1917: Near Givenchy in France, a heavy German gas attack was followed up by an attempt to rush the forward British positions. Although he was suffering badly from the effects of the gas, Private Mills of the Manchester Regiment fought the attack off single-handed using grenades, holding his position until reinforcements arrived and preventing a German breakthrough. As he was carried to the rear, he died from the gas poisoning he had suffered. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1941: Force Z, the Royal Navy's main strength in the Far East, under Vice Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, was caught without fighter cover by Imperial Japanese Navy bombers off the east coast of Malaya whilst attempting to interdict Japanese landing forces. The battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse both succumbed to multiple torpedo and bomb hits and sank with the loss of 840 men. Some 2,800 were rescued by escorting destroyers