1815: Sir George Prevost, commanding British forces in Canada, submitted his progress report on the Lachine Canal project. This project, drafted on the heels of the recent war with the United States, would be the first in a system of defensive canals meant to circumvent the St. Lawrence should it be captured by the Americans in a future war

1858: At Sultanpore in India, Lieutenant Innes of the Bengal Engineers rode ahead of the advancing British troops to drive the enemy away from an artillery piece. He then charged a second gun, which was being more resolutely manned and was well placed to maul the advancing troops. Innes killed a gunner and captured the gun, which he then defended until reinforcements arrived. His citation reads

At the action of Sultanpore, Lieutenant Innes, far in advance of the leading skirmishers, was the first to secure a gun which the enemy were abandoning. Retiring from this, they rallied round another gun further back, from which the shot would, in another instant, have ploughed through our advancing columns, when Lieutenant Innes rode up, unsupported, shot the gunner who was about to apply the match, and, remaining undaunted at his post, the mark for a hundred matchlock men, who were sheltered in some adjoining huts, kept the artillerymen at bay until assistance reached him.

He received the Victoria Cross, as did Major Gough, decorated for a series of actions over the previous months, culminating in a skirmish on 23 February when he saved the life of a fellow officer.

1900: During the Boer War, a British colonel fell wounded in the open. Boer snipers kept his body under close watch, and drove back any attempts to reach him. The colonel himself sustained a further eight wounds. Private Albert Curtis of the East Surrey Regiment nevertheless was determined to rescue him. After several aborted attempts, Curtis managed to reach the colonel, and proceeded to dress his wounds, all the time under constant fire. The colonel insisted that he be left, since the risks of carrying him were so high. Curtis ignored him, and managed to carry him back to the British lines, helped by another man who succeeded in coming to his aid. Curtis was awarded the Victoria Cross.

His citation reads

On 23rd day of February, 1900, Colonel [R] Harris lay all day long in a perfectly open space under close fire of a Boer breastwork. The Boers fired all day at any man who moved, and Colonel Harris was wounded eight or nine times. Private Curtis, after several attempts, succeeded in reaching the Colonel, bound his wounded arm, and gave him his flask - all under heavy fire. He then tried to carry him away, but was unable, on which he called for assistance and Private Morton came out at once. Fearing that the men would be killed, Colonel Harris told them to leave him, but they declined, and after trying to carry the Colonel on their rifles, they made a chair of their hands and so carried him out of fire

Private Morton was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal

1917: As British forces once more advanced up the Tigris towards Kut in Mesopotamia, Major George Campbell Wheeler led a small party of nine Gurkhas across the river and stormed an enemy position. The Turks reacted swiftly to this incursion, and dispatched a force well armed with grenades to retake the trench. The Gurkhas met them with a bayonet charge, during which Wheeler received a severe bayonet wound to the head. Nevertheless, he remained in command and consolidated his defences, having established through his initiative a valuable bridge-head on the enemy bank. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1945: Captain Swales, South African Air Force, serving with 582 Squadron RAF, was appointed the Master Bomber to lead a raid on Pforzheim. As he circled the target, controlling the bombing runs, his Lancaster was twice attacked by German fighters. Swales chose not to take evasive action, since this would have interfered with his control of the raid. Two of the Lancaster's engines were knocked out, as well as the rear turret. Swales nevertheless continued to direct the bombing with great accuracy, and only turned for home once the raid was complete. On the way back, the badly damaged aircraft hit turbulent cloud over Belgium, and became uncontrollable. Swales ordered his crew to bail out, whilst he struggled to hold the aircraft steady. They all parachuted safely, but Swales had no opportunity to escape before the Lancaster crashed. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, Bomber Command's last such decoration.

1945: Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima was captured. US Secretary of the Navy, John Forrestal is quoted as saying upon seeing what has become one of the most famous images of WWII

This picture will assure the existence of the US Marine Corps for another five hundred years

1967: Major P.J. Badcoe of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam, lead an attack against Viet Cong troops to rescue a wounded American medical advisor. It was the first of three acts of bravery between February and April 1967 for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

On 23 February 1967 he was acting as adviser to a regional force company in support of a sector operation in Phu Tho district when he monitored a radio transmission which reported the death of an American subsector advisor and the wounding of an American medical advisor. With complete disregard for his own safety Badcoe moved alone across 600 metres of fire-swept ground, attended to the wounded medical adviser and ensured his safety. He then organized a force of platoon strength and led them in a successful assault against the enemy machine-gun post near the body of the American advisor. He killed the machine-gunners in front of him, picked up the body of the dead American and ran back , over open ground still covered by hostile fire, to the regional command post.

Exactly one month later, on 7 April, Badcoe was on an operation with the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam Division Reaction Company, supported by armoured personnel carriers, in the Huong Tra district. As the 1st Army moved forward to its objective the company came under heavy small arms fire and had to withdraw to a nearby cemetery for cover. Badcoe and his radio operator were left fifty metres in front of the others, under heavy mortar fire. Badcoe ran back and rallied his men and got them moving but they were again stopped by heavy fire. He rose to throw grenades but was pulled down by his radio operator. When he got up to throw another grenade he was killed by a burst of machine-gun fire. Soon after friendly artillery was called in on the enemy position and it was assaulted and captured.