1106: Suitably enough on the anniversary of William the Conqueror's invasion, Henry I of England defeated his brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, at Tinchebrai, and took possession of Normandy.

1857: Heavy fighting at Bolandshahr against mutineer forces earnt seven Victoria Crosses:

Captain Anson, 84th Regiment
Lieutenant Blair, 2nd Dragoon Guards
Sergeant Diamond, Bengal Horse Artillery
Lance-Corporal Kells, 9th Lancers
Private Donohoe, 9th Lancers
Private Roberts, 9th Lancers
Gunner Fitzgerald, Bengal Horse Artillery

1914: Private Dobson, Coldstream Guards, went out under fire to attempt the rescue of two casualties. One proved to be dead, but the other was still alive, albeit badly wounded. Dobson dressed his wounds, then crawled back to fetch help. He and a corporal managed to crawl out to the man with a stretcher and drag him to safety. Dobson received the Victoria Cross.

1915: In Mesopotamia, Kut-el-Amara fell to the British forces under Major-General Townshend. The troops were supported by a naval flotilla of river gunboats and steamers, including HMS Comet, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Cookson. He took Comet in to attack a string of dhows blocking the Tigris. Under heavy machine-gun fire, Cookson leapt aboard a dhow and attempted to sever the cables with an axe. He immediately drew the full fire of the defenders and fell dead from multiple injuries. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

In France, Second Lieutenant Turner, Royal Berkshire Regiment, volunteered to mount a bombing attack to cover the withdrawal of his battalion in the face of heavy German attacks. He advanced down a communication trench for a couple of hundred yards, driving back the Germans with his grenades. He eventually was hit and killed, but his action was judged to have saved the lives of possibly several hundred troops who were able to withdraw safely. He was awarded a posthumous VC.

1918: The final offensive was launched in Flanders, where so many British casualties had previously been suffered. This time, the results were very different. British, Commonwealth and Belgian troops under King Albert of Belgium successfully pushed back the Army Group commanded by Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria in the Ypres area.

Sergeant McGuffie, King's Own Scottish Borderers, particularly distinguished himself in the dangerous task of clearing enemy dug-outs, then managed to rescue some British soldiers who had been taken prisoner. Private Tandey, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, first knocked out a machine-gun nest, then rebuilt a plank bridge under heavy fire, and ended the day leading eight men in a bayonet charge that secured 37 prisoners. Tandey and McGuffie were both awarded the Victoria Cross.

1940: The Germans again launched three major raids in the south-east, with a fourth aimed at Portsmouth