1915: In Belgium, a German attack overran positions held by Canadian troops, and a counter-attack was cut to pieces. Lieutenant Bellew and a sergeant of The British Columbia Regiment manned a machine-gun and fought against overwhelming odds to stem the German advance. The sergeant was killed, but Bellew, wounded, remained in action until his ammunition was exhausted. He managed to smash his machine-gun then defended with a rifle until taken prisoner. He received the Victoria Cross.

A second Canadian was awarded the VC for selfless heroism that day: Company Sergeant-Major Hall twice went into No Man's Land attempting to reach a wounded man. He eventually reached him, but as he lifted the casualty, Hall was shot in the head and killed.

1916: With British forces besieged by the Ottomans at Kut in Mesopotamia, a small naval crew under Lieutenant Commander Cowley and Lieutenant Firman attempted to break the blockade on the Tigris with the small steamer Julna, laden with two hundred tons of supplies. The steamer was raked by machine-gun and artillery fire from the banks, but pressed on, only to be stopped by hawsers stretched across the river. She was then pounded relentlessly, Firman falling in action. Cowley and other survivors were believed taken prisoner then murdered. Cowley and Firman were both awarded posthumous Victoria Crosses.

In Ireland, the Easter Rising started.

1917: A British attack on the village of Villers Plouich ran into heavy fire from a pair of German machine-guns safe behind heavy barbed wire defences. Corporal Foster commanded a Lewis Gun section of The East Surrey Regiment, and skillfully led his men forward and broke into the German trenches. One of his two Lewis Gun teams was then hit, but Foster went forward with grenades, and recovered the lost gun. He and his men then brought effective fire to bear and eliminated the German machine-gun nest. Foster was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership and initiative.

1918: During heavy fighting around Villers-Bretonneaux, the Germans threw in their entire operational force of domestically produced tanks (as opposed to those captured from the British); thirteen of the huge A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. British Mark IV tanks were also operating in the area, and the first ever tank versus tank engagement took place near the village of Cachy. Honours were broadly shared: Second Lieutenant Mitchell is credited with the first tank victory when his Mark IV "Male" knocked out an A7V which had damaged its two "Female" companions. Shortly afterwards, there was a brief encounter when British Whippet tanks broke through the German lines and were met by another A7V. Australian infantry that night conducted a successful night attack that retook Villers-Bretonneaux. In the course of this, Lieutenant Sadlier led a section armed with grenades against a network of machine-guns. He and his men bombed out two positions, but every man fell casualty. Sadlier, himself wounded, went forward alone armed only with a revolver and wiped out a third machine-gun nest, being wounded a second time in the process. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1944: Bomber Command flew major raids against Karlsruhe (637 aircraft) and Munich (260 aircraft), with diversionary missions as far apart as the North Sea and Milan. The Karlsruhe raid was largely a failure due to bad weather spoiling accuracy, but Munich suffered significant damage after 5 Group's Mosquitoes marked with precision at low-level amidst intense anti-aircraft fire.

1980: The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight US servicemen

1982: The merchantman Atlantic Conveyor completes fitting of helicopter decks at Devonport in preparation for taking helicopters and other hardware to the conflict zone in the South Atlantic