The Battle of Labuan was fought between Allied and Japanese forces in June 1945 during World War II on the island of Labuan, in preparation for the Australian invasion of North Borneo. Following weeks of air attacks and a short naval bombardment, the 24th Brigade landed on Labuan on 10 June and quickly captured the island's harbour and main airfield. The greatly outnumbered Japanese garrison was concentrated in a fortified position, and offered little resistance to the landing. The initial attempts to penetrate the Japanese position were not successful, and the area was subjected to a heavy bombardment. A Japanese raiding force attacked Allied positions on 21 June, but was defeated. Later that day, Australian forces overwhelmed the Japanese position, and by mid- July, Australian patrols had killed or captured the remaining Japanese troops on the island. A total of 389 Japanese personnel were killed on Labuan and 11 were captured; Australian casualties included 34 killed. After securing the island, the Allies developed Labuan into a significant base and provided assistance to thousands of civilians who had been rendered homeless by the pre-invasion bombardment. Following the war, a major Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery was established on Labuan.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Labuan
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1829:
In rowing, Oxford defeated Cambridge in the first Boat Race (2002 race pictured) held on the Thames in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race
1865:
Richard Wagner's revolutionary Tristan und Isolde received its premiere in Munich. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_und_Isolde
1925:
The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant church, held its inaugural service in Toronto's Mutual Street Arena. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada
1957:
Led by John Diefenbaker, the Progressive Conservative Party won a plurality of the seats in the Canadian House of Commons in the federal election, bringing an end to 22 years of Liberal Party rule. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_federal_election,_1957
2008:
War in Afghanistan: An airstrike by the United States resulted in the deaths of eleven paramilitary troops of the Pakistan Army Frontier Corps and eight Taliban fighters in Pakistan's tribal areas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gora_Prai_airstrike
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
white whale: 1. A cetacean, Delphinapterus leucas. 2. (figuratively) An obsession; monomania. 3. (trading cards) A printing plate, for a sports card, that is then issued as a collectible itself. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/white_whale
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Writers are greatly respected. The intelligent public is wonderfully patient with them, continues to read them, and endures disappointment after disappointment, waiting to hear from art what it does not hear from theology, philosophy, social theory, and what it cannot hear from pure science. Out of the struggle at the center has come an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are, and what this life is for. --Saul Bellow https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saul_Bellow