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>