On This Day ... in 1899 & Others

Off Samoa, HMS Calliope survived an appalling typhoon. The German and US navies were engaged in a stand-off over national interests on the island and their warships - three apiece - failed to leave the harbour. All six warships were wrecked, with the loss of about fifty US and ninety German lives.

On This Day ... in 1360 & Others

During the Hundred Years War, 3,000 French raiders sacked and burnt Winchelsea, one of the Cinque Ports. It was a mainstay of English naval strength in the period & the attack was an effort to divert Edward III from his campaign in France and force him to return home.

On This Day ... in 1757 & Others

Rear-Admiral John Byng was executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch. The son of the successful Admiral Sir John Byng, he had been made the scapegoat for the fall of the important harbour at Port Mahon on Minorca in 1756. Byng had not been defeated at sea, but his caution had denied him a clear victory in action with the French, and he had then retired over hastily to Gibraltar, leaving the isolated garrison at Port Mahon no option but to surrender. Byng found himself left similarly isolated by the Government, was convicted at court martial of cowardice, and refused clemency. The French writer Voltaire famously remarked in Candide
"dans ce pays-ci [Britain], il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres".

On This Day ... in 1858 & Others

As British troops slowly penetrated deeper into the defences at Lucknow, Mutineer artillery shells set fire to a British sandbagged position. Able Seaman Edward Robinson, a member of the Royal Naval brigade serving ashore at the siege, leapt onto the sandbags, and despite heavy fire from enemy proceeded to beat out the flames or throw blazing sandbags clear. He was seriously wounded in the process, but survived to receive the Victoria Cross. His citation reads

For conspicuous galantry shown on 13th March 1858 in having at Lucknow, under heavy musketry fire within 50 yards, he leapt on top of the burning earthworks to extinguish burning sandbags. He managed to put out some and the rest he threw clear, before being seriously wounded in the shoulder and being dragged back to shelter by his gun crew.

He was invalided from the Royal Navy later in 1858 and was employed as a Coastguard for 10 years followed by 10 years in the Naval Reserve Office. Through the friendly interest of the then Duke of Edinburgh (son of Queen Victoria) who kept closely in touch with the Nation's heroes at his mother's request,

Robinson was employed as a gardener at Windsor Castle. When this became difficult for him, he was appointed Gatekeeper at the Old Windsor entrance to the Home Park, a position normally held for soldiers and sailors of good character. He lived in Albert Bridge Lodge with his family and died there on 15th March 1896.

On This Day ... in 1339 & Others

Despite the failure of their attempt almost exactly a year before (26 March 1338) to take Gorey Castle on Jersey, the French fleet, reinforced by Italian mercenary galleys, attacked the island again. The castle's garrison had been reinforced to some 300 men and they once more drove off the French assault.

On This Day ... in 1845 & Others

The First Maori (or Flagstaff) War began, when Maoris under Hone Heke Pokai attacked colonial settlers and drove them away, following a protracted dispute over a flagstaff erected the previous year on Maiki Hill to fly the Union Flag.

On This Day ... in 1915 & Others

Royal Flying Corps aircraft conducted early interdiction operations against railway facilities at Courtrai and Menin, in an attempt to disrupt German efforts to reinforce their front-line as the British offensive at Neuve Chapelle began.

On the ground, two VCs were won. Private William Buckingham of the Leicestershire Regiment, was decorated for his repeated efforts to rescue wounded men from No Man's Land.

Gobar Sing Negi of the 39th Garhwal Rifles was killed leading a bombing party along the German trenches; each time, he was the first man around a corner, the most dangerous manoeuvre, which eventually cost him his life. The British offensive initially made good progress, but Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria's Sixth Army then stabilised their defences and held the line.

On This Day ... in 1858 & Others

At Lucknow, Lieutenant Thomas Adair Butler of the 1st European Bengal Fusliers swam across the Goomtee River under enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the mutineers' positions for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation reads

On 9th March 1858 at Lucknow, India, in order to ascertain the enemy position and to inform his superiors, Lieutenant Butler swam the River Goomtee, on the banks of which the city stands, mounted the Parapet on a fieldwork and remained there for a considerable time, exposed to the enemy's fire. He stayed there until the relieving force arrived.

He was later promoted to major and passed away at Camberley, Surrey, at the age of 65

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Francis Farquharson of the Black Watch led an assault on an artillery position which threatened the British advance.

He was awarded the VC & his citation reads

For conspicuous bravery, when engaged before Lucknow, on 9 March 1858, in having led a portion of his company, stormed a bastion mounting two guns, and spiked the guns, by which the advanced position held during the night of 9th March was rendered secure from the fire of artillery. Lieutenant Farquharson was severely wounded, while holding an advanced position on the morning of 10th of March.

He recovered from his wounds to later achieve the rank of Major & died in 1875

On This Day ... in 647 & Others

St Felix, first bishop of East Anglia, died. Felix was born and consecrated in Burgundy, but came to England to help in the conversion of the English. The fellow-feeling was mutual: in the eighth century a number of the English, most famously Boniface and Willibrord, would return to the continent to convert the heathen on the Continent.

Felix came to Honorius (c.630-653), fourth archbishop of Canterbury in line from St Augustine who had brought Christianity from Rome to King Æthelberht of Kent in 597. Honorius sent Felix on to East Anglia, which had switched between Christianity and paganism several times since the East Anglian king Rædwald became a Christian at the Kentish court in the first decade or so of the seventh century. (Bede tells the story that when Rædwald got home, his wife convinced him not to abandon his old gods so easily, so Rædwald had shrines to his heathen gods and the Christian god in the same temple.)

