#Australian military

[greatworldwar2]

• Battle of Damascus

The Battle of Damascus was a battle between Allied Forced and Vichy French forced and was the final action of the Allied advance on Damascus in Syria during the Syria–Lebanon campaign in World War II.

On June 8th, 1941, troops of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade Group had crossed the Syrian border from the British Mandate of Palestine to take Quneitra and Deraa with the objective of opening the way for the forces of the 1st Free French Division to advance along the roads from these towns to Damascus. This was one of four attacks planned for the campaign by the Allied commander, General Sir Henry Wilson. Gentforce had been under the temporary command of the commander of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Wilfrid Lloyd, since 12 June when Legentilhomme had been wounded. The plan called for the troops of 5th Indian Brigade to advance northwards from their positions at Artouz on the Quneitra–Damascus road across country west of the road towards Mezzeh. Mezzeh was a large village on a junction with the Beirut to Damascus road, some three miles west of Damascus itself. The brigade's supplies, ammunition and the anti-tank element would follow closely behind on the road proper. Meanwhile, the Free French forces would advance along the Kissoué – Damascus road to capture Qadim as a preliminary to entering the Syrian capital, some four miles further north. On June 18th, the Indian troops set out and skirmished their way north. They reached Mezzeh at 04:15. By 05:30, after an hour of fierce hand-to-hand fighting, Mezzeh was captured. However, there was a major problem: the equipment and anti-tank guns travelling up the main road had earlier got ahead of the infantry and run into a Vichy roadblock where most of the vehicles were knocked out. Furthermore, the planned advance by the Free French to Qadim had been delayed, allowing the Vichy defenders to concentrate on the Mezzeh action, putting intense pressure on the Allied position whilst thwarting any attempt to relieve them and bring in vitally needed anti-tank weapons.

On June 19th, Major General John Evetts, commander of the British 6th Infantry Division, arrived to relieve Lloyd and take control of the Allied forces east of Merdjayoun. With the losses suffered by the Indian brigade, he requested that the British 16th Infantry Brigade be detached from the 7th Australian Division and sent to his sector. Three Australian battalions were also detached to Evetts' command: the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion and the 2/3rd and 2/5th Infantry Battalions. By nightfall on 19 June, the Allied position at Mezzeh was desperate. Ammunition was running low, no food had been eaten for 24 hours, casualties were severe, and medical supplies were exhausted. During the night (when Vichy attacks were suspended), three men managed to reach Gentforce headquarters with the news of the position in Mezzeh. Early on June 20th, Brigadier Lloyd, having handed over to Evetts, resumed command of the 5th Indian Brigade and sent a force comprising two companies from the 3/1st Punjab Regiment, two companies of French Marines and a battery of artillery to fight its way through to Mezzeh. But they could not blast a way through and they progressed only slowly against determined opposition from French tanks. A Free French attack on Qadim the previous night had failed expensively, so that they were unable to exert pressure on Qadim that morning to draw Vichy forces away from Mezzeh. That night, however, the Free French with support from British anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns and an Australian machine-gun battalion, advanced against light Vichy defences and captured Qadim by the morning of the 21st.

Throughout the evening of June 20-21st, the Australians fought several actions, attacking a series of stone forts overlooking the Mezzeh and the Quneitra road. Elsewhere, a company of Australians attempted to move around the left flank of the Vichy defenders to cut the road running north-west to Beirut and establish a road block in the Barada Gorge. A see-sawing action took place amongst the forts, during which a force of 59 Australians was briefly captured, before a counter-attack early on June 21st freed them and retook the forts. Meanwhile, a 12-hour defensive action held the Barada Gorge to the west, turning back several French attacks that included tanks and armoured cars. During the morning of June 21st, the Australians consolidated their positions around the forts, and in the Barada Gorge and around 11:00, the Vichy French garrison in Damascus surrendered. By noon, the Allied forces were in Damascus and the Vichy forces were retreating west along the Beirut road. With the fall of Damascus, Gentforce accomplished its primary goal. Elsewhere, fighting around Merdjayoun continued until June 24th, when Allied forces eventually captured the town. The fighting between the Vichy forces and the Allies continued throughout the month. Further actions included fighting around Damour and the capture of Beirut.

