Aerial view of the blockships in the Bruges ship canal channel at Zeebrugge after the raid. From left to right the ships are HMS Intrepid, HMS Iphigenia and HMS Thetis. Image courtesy Imperial War Museum © IWM (Q 20648B).
- Eleven volunteers from HMAS Australia take part in a Royal Navy raid at Zeebrugge in Belgium. The objective is to block the Bruges Canal to the North Sea, preventing Germany from using the port as a submarine base. Little goes to plan, the depleted Allied force retreats, and within days Germany reopens the port. British casualties number 600, compared to Germany’s 30. None of the Australians are injured. Zeebrugge Raid
- Irish railways, docks, factories, mills, theatres, cinemas, trams, public services, shipyards, newspapers, shops and Government munitions factories grind to a halt as the country holds a one-day national strike against the introduction of conscription. Irish historian Liam Cahill, later described the strike as “complete and entire, an unprecedented event outside the continental countries”. Conscription Crisis of 1918
