u/Connect_Wind_2036

There are Australian attestation papers. What would the markings of D or B.C signify? Wording also directs examination for evidence of flogging. Could D or B.C be a branding for a Deserter or British Convict?

Description
The memorial consists of an Australian slouch hat in bronze and two stone tablets incorporated into a small stone cairn. The stone tablet on the left section lists the Australian and British Divisions involved in the fighting at Bullecourt during April and May 1917.

The stone on the right is the dedication plaque which reads

"BULLECOURT 1917

In memory of the Australian and British soldiers who fell in this area- April/ May 1917 Lest We Forget"
History
A Bullecourt school teacher, Claude Durand, began to translate Charles Bean’s account of the battles, partly for his own interest, partly for the benefit of his students. He was struck by the scale of the British and Australian casualties and realised that they had no local memorial. He and the mayor Jean Letaille started a campaign to build one. The funds were raised locally and the memorial was unveiled outside the village church on 24 May 1981. The ceremony was attended by the Australian ambassador John Rowland.

An Australian contribution was arranged by the AWM from a donation by the RSL and the Department of Foreign Affairs. As the cairn already displayed the Rising Sun badge, it was agreed that the slouch hat was a unique and distinctively Australian commemorative device.
Construction Information
Built by André Coilliot (President of the “Souvenir Francais”), Jean Letaille (Maire of Bullecourt), Edmond Delattre and Jean Lacourt with the encouragement of the then Ambassador John Rowland. The memorial was built using stones from the original roadway in Bullecourt.

The bronze hat, weighing 7 kg, was made by Victorian sculptor Roy McPherson and was presented to the village of Bullecourt on 17 September 1981.

On 24 April 1918, Villers-Bretonneux was the site of the world's first battle between two tank forces: three British Mark IVs against three German A7Vs. The Germans took the town, but that night and the next day it was recaptured by two brigades of the First Australian Imperial Force at a cost of some 1,200 Australian lives. The town's mayor spoke of the Australian troops on 14 July 1919 when unveiling a memorial in their honour:

"The first inhabitants of Villers-Bretonneux to re-establish themselves in the ruins of what was once a flourishing little town have, by means of donations, shown a desire to thank the valorous Australian Armies, who with the spontaneous enthusiasm and characteristic dash of their race, in a few hours drove out an enemy ten times their number...They offer a memorial tablet, a gift which is but the least expression of their gratitude, compared with the brilliant feat which was accomplished by the sons of Australia...Soldiers of Australia, whose brothers lie here in French soil, be assured that your memory will always be kept alive, and that the burial places of your dead will always be respected and cared for..’

At about 0215 on 8 June 1942, Japanese submarine I-21 under the command of Captain Kanji Matsumura, shelled Newcastle in New South Wales. I-21 had travelled across Stockton Bight and positioned itself about 9 kms north east of Newcastle. I-21 travelled eastwards firing almost directly across the stern of the submarine. Their orders were to shell the Newcastle shipyards at Carrington. It is possible that it may have also targeted the BHP Works at Kooragang Island, Fort Scratchley and a large BHP-owned iron ore bulk carrier ship, the "Iron Knight" (4,812 tonns), which was moored at the steelworks docks. The "Iron Knight" was used to transport raw materials from BHP's Whyalla iron ore mines to the Newcastle steelworks. The "Iron Knight" eventually succumbed to the Japanese 8 months later when it was sunk by Japanese Submarine I-21 on 8 February 1943 approximately 15 miles off Montague Island, New South Wales with the loss of 36 crewmen of her complement of 50 men.

The Japanese gun crew broke out 20 shells (1400 mm) from the ready locker. They also brought up another 14 rounds from the armoury below decks. 8 of the shells were "illuminators" or "star shells". All 34 shells were fired at Newcastle. After 13 minutes of firing, the guns at Fort Scratchley returned fire with 4 rounds. I-21 continued firing for another 3 minutes until all 34 shells had been fired.

The shelling caused minimal damage and no casualties.
Fort Scratchley Battery could not locate the Japanese submarine in any searchlight beams, the gunners located it by observing its gun flashes at bearing 067 degrees and approx 5000 m. Four rounds were fired from Fort Scratchley Battery. After the fourth round was fired, there was no answering fire from the submarine. Personnel at Fort Scratchley reported that some Jap rounds fell left of their battery into the harbour and others appeared to pass overhead.

Inside the grim walls of Amiens Prison, several hundred prisoners - many of them members of the French Resistance Movement - were known to be awaiting trial or execution by the Germans for their Resistance activities.

In this operation, six De Havilliand Mosquitoes each from No. 487 Squadron, RNZAF, No. 464 Squadron, RAAF, and No. 21 Squadron, RAF, with fighter escort, attacked the goal from very low altitude and enabled the escape of 258 prisoners.

Unfortunately, although the bombing was carried out with exceptional accuracy, casualties were caused among non-political inmates; the leader of the mission and his navigator were shot down and killed; and many of the escapees were subsequently recaptured.

Ditched aircrew contemplate their plight in the vastness of the ocean.

One of the three Oerlikon 20mm guns of HMAS Wagga in action against Japanese bombers at Milne Bay during daylight raids.