1879: Whilst mounting an operation to relieve 1,700 troops besieged by Zulus at Eshowe, Lord Chelmsford ordered a diversionary attack on Hlobane by a small mounted force led by Lieutenant Colonel Redvers Buller. The attack was beaten off with heavy losses as Zulu reinforcements rushed to the scene, but helped the relief force reach Eshowe on 4 April. Buller and Major Leet were both awarded the Victoria Cross for their personal heroism in rescuing wounded men during the course of the day. Two other Victoria Crosses were also won by Lieutenant Lysons and Private Fowler of the Cameronians during fierce fighting in mountain caves held by the Zulus.

1918: Heavy fighting continued on the Western Front as the German Michael offensive slowly lost momentum. Three Victoria Crosses were won that day, by Lieutenant Colonel Watson and 2nd Lieutenant Cassidy, both killed during desperate rearguard actions, and Sergeant McDougall, 47th Australian Battalion, who single-handedly countercharged a wave of enemy infantry and put them to flight.

1941: Off the southern tip of Greece, Cape Matapan, Admiral Iachino's Italian fleet fought a major action with the Mediterranean Fleet of Admiral Cunningham. The cruiser HMS Orion spotted Iachino's flagship Vittorio Veneto in the early morning, and HMS Formidable launched a series of air strikes. Only one Fleet Air Arm bomber was shot down, and Vittorio Veneto and the cruiser Pola were both damaged by torpedoes. During the evening, the British ships closed in on Pola, which was escorted by two other cruisers and a pair of destroyers. The firepower of the battleships Warspite and Valiant proved devastating, and all five Italian ships were sunk.

1942: Perhaps the most audacious of all Commando raids, Operation Chariot, was mounted in the early hours of the morning against the Normandie dry-dock at St Nazaire, the largest in Europe and the only facility on the Atlantic seaboard capable of supporting the battleship Tirpitz. The elderly destroyer HMS Campbeltown, formerly the USS Buchanan given to the Royal Navy 9 September 1940, led the attack, her bows packed with 4.5 tons of explosive to make her into a massive bomb. Campbeltown's superstructure had also been modified, to give her the approximate appearance of a German Mowe class escort vessel, in the hope that uncertainty as to her identity would help her get past the formidable shore batteries guarding the Loire estuary. Accompanied by a flotilla of 16 small and vulnerable Motor Launches, a Motor Gun Boat and a Motor Torpedo Boat, Campbeltown made her way up the Loire under heavy fire and rammed the dock gates at high speed at 0134. An assault force of Army Commandos stormed ashore, with the task of destroying dockside facilities. The Germans reacted swiftly and extremely fierce fighting ensued for several hours. Only four of the 16 Motor Launches survived to get back out to sea. The delayed action fuses in Campbeltown's bows detonated ten hours after she hit the docks. 360 German troops were killed in the blast - they had not realised the true purpose of the attack - and the dock was put out of action for the remainder of the war. Of the 611 Royal Navy and Army personnel involved, 222 were brought out on the Motor Launches, five escaped on foot south through Occupied France and into Spain, 215 were captured, and 169 were killed. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded:

Commander Ryder, who led the flotilla in MGB314

Lieutenant Commander Beattie, commanding Campbeltown

Sergeant Ryder, Royal Engineers, who died of his wounds sustained aboard ML306

Able Seaman Savage, killed in action aboard MGB314

Lieutenant Colonel Newman, who led the Commando force

2003: In Iraq, D Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment was conducting reconnaissance operations far in advance of the main body of 16 Air Assault Brigade. A pair of Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles came under mistaken attack by Coalition aircraft. The 18-year old driver of one of the Scimitars, Trooper Finney of the Blues & Royals, escaped from his burning vehicle, and successfully rescued the wounded gunner, trapped in the turret. Having carried him to safety, Finney returned to the vehicle to use the radio to alert headquarters. He then began carrying his wounded comrade towards a Royal Engineer Spartan vehicle which was coming to their assistance. Unfortunately, the Coalition aircraft then mounted a second attack which wounded both Finney and the already injured gunner, and set fire to the second Scimitar. Nevertheless, Finney got the casualty to the safety of the Spartan, and then attempted, in vain, to rescue a crewman trapped in the second Scimitar. He eventually collapsed, overcome by smoke and his injuries. He was awarded the George Cross for his heroism.