19 August 1944 France - Pilot Officer James Stellin, 22, RNZAF, succeeds in avoiding crashing into Saint-Maclou-la-Brière, a village of 370 people in the Seine-Maritime region. His 609 Squadron Typhoon had been damaged in an air combat with an FW-190. It is generally believed that Stellin could have bailed out and saved himself had he let the plane crash into the village. villagers gave him a hero’s funeral and have honoured his memory ever since. Stellin was one of several thousand New Zealanders who flew with the Royal Air Force over Europe in support of the D-Day landings in 1944. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 20 August 1940 Tasman Sea - New Zealand Shipping Co freighter TURAKINA is sunk by German raider ORION 260 miles west of Taranaki. 36 crew are killed, and 20 survivors are taken prisoner. 20 August 1942 Egypt - Winston Churchill refers to 2 New Zealand Division as a ‘ball of fire’. He was visiting the Western Desert at the time. 20 August 1945 Japan - A landing party from the HMNZS GAMBIA occupy Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalins Organ Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 20 August 1940 Tasman Sea - New Zealand Shipping Co freighter TURAKINA is sunk by German raider ORION 260 miles west of Taranaki. 36 crew are killed, and 20 survivors are taken prisoner. An illustration of the risks taken by merchant ships even half a world away from "the war": The raider signalled the Turakina to stop instantly and not use her wireless. Captain Laird at once ordered maximum full speed, turned his ship stern on to the enemy, and instructed the radio office to broadcast the ‘raider signal’. The Orion then opened fire at a range of about 5250 yards with the object of destroying the Turakina’s radio office and aerials. Nevertheless, the Turakina was able to make her signal several times, and it was received by stations in Australia and New Zealand in spite of the raider’s efforts to jam it. She gave her position as approximately 260 miles west by north from Cape Egmont and some 400 miles from Wellington. The Turakina at once replied to the enemy’s fire with her single 4.7-inch gun, and, in the gathering dusk, there began the first action ever fought in the Tasman Sea. It was an unequal contest, but Captain Laird had vowed that he would fight his ship to the last if ever he was attacked. At the close range of two and a half miles, the raider’s fire quickly wrought havoc on board the Turakina. The first salvoes brought down the fore topmast and the lookout, partly wrecked the bridge, destroyed the range-finder, and put most of the telephones out of action. The galley and the engineers’ quarters were hit by shells which set the vessel badly on fire amidships. In little more than a quarter of hour she was reduced to a battered, blazing wreck and was settling aft; more than half her crew had been killed and others were wounded. At least one of her shells had burst on board the raider and wounded a number of Germans. To hasten her destruction, the raider discharged a torpedo at a range of about a mile, but ‘due to the swell it broke surface and hit the steamer on the stern. No visible damage results. The vessel burns like a blazing torch,’ wrote Captain Weyher. Meanwhile, Captain Laird had given the order to abandon ship. The two port lifeboats had been wrecked, but one of the starboard boats got away from the ship with three officers and eleven hands, seven of whom were wounded. A number of wounded were put into the remaining boat, but when it was lowered a sea swept it away from the ship’s side and it was some time before it could be worked back again. When the lifeboat came alongside, the badly wounded chief radio officer was put into it and the others were told by Captain Laird to ‘jump for it’. At that moment a second torpedo struck the Turakina, which sank two minutes later. The only survivors of the explosion were the third officer, the seventh engineer, an apprentice, two able seamen, a fireman, and a steward. They were picked up by the raider, as were the fourteen men in the other boat. An able seaman, who had been badly hurt when the Turakina’s foremast was shot down, died on board the Orion and was buried next day. Captain Laird and thirty-three of his officers and men had died in the Turakina, and twenty survivors were prisoners in German hands. In refusing to stop when challenged and in ordering wireless messages to be transmitted, Captain Laird had carried out an obligation that was accepted by thousands of British and Allied shipmasters. The Turakina and her ship’s company paid a great price, but the raider was compelled to leave the Tasman Sea and did not sink another ship for two months - source the cruiser HMNZS Achilles was in Wellington harbor and undertook a search when it could sail 2 1/2 hours after the raider call was received, but found nothing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 21 August 1915 Gallipoli - Members of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, Otago Mounted Rifles, and Maori Contingent, along with members of the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade and Connaught Rangers, attack Ottoman trenches on Hill 60, in an attempt to unite the Allied fronts at Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay. It is the final Allied attempt to resuscitate the Gallipoli offensive. 