On This Day ... in 1857 & Others
At Delhi, Troopers Hancock and Purcell, with the aid of a Indian irregular cavalryman, rescued a brigadier under heavy fire after his horse had been shot. Hancock was badly wounded in the process. Both Hancock and Purcell were awarded the Victoria Cross, as was Private Turner, who later that evening, during a vicious night action, carried to safety a badly wounded officer, despite himself receiving a severe sabre wound. Sadly the officer subsequently died of his injuries.
1896: A revolt spread amongst the Mashona people in June, much of it fostered by spirit mediums who promised the rebels invulnerability to bullets. One group of rebels surrounded miners and their families at the Alice Mine in Mazoe Valley. Captain Nesbitt of the Mashonaland Mounted Police set off with a 13-man patrol and on 19 June managed to fight his way through to rescue them and get them all safely back to Salisbury, despite suffering three fatalities and five other casualties amongst his tiny force. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1912: The world's first dedicated military flying training establishment, the Central Flying School, opened at Upavon. Its first commandant was Captain Paine of the Royal Navy.
1944: The worst storm suffered in the English Channel since the turn of the century threatened the huge naval supply operation supporting the Allied troops ashore in Normandy. One of the prefabricated Mulberry harbours off the French coast suffered particularly severe damage.