On This Day ... in 1889 & Others
During an attack on a fortified Burmese village at Tartan, Ferdinand Le Quesne a Surgeon in the Medical Staff Corps of the Chin Field Force went to the aid of a badly wounded officer lying only 15 feet from the enemy stockade, and, ignoring enemy fire, dressed the officer's injuries. Unfortunately, despite the Surgeon's efforts, the officer did not survive. Le Quesne then went to assist another casualty, and whilst doing so was himself hit and severely wounded. He received the Victoria Cross.
Le Quesne reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Army Medical Corps and died at Bristol on 14th April 1950.
1915: The Royal Flying Corps deployed its first operational kite-balloon for artillery observation duties on the Western Front. At Gallipoli, ANZAC troops attempted to take the headland of Gaba Tepe; the attack failed, with heavy casualties.
1945: On Luneburg Heath, Admiral von Friedeburg surrendered to Montgomery all German forces in the Netherlands, Denmark and north west Germany.
In the Pacific off the Sakishima Islands, the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable survived a hit by a kamikaze aircraft. Her armoured flight deck - a feature unique to the Royal Navy carriers - ensured that she suffered less serious damage than some US carriers hit by suicide attacks.
1982: The Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet missile fired by an Argentine Navy Super Etendard whilst acting as a radar picket off the Falklands. Twenty crew were killed. The missile impact caused a serious fire and the ship had to be abandoned, and eventually sank under tow.
Comments
Is it just hindsight that makes wonder what jackass thought wooden flight decks were a good idea?
Posted by: D.W. Drang | May 4, 2009 9:02 AM
While wooden flight decks had many downsides, do you think that if the USS Yorktown had armored decks she have been repaired after the Battle of the Coral Sea in time to make the Battle of Midway?
Poor protection yes, but easily repaired.
Posted by: subrookie | May 4, 2009 6:22 PM