21 August 1918 France - The NZ Division is involved in the attack at Bapaume on the Western Front. The NZ Division recaptures the town in the 100 Days campaign leading to the German armistice, suffering 3,000 casualties during the campaign. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 22 August 1942 New Zealand - The first members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps enter camp for their basic training. It was the last of the three women’s services to be established, and by April 1944 more than three thousand women serving WAACs in New Zealand, and another 733 overseas, 200 of them in the Pacific. 22 August 1951 New Zealand - A Vampire aircraft is flown in New Zealand for the first time, by a De Havilland Australia test pilot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 25 August 1920 New Zealand - Captain Euan Dickson of the Canterbury Aviation Company is the first to successfully cross Cook Strait by air. It’s not clear how many had been unsuccessful before him. 25 August 1942 Western Desert - Two companies of the 28 (Maori) Battalion are involved in action against Italians on the El Alamein Line. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 26 August 1915 Gallipoli - The New Zealand hospital ship MAHENO arrives off Anzac Cove. 26 August 1951 Korea - Able Seaman Robert Marhcioni of the RNZN is killed in action during a raid on North Korean shores. His body was never recovered. Marchioni is the last New Zealand M.I.A. following the Second World War. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 27 August 1915 Gallipoli - Members of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade take part in another attack on Hill 60. 27 August 1943 New Zealand - US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arrives in Auckland at the begining of a week-long visit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 28 August 1914 North Sea - Battle of Heligoland Bight takes place, with HMS NEW ZEALAND as part of the Battle Cruiser Force. 28 August 1954 Pacific - 41 Squadron, Hastings aircraft begin flights from New Zealand to Japan to transport replacement New Zealand Army troops to 'K' Force and back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 29 August 1914 Samoa - A force of 1,382 New Zealand volunteers and four guns occupy German Samoa following an unopposed landing. New Zealand administered the islands for the remainder of the war. 29 August 1945 New Zealand - HMS ACHILLES departs Auckland for war station in South Atlantic. Sucks to be that crew: "Yay! The war is over! And we get to celebrate with the ... penguins?! In winter?" 29 August 1945 Japan - The Allied Fleets, including HMNZS GAMBIA, anchor in Tokyo Bay. That'd be a better ship to be on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 29 August 1945 New Zealand - HMS ACHILLES departs Auckland for war station in South Atlantic. Sucks to be that crew: "Yay! The war is over! And we get to celebrate with the ... penguins?! In winter?" Look on the bright side: By the time they get there it will almost be spring. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 01 September 1917 France – the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion becomes an entirely Maori unit. It is renamed the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion. 01 September 1918 France - Sergeant John Grant (1 Btn, Wellington Infantry Regiment) earns the Victoria Cross for actions near Bapaume, France. While in charge of a platoon he along with a comrade rushed ahead and cleared enemy posts which enabled his men to come up to the position. 01 September 1937 New Zealand - General Headquarters became Army Headquarters on 1 September 1937 and the country’s three Military Commands were termed Military Districts, bringing New Zealand into line with the other Dominions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 02 September 1941 Wellington - 488 (NZ) Squadron is formed at Rongotai and shipped to Singapore to help defend it, in response to a request from Britain. 02 September 1945 Japan - Japan signs surrender documents on board USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay. Lieutenant J.D. Allingham RNZNVR from HMNZS GAMBIA is present at the ceremony. Air Vice Marshal Isitt signs the Japanese surrender document on behalf of New Zealand. Four years from Buffaloes to B-29s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 03 September 1939 New Zealand joins Australia, France, India, and the United Kingdom in declaring war on Germany at 2130 hours (New Zealand time). This follows Germany's invasion of Poland. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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