On This Day ... in 1857 & Others
As the Indian Mutiny continued to rage, at Delhi Lieutenant Thomas Cadell, serving with the 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers, rescued a wounded bugler under the most severe fire. Later the same day while the Fusiliers were retiring, Cadell once again went forward, this time accompanied by three men to rescue a severely wounded man who was under heavy fire from the advancing enemy.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross, and went on to serve with the Royal Munster Fusiliers, achieving the rank of Colonel. Cadell was the cousin of Major Samuel Hill Lawrence of the 32nd Regiment who won the VC a month later, during the bitter fighting around Lucknow.
1915: On the Western Front, Lance-Corporal Angus of the Highland Light Infantry went to the aid of an officer lying wounded in front of a German trench. His proximity to the Germans meant that Angus was hit repeatedly by rifle fire and grenade fragments, suffering 40 wounds. But despite his appalling injuries, he managed to get the wounded man back to the British lines. Angus received the Victoria Cross.
1940: British and Italian troops fought their first skirmish along the border between Egypt and Libya. 62 Italians were captured.
1943: Bomber Command demonstrated its rapidly improving ability to hit even targets completely covered by cloud at night, thanks to precision bombing aids such as Oboe, with an effective attack on Bochum which caused severe damage to the town centre.
1944: Only six days after the first troops came ashore in Normandy, the Mulberry harbours at Arromanches and St Laurent were declared operational. The Dieppe Raid in 1942 had shown the difficulty of seizing a port in a direct amphibious assault, and the Germans had been confident that the Allies would be unable to receive adequate supplies across the beaches they had taken on D-Day. However, numerous huge concrete caissons had been constructed in British dockyards to be towed across the Channel and sunk to form two prefabricated harbours, each the size of Dover. Floating trackways were installed, capable of allowing fully loaded trucks to be driven straight off transport ships to the shore.
Bomber Command continued to support the land campaign with 671 aircraft, whilst another 303 bombers went after a synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen as the Allies launched a concerted effort to cripple German fuel supplies.
A Canadian Lancaster of 419 Squadron RCAF was caught by a German night fighter near Cambrai and set on fire. As the crew baled out, Pilot Officer Mynarski, the mid-upper gunner, realised that the rear gunner was trapped in his turret, and went to his aid Mynarski ignored the flames around him as he struggled in vain to free the man, the aircraft all the time descending out of control. The rear gunner waved him away to save himself, but by then Mynarski's clothes and parachute were on fire. He jumped, and was found by French civilians, but died of his injuries soon after. By a miracle, the rear gunner survived the crash when the Lancaster came down, and was able to report Mynarski's heroism - he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
In Burma, Japanese tanks attacked a company of the 7th Gurkha Rifles Rifleman Ganju Lama went forward alone with a PIAT anti-tank launcher, and successfully stalked two of the vehicles, despite suffering wounds to both hands and a broken wrist, knocking them out at point-blank range, then wiping out the crews as they attempted to escape. He received the Victoria Cross.
1982: On Mount Longdon, Sergeant McKay assumed command of a platoon of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, after the platoon's officer had fallen wounded during the fighting on Mount Longdon. The troops were pinned down by heavy fire from an Argentine position, and suffering further casualties. Sergeant McKay charged the enemy alone, and was killed, but his attack allowed the platoon to disengage safely. McKay was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.