Iven Mackay (1882–1966) was a senior Australian Army officer who saw action in both World Wars. He served with the 4th Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli, distinguishing himself in hand-to-hand fighting at the Battle of Lone Pine. On the Western Front, he assumed command of the 4th Battalion in 1916 and led the 1st Infantry Brigade in 1918. After the war he studied physics at the University of Cambridge under Ernest Rutherford. He remained in the Militia between the wars, and was a major general by the time the Second World War broke out. He commanded the 6th Division through the Australian Army's first battles of the war. During the Battle of Bardia in 1941, the 6th Division captured the fortified town along with 36,000 Italian prisoners; Mackay was knighted for this success. In the Battle of Greece, he became the only Australian general to face the Waffen SS in battle. He was recalled to Australia in 1941, commanding the Home Forces and New Guinea Force as a lieutenant general. His active service ended in 1943 with his appointment as High Commissioner to India.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iven_Mackay
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
961:
The Muslim Emirate of Crete was conquered by the Byzantine Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Crete
1447:
Tomaso Parentucelli became Pope Nicholas V. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V
1869:
Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table of elements to the Russian Chemical Society. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Mendeleev
1930:
Organized by the Communist International, hundreds of thousands of people in major cities around the world marched to protest mass unemployment associated with the Great Depression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Unemployment_Day
1988:
In Operation Flavius, the British Special Air Service killed three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers conspiring to bomb a parade of British military bands in Gibraltar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
perquisite: 1. (mostly plural) Any monetary or other incidental benefit beyond salary. 2. A gratuity. 3. A privilege or possession held or claimed exclusively by a certain person, group or class. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perquisite
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Politics: a Trojan horse race. --Stanisław Jerzy Lec https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Jerzy_Lec
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