On This Day ... in 1337 & Others
Sir Andrew Murray or Moray was the son and namesake of William Wallace's companion-in-arms. Although less well known than his father, Andrew Moray, his career in many ways was of greater significance. As the Guardian of Scotland, he took advantage of Edward III's distraction by the French threat to his Gascon possessions, and spent the month of February eliminating English garrisons in northern Scotland. The last day of the month saw St Andrews fall after a three-week siege, which had seen its walls assailed by "Buster", a formidable siege engine.
1579: Francis Drake, on his extended raiding circumnavigation of the world in the Golden Hind, captured the Spanish Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion off the Ecuadorian coast, carrying 26 tons of silver.
1825: The Convention on dividing Russian and British possessions in North America is concluded
1940: Royal Navy divers recovered three rotors from a top-secret Enigma enciphering machine on board U-33. The U-boat, caught minelaying off Scotland, scuttled herself after being forced to the surface by depth charges from the sloop HMS Gleaner.
1942: The Australian and US cruisers, HMAS Perth
and USS Houston, survivors of the Battle of the Java Sea attempted to escape from Batavia through the Sunda Strait. However, in the night they encountered the Japanese invasion fleet in Bantam Bay. Massively outgunned, they went down fighting to the last. Less than half their ships' companies survived, to face long years of imprisonment in Japanese camps.
The Japanese invasion of Java signalled defeat in the Netherlands East Indies and was another in the series of victories won by the Japanese in the opening six months of the Pacific war.
Admiral Yamamoto, Commander of the Combined Fleet, issued Navy Directive No. 60, which states that the Japanese Navy is to consider Soviet ships as "absolutely neutral"
1991: At 0500 GMT, Coalition forces suspended offensive military operations in the Gulf, Kuwait having been liberated after a ground campaign lasting 100 hours. Troops from seventeen nations had either participated in the ground offensive or had manned defensive positions in Saudi Arabia, guarding against any attempted Iraqi counter-attacks. 1st (British) Armoured Division had advanced 290 km, destroyed or captured some 200 tanks, 100 armoured vehicles and 100 artillery guns. 7,000 prisoners had been taken by the Division, including 2 Iraqi divisional commanders. British fatalities in the Gulf, from first deployment in August 1990 to the cessation of hostilities, totalled 47, of which 24 were suffered during operations.
Comments
Sseventeen nations "participated" in the Gulf. Two nations actually fought on the ground. After units of the 1st Marine Division cleared out Kuwait City, the powers that be had us hide behind buildings so the media could film Egytian and Syrian troops "liberating" the city. They then turn around and drove right back down the highway to Suadi Arabia.
Posted by: Bram | February 28, 2007 12:17 PM
The French Foreign Legion was there too - apparently the problem with them was convincing them _not_ to try and take Baghdad. Perhaps we should have.
I didn't realize the Golden Hind was a raiding expedition - that's certainly not how it was taught in school.
Posted by: SGT Jeff | February 28, 2007 4:28 PM
I dont think the hind was classed as a raider, 26 tons is merely foraging!
Posted by: Tim C | March 1, 2007 3:27 PM