Rædwald's son Eorpwald succeeded sometime after 616, initially as a pagan but he was converted by the Northumbrian king Edwin sometime around 630. Shortly after Eorpwald became Christian, he was killed, and the country turned pagan again.

On This Day ... in 1917 & 1918

A river crossing operation in Mesopotamia involving the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment came under very heavy fire, and the first two boats were lost with their occupants. The third boat was also raked by fire, and every man aboard killed or wounded, save only Private Jack White, a signaller.

Unable to control the boat on his own, he improvised a towing line from a supply of field telephone cable he was carrying, then dived overboard, and slowly towed the heavy pontoon back to shore despite a continuing barrage of fire, saving the lives of all the wounded aboard, as well as a large quantity of equipment. White was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On This Day ... 1902 & Others

Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service was established

On This Day ... in 1933 & Others

In German parliamentary elections, the Nazi Party won 44 percent of the vote, enabling it to join with the Nationalists to gain a slender majority in the Reichstag

On this day ... in 1941 & Others

Five Royal Navy destroyers and two troop transports landed 500 British Commandos, Royal Engineers and Free Norwegian troops at dawn on the Lofoten Islands, in the first Commando raid, Operation Claymore. In the eight hours they were ashore, the raiders destroyed the oil factories on the islands (some 3,600 tonnes - 800,000 gallons - of oil and glycerine) and returned with 315 volunteers for the Norwegian forces, 60 ‘Quisling’ collaborators plus 225 German prisoners.

Through naval gunfire and demolition parties, 18,000 tons of shipping were sunk and the boarding of the German armed trawler Krebs yielded a set of rotor wheels for an Enigma cypher machine and its code books, a most significant haul

One humorous incident which took place was the sending of a telegram from Stamsund addressed to A.Hitler,Berlin, it read: "you said in your last speech German troops would meet the British wherever they landed. Where are your troops?"

The only casualty was a British officer who accidently shot himself in the thigh (nothing changes - Ed)

On This Day ... in 1838 & Others

British troops, supported by local militia from Fort Malden attacked William Lyon Mackenzie's rebels encamped on Pelee Island, on Lake Erie. About 400 of Mackenzie's republican supporters planned to use the island as a starting point for their "liberation" of Canada. Following a spirited bayonet charge by British troops, the rebels abandoned the island and retreated across the frozen lake back to the United States

On This Day ... in 1944 & Others

The frigates of the Royal Navy's First Escort Group brought the longest continuous U-boat hunt to a successful conclusion, destroying U-358, but losing HMS Gould.

The hunt started on 29 February, and HM Ships Affleck, Gould, Gore and Garlies dropped some 104 depth charges over the following two days. Gore and Garlies had to withdraw to Gibraltar for fuel, but Affleck and Gould continued the attack. U-358 succeeded in torpedoing Gould, but was then forced to the surface and finished off by Affleck's gunfire.

On This Day ... in 1596 & Others

Following the failure to take the Panamanian Isthmus, and the deaths of Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, the remnants of the previous year's expedition to the West Indies was headed home under the command of Sir Thomas Baskerville when it was caught by a Spanish fleet off the north-west coast of Cuba near the Isle of Pines. Thus occurred the only fleet engagement of the Anglo-Spanish war, other than the Armada battles of 1588.

The English ships enjoyed the advantage of the wind, but had to fight through the Spanish in order to get away, past a headland. They succeeded in this, and after a desultory pursuit by the Spaniards, finally got clear and eventually reached England without further mishap in May.

On This Day ... in 1940 & Others (29 Feb)

1940: The wreck of the Admiral Graf Spee was sold to a ‘local company’ for scrap, having been scuttled after the Battle of the River Plate . The hulk, resting in 20 feet of water, was slowly sinking into the muddy seabed.

Only later did it become clear that the ‘local company’ was in fact a front for the British Embassy which wanted access to the wreck for intelligence purposes.

To this end, technicians had been flown in to assess in particular, the capabilities of German maritime radar. Much of this equipment was removed and shipped back to Great Britain for further examination.

On This Day ... in 1337 & Others

Sir Andrew Murray or Moray was the son and namesake of William Wallace's companion-in-arms. Although less well known than his father, Andrew Moray, his career in many ways was of greater significance. As the Guardian of Scotland, he took advantage of Edward III's distraction by the French threat to his Gascon possessions, and spent the month of February eliminating English garrisons in northern Scotland. The last day of the month saw St Andrews fall after a three-week siege, which had seen its walls assailed by "Buster", a formidable siege engine.

On This Day ... in 1814 & Others

Whilst British troops under Lieutenant-General Hope beseiged Bayonne, Wellington led his main force against the main French field forces in the south of France, commanded by Marshal Soult. Wellington launched his attack with 44,000 men against Soult's 36,000 men drawn up on a ridgeline at Orthes.

Sir Rowland Hill led the right wing in a diversionary attack, whilst Sir William Beresford and Sir Thomas Picton led the main assaults on the left and in the centre. After initial successes, both Beresford and Picton's attacks stalled, but Wellington spotted an opening in the disjointed French lines, and himself led three battalions to exploit the weakness.

The French defeat was completed by Hill, who had managed to get behind Soult and force him to run for a bridge before his escape route was totally cut. Wellington's victory secured the British presence on French soil, and opened up routes to Bordeaux, which promptly surrendered, and Toulouse.

On This Day ... in 1815 & Others

Bonaparte made his escape from the island of Elba, an event that plunged Europe into a panic and which reached its climax with the Battle of Waterloo, later in the year

On This Day ... in 1570 & Others

Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I although the formal announcment wasn't until 27 April