[fisarmonical]

Portrait of an unknown Australian Soldier, c.1917 (photo)

[masonjarhead]

Beginning life in 1993 as a joint German-French venture, with the UK joining shortly thereafter, the Boxer AFV has a storied history. The French would drop out of the program just six years after it began to pursue what would become the VBIC, and just 2 years after that, the Netherlands would join the project. The first prototype of the Boxer would be unveiled in 2002, but the UK would signal its intention to withdraw in 2003. They would later rejoin in 2018. With such a long development history and the number of prototypes submitted, there are a large number of variants in service all around the world. The current and future list of users is a long one, including Australia, Germany, the UK, Netherlands, and Lithuania, just to name a few.

[00venator]

I had a dream Australia started making our own tanks, but they looked super weird. They where just- round, made outta circles.

Also I was standing on a very steep hill and fell into someone. And I was like, minister of defence.

[simplegenius042]

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[brasideios]

Late addition: Last year, a commenter said I shouldn't censor the word cunt in Australian vernacular. I only did so in this instance as this is a direct quote from the book, where it is censored. A point which would be better taken up with the publishers rather than me; because yeah - this is history being censored and it really shouldn't.

Honestly, if the reader can endure 689 pages of extremely grim military reality, they can deal with the word cunt.

Lest we Forget.

It's Anzac Day here, and in the grand tradition of such morose and weighted occasions, here's a sample of Anzac humour:

'At Tel-el-Kebir at one point [Egypt, in 1916], a battalion of Australian soldiers is put on parade to be informed that the General Officer Commanding, an Englishman, desires the use of bad language to be cut out, most specifically the words 'fuck' and 'c-nt', as in any case he understands that these two words are not used in Australia.

'At this point, a voice rings out from the back of the parade: 'The fucking c-nt's never been there!'

Or my fave:

'Perhaps the lack of deference [to the English officers] is just in the Australian blood? ... when a British officer told off an Australian for not saluting him, the friendly Australian reached out, gave him a pat on the shoulder, and said, 'Young man, when you go home, you tell your mother today you've seen a real bloody soldier.'

[Both quotes are taken from Peter Fitzsimons' book, Fromelles and Pozieres: In the Trenches of Hell which I re-read every April in memorium.]

[diadotcom]

F-35A Lightning II!!

photographed by me! the roar of these beasts…. holy fucking what. absolutely stunned.

[nocternalrandomness]

An F-111 from the Royal Australian Air Force 1 Sqn at Nellis AFB for Red Flag 2007

[masonjarhead]

[00venator]

“What’s so interesting about the Army?”

[INFO DUMP]

“Cool.”

[dronescapesvideos]

Royal Australian Navy DH Vampire A79-842. Lieutenant Rowe misread the Air Speed Indicator and aborted a takeoff. The aircraft left the runway and came to rest on the upwind end of the runway in 1959

➤BRITISH AIRCRAFT VIDEOS: https://dronescapes.video/British

➤HD IMAGE: https://dronescapes.video/DHVampire

[hippography]

Feeding and exercising horses.

Accession Number: H03415

Place made: Australia: New South Wales, Sydney, Liverpool

Date made: c 1914-1918

Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918

Australian War Memorial

[historynerdj2]

Operation Bulimba (2/15th Battalion attack near Tel el Eisa, Egypt), September 1942

This painting is by Sir Ivor Hele (1912-1993). He was the longest serving War artist in Australian history, painting both in the Second World War and in Korea. After the war, he was well known for painting landscapes of Australia, portraits, and for some odd erotica… no comments on that last one.

The Painting itself depicts the actions of the 2/15th Battalion (Queensland) during the El Alamein battles, in particular, its participation in the 9th Division's diversionary attack south of Tel-el-Eisa, codenamed Operation Bulimba, which was planned as a response to German offensive actions further south during the lead-up to the final assault in late October and early November 1942.

The battalion lost about half of its fighting strength, sustaining 183 casualties, amidst heavy hand-to-hand fighting as the battalion came up against heavy resistance after penetrating a German minefield.