On This Day ... in 1337 & Others
English forces under Edward III's Admiral of the North, Sir Walter Mauny, sacked Cadzand on the Scheldt at the start of the Hundred Years War. Edward's efforts to raise money and men for operations on the continent had fared poorly, not least given the need to maintain an army fighting the Scots. To maintain the pressure on the French, Mauny was dispatched across the Channel with a couple of thousand troops that could be spared.
Although his main mission was to convey Edward's chief diplomat - the Bishop of Lincoln, Henry Burghersh - to bolster support amongst allies in the Low Countries, Mauny took the opportunity to raid French-held territory in Flanders. The sack of Cadzand provoked the local troops to offer battle, and Mauny - himself from Hainault in Flanders by birth - inflicted a bloody defeat on them. Although the raid proved of great psychological value in panicking the French government, the longer term penalty was bitterness towards the English in that part of Flanders.
1696: Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and 120 raiders reach the English fishing village of Ferryland in Newfoundland which they summarily destroyed
1775: The American Congress voted to raise two battalions of Continental Marines, thereby establishing the Marine Corps
1854: At Sevastopol, a Russian shell fell in a British trench, its fuse still burning. Rifleman Wheatley attempted to extinguish the fuse with his rifle butt. When this failed, he picked up the bomb and threw it out of the trench, where it immediately exploded. He received the Victoria Cross
1940: Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent the following telegram message to President Roosevelt
We have been much disturbed by reports of the intention of the French Government to bring [the battleships] Jean Bart and Richelieu to Mediterranean for completion. The danger is that these ships will fall under German control. We should feel bound to do our best to prevent it. It would be most helpful if you felt able to give a further warning at Vichy on this matter.
Roosevelt responded quickly offering to purchase the two ships for US Navy and guaranteeing that they would not be used in the present war
1941: Prime Minister Winston Churchill again promised a British declaration of war with Japan "within the hour" should America become so involved
1944: A Gurkha reconnaissance patrol at Monte San Bartolo in Italy ran into overwhelming opposition. The scout, Rifleman Thaman Gurung, sacrificed himself to allow his platoon to withdraw.
His gallantry not only saved several lives, but also allowed the patrol to escape with valuable intelligence which contributed to the successful capture of the position a few days later. Gurung received a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Comments
To the present, November 10 has been celebrated as the birthday of the US Marine Corps.
Posted by: Dan | November 11, 2007 4:12 AM
re: Jean Bart & Richelieu,
Yes, and that ended well, didn't it?
Posted by: SSG Jeff (USAR) | November 10, 2008 7:09 PM
Jean Bart & Richelieu both escaped the immediate attention of the RN as they were not at Mers el Kebr
Richelieu was later damaged helping to repel the Allied assault on Dakar, but rallied to the Allied cause after the occupation of Vichy France. She was refitted at New York Naval Shipyard, given American radar, 40mm and 20mm mounts and US made ammunition for her French guns, then served with HMS Renown as the primary fast carrier escorts of the British Eastern Fleet 1944-45.
Jean Bart escaped incomplete (one turret operational)to Casblanca where she got the short end of a gunnery duel with the USS Massachusetts while at her mooring. One US 16-inch shell penetrated a 6-inch gun magazine - fortunately empty. Suspended in a damaged state for the balance of the war, she was finally completed in the early Fifties as the world's last new battlewagon and seved at Suez in 1956.
Col Beausaber
Posted by: beausaber237 | November 10, 2009 5:50 AM