On This Day ... in 1879 & Others
At Shahjui in Afghanistan half a dozen men, led by 35 year old Captain Euston Henry Sartorius, 59th (East Lancs) Regiment, attacked a mountain-top position held by tribesmen. The nature of the ground made any regular formation impossible, and Captain Sartorius and his men were fired on by the enemy as they reached the top of the steep pathway. The action was, however, a complete success owing to the gallant and cool bearing of the captain, although one of his men was killed and he himself was wounded by sword cuts in both hands. Sartorius was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Remarkably, five years earlier Captain Sartorius' brother Reginald had also won the Victoria Cross while serving with the Bengal Lancers in Ashanti. The brothers later achieved high rank, both retiring as Major Generals.
1918: Lieutenant Frederick Hedges, 6th Bn Bedfordshire Regiment, led a company with particular distinction on the Western Front, at one point going ahead to capture six machine-guns. He received the Victoria Cross.
1940: During the day, the main Luftwaffe activity over the UK proved to be reconnaissance work. The main night attacks were Birmingham and London.
Fleet Air Arm Swordfish aircraft flying from shore bases in North Africa, bombed Tobruk and mined the harbour.
1942: RAF Bomber Command Lancasters conducted a long range bombing raid on Milan.88 Lancasters of 5 Group mounted the risky daylight operation. The aircraft proceeded independently by a direct route across France, using partial cloud cover, to a rendezvous at Lake Annecy. The Alps were then crossed and Milan bombed in broad daylight. Defences were weak and accurate bombing took place.
The raid came as a complete surprise in Milan. 135 tons of bombs fell in 18 minutes and 30 large fires were started. 441 houses were destroyed or damaged. R.A.F. reconnaissance photographs later discovered that a number of commercial and industrial buildings were also hit, including the Caproni aircraft factory. At least 171 people were killed.
3 Lancasters were lost, 1 near Milan and 2 over Northern France and the Channel: A further Lancaster crashed in England and its crew were all killed.
Comments
Sad to say that many of the fine 2 Bn County regiments you have listed over the years have gone for good. Their deeds live on despite the parsimony of Whitehall. It is sad to think that the rot started with The County Yeomanry being amalgamated post D Day due to casualties, wih american help it wasnt material but men we were short off. This lead to the disbandment and transfer en masse of many Sdns of RAF regt into Army formations, something they understndably were not keen on.
Posted by: Tim Castle | October 24, 2006 9:27 AM
Tim - A Glaswegian cousin served in the RAF Regiment, and he referred to that unit as the "Rock Apes". Before I could ask the obvious question, pints 'n pies arrived, and I never got a chance to find out.
Posted by: MP | October 24, 2007 7:27 PM
MP:
If I remember rightly, Rock Apes were the RAF Regiment contingent on Gibralter.
Posted by: Mac the Knife | October 29, 2008 1:15 AM
Can Liverpool really lose their fifth match in a row tomorrow?
Posted by: dr kill | October 24, 2009 2:14 PM