On This day ... in 1496 & Others
A dock was constructed at Portsmouth for the maintenance of the King's warships. Sometimes described as the first ever dry dock, it is likely that it was a development of the mud docks previously used. Lacking dock gates, it seems to have still relied on the manual construction and excavation of the dock head to allow ships in and out.
1917: On the Western Front, Captain Newland of the 12th Australian Battalion led his company in an assault on a German position, Newland personally spearheading the attack with a small bombing party armed with grenades. Having taken the position, he and his men faced two days of counter-attacks, at one point being driven back. However, Newland rallied the company and once again took the position. He was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).
1918: With just eleven men, Lieutenant Storkey, 19th Australian Battalion, stormed a position held by some 100 German troops. They killed thirty of their opponents, captured fifty others plus a machine-gun, and drove the remainder out. Storkey received the Victoria Cross.
1941: Bomber Command staged its largest raid of the war to date, sending 229 aircraft to attack the German docks at Kiel. The weather was ideal, with a full moon aiding the bomb aimers. Four aircraft failed to return; the raid caused widespread damage, temporarily knocking out two U-boat construction yards and setting ablaze an ammunition depot.
Comments
12 Diggers against 100 dug in German troops?? Not fair...to the Germans, that is.
Posted by: Joseph | April 9, 2008 10:58 AM