On This Day ... in 1594 & Others
English and French royalist troops under Sir John Norris, supported by a naval squadron under Sir Martin Frobisher, stormed the Spanish fort at Roscanvel in Brittany and massacred the defenders. Frobisher, however, was wounded in the assault and subsequently died of his injuries. The fort had been established by the Spanish in March of that year, and occupied a commanding position over the strategic anchorage of Brest Roads. It thus posed a significant threat to English security by offering a potential staging post for Spanish expeditions to invade England, Wales or Ireland, as had been attempted by the Armada in 1588 and was to be repeated several more times during the Anglo-Spanish war. The fort's location is remembered by the modern name of Pointe des Espagnols.
1900: During the Boer War, a detachment from the Royal Canadian Dragoons counter-attacked to cover the withdrawal of artillery guns at Komati River. Lieutenants Cockburn and Turner, and Sergeant Holland all received the Victoria Cross for saving the guns in a fierce close-quarter action.
1914: Leading an attack on German trenches at Zillebeke, Belgium, Captain Vallentin of the South Staffordshire Regiment was seriously wounded and fell. The rest of his company also became pinned down. Despite his wounds, Vallentin got back to his feet, but was immediately killed. However, his example encouraged his men to resume their attack, and they succeeded in taking the position. Vallentin received the Victoria Cross.
1915: Second Lieutenant Insall of the Royal Flying Corps attacked a German aircraft, and eventually forced it to land in a field behind the German lines. The crew fled, and Insall and his observer destroyed the aircraft with a bomb. Returning home, the aircraft came under heavy ground fire and was forced to land just inside Allied lines, hit in the fuel tank. Repairing the damage overnight, Insall eventually reached his home base the following day. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1917: The Third Battle of Gaza was fought after the outflanking advance at Beersheba. The British victory allowed Allenby's troops to drive north towards Jerusalem. Lieutenant Colonel Borton of the London Regiment particularly distinguished himself. He led his battalion's initial assault, and when this became pinned down, exposed himself to heavy fire whilst moving up and down the line to reorganise and encourage his men. The second attack succeeded in capturing the enemy position. Borton then led a group of volunteers in a bayonet charge against a battery of field guns, capturing the guns and their crews. He received the Victoria Cross.
The Gaza-Beersheba line was completely overrun and 12,000 Turkish soldiers were captured or surrendered. However, the sacrifice of the Turkish rearguards delayed the British pursuit and saved the army from encirclement and destruction.
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2004: Operation Phantom Fury begins with Marines of RCT-1 and RCT-7 advancing through the northern environs of Fallujah. Six weeks later the battle would end as the bloodiest to date in the Iraq War and the fiercest street fighting the Marines had seen since Hue City in 1968
Posted by: Dan | November 9, 2007 3:23 AM