1879: During the Second Afghan War, Lieutenant Hamilton of the Guide Cavalry won the Victoria Cross for his leadership and bravery during a cavalry action. He assumed command of the Regiment after his Commanding Officer was killed, and as well as distinguishing himself leading a charge, went to the rescue of a Sowar lying trapped under a dead horse and being attacked by three enemy. Hamilton killed all three and carried the Sowar to safety.

1917: On the Western Front, five Australian soldiers attacked a strongpoint defended by 45 Germans. The Australians managed to kill the crew of a machine-gun, which allowed Private Jensen to break into the position. With a grenade in each hand, he induced the German garrison to surrender. He then sent one of the prisoners along the trenches to another German position, now outflanked, to invite them to surrender. This they agreed to do, but as they left their positions, other Australian troops, unaware of their surrender, opened fire. Jensen immediately ran out into the open, in the line of fire, and successfully stopped the firing. Jensen received the Victoria Cross.

1943: 1409 (Meteorological) Flight of Bomber Command flew its first operational sortie, a Mosquito to Brittany in preparation for a Bomber Command raid on the U-boat pens at Saint Nazaire and Lorient. For the remainder of the war, 1409 Flight's Mosquitoes flew 1,364 sorties, unarmed and usually alone, deep into enemy territory, to conduct vital weather reconnaissance in advance of bomber operations. Only three Mosquitoes were lost in during these operations.

1945: By the Dortmund-Ems Canal, a company of the Monmouthshire Regiment attacked a heavily defended ridge in the Teutoberger Wald. A section led by Corporal Chapman suffered heavy casualties from a machine-gun. Chapman ordered the survivors to take cover, then advanced alone with a Bren Gun, and successfully engaged the position at point-blank range. The rest of the company was ordered to withdraw, but Chapman's section, the most advanced, could not be reached. Isolated, he led his depleted section in a fierce defence against repeated counter-attacks, surviving a concerted grenade attack against him personally. Having secured the position, he then went out alone to the aid of his Company Commander, who had fallen badly wounded during the withdrawal. He carried him back to the British lines, but both men were hit and wounded by snipers, fatally in the case of the officer. Chapman received the Victoria Cross.

In Italy, at Lake Comacchio, a troop of Royal Marine Commandos came under heavy machine-gun fire in the open. To draw the fire and allow his comrades to seek cover, Corporal Hunter charged single-handed three machine-guns located in a group of buildings, running for two hundred yards in the open to reach them. Breaking into one of the buildings, he cleared, six Germans surrendering, the remainder fleeing. As he continued to provide covering fire for his troop, he was hit and killed. Hunter was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1982: Argentinian forces invaded the Falkland Islands. The small Royal Marine garrison defended Government House in a fierce action until ordered to surrender by the Governor to avoid unnecessary loss of life.