1918 in Australia

Updated on Sep 30, 2024

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Monarchy George V Prime minister Billy Hughes		Governor-General Ronald Munro-Ferguson Population 5,029,403
Elections South Australia, Queensland

See also: 1917 in Australia, other events of 1918, 1919 in Australia and the Timeline of Australian history.

1918 in Australia was dominated by national participation in World War I. The Australian Corps was formed at the beginning of the year from the five divisions of the First Australian Imperial Force played a significant role in the Allied victory.

Incumbents

Monarch – King George V

Governor-General – Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson

Prime Minister – Billy Hughes

State premiers

Premier of New South Wales – William Holman

Premier of Queensland – T. J. Ryan

Premier of South Australia – Archibald Peake

Premier of Tasmania – Walter Lee

Premier of Victoria – John Bowser (until 21 March), then Harry Lawson

Premier of Western Australia – Sir Henry Lefroy

State governors

Governor of New South Wales – Walter Edward Davidson (from 18 February)

Governor of Queensland – Hamilton Goold-Adams

Governor of South Australia – Sir Henry Galway

Governor of Tasmania – Francis Newdegate

Governor of Victoria – Sir Arthur Stanley

Governor of Western Australia – William Ellison-Macartney

Events

8 January – Billy Hughes resigns as Prime Minister of Australia as promised following the defeat of the 1917 plebiscite on conscription. He is immediately sworn in again by the Governor-General as there are no alternative candidates.

21 January – Thirty people are killed when the Mackay cyclone strikes the town of Mackay in Queensland.

2 February – The Brighton tornado, the strongest storms ever recorded in Melbourne, strike the suburb of Brighton, killing two people.

10 March – The 1918 Innisfail cyclone made landfall in the area around Innisfail

21 March – John Bowser resigns as Premier of Victoria after his railway estimates bill is defeated in parliament. Harry Lawson forms a composite ministry of Liberal factions, including Bowser as Chief Secretary and Minister for Public Health.

3 August – Australia House, Australia's high commission to the United Kingdom, opens in London.

22 September – The Prime Minister Billy Hughes makes the first direct radio telephone call between England and Australia, calling Sydney from London.

6 October – Australia's first electric train service begins, between Newmarket and Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

26 October – A by-election is held in the Division of Swan following the death of the sitting member, Sir John Forrest. The youngest ever MP, Edwin Corboy, is elected to parliament.

17 December – The Darwin Rebellion takes place, with 1,000 demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth.

World War I events

1 January – The Australian Corps is formed from the five AIF divisions on the Western Front.

21 March – The Australian Corps commences fighting to stop the German offensive Operation Michael, the German advance near Amiens.

25 April – Australian forces recapture Villers-Bretonneux from the German army helping to stop Operation Georgette.

31 May – John Monash takes command of the Australia Corps.

4 July – John Monash leads an attack on Hamel, regarded as one of the most prepared battles of the entire war.

8 August – The Battle of Amiens begins with British, Australian and Canadian troops participating in a successful offensive – General Erich Ludendorff described it as "the black day of the German Army".

12 August – King George V knights John Monash on the battlefield, the first British commander to be knighted in that way for 200 years.

18 September – Forces led by John Monash attack the Hindenburg Line in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line capturing 4,300 German troops.

1 October – Australian troops capture Damascus.

5 October – The last Australian operation in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line taking the village of Montbrehain with the line cleared by 10 October.

11 November – Germany signs an Armistice to end World War I.

10 December – Royal Australian Navy ships sail to the Black Sea to assist the White Army in the Russian Civil War.

Arts and literature

May Gibbs publishes Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

Norman Lindsay publishes The Magic Pudding.

Sport

3 August – The South Sydney Rabbitohs win the New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1918.

7 September – The South Melbourne Swans defeat the Collingwood Magpies 9.8 (62) to 7.15 (57), becoming premiers of the 1918 VFL season.

12 November – Night Watch wins the Melbourne Cup.

Births

16 January – Clem Jones, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (died 2007)

26 January – Amy Witting, novelist (died 2001)

8 February – Charles Birch, geneticist

5 March – John Billings, doctor who developed the Billings Method (died 2007)

18 March – David Zeidler, chemist and industrialist (died 1998)

19 March – Jim Brown, NSW politician (died 1999)

11 April – Francis Hassett, Australian Army general

18 April – Harry Firth, race car driver

21 April – Francis James, publisher

26 July – Richard Arthur Blackburn, Chief Justice of the ACT (died 1987)

24 August – Sandy Pearson, soldier

4 September – John Carrick, politician

5 September – Bob Katter, Sr., Country Party politician (died 1990)

14 October – Thelma Coyne Long, tennis player

14 October – Doug Ring, cricketer (died 2003)

15 December – Pauline Neura Reilly, ornithologist

Deaths

14 July – James White (born 1861), sculptor

12 September – Sir George Reid (born 1845), Premier of NSW (1894–1899) and Prime Minister (1904–1905)

10 October – Henry Dobson (born 1841), Premier of Tasmania (1892–1894)

12 October – Mary Hannay Foott (born 1846), poet

7 December – Frank Wilson (born 1859), Premier of Western Australia (1910–1911)

References

1918 in Australia Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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