On This Day ... in 1653 & Others
During the first day of the Battle of the Gabbard, Generals-at-Sea George Monck and Richard Deane led 98 ships against a similar number of Dutch vessels off the Gabbard shoal, east of Harwich. The English ships tended to be larger and more heavily armed, but drew more water and were more at risk from grounding in shallows. Maarten Tromp chose to keep to the defensive, the English ships enjoying the advantage of the wind and using their superior armament to fight at a distance safe from Dutch melee tactics. At the end of the day, Tromp bore away for Dunkirk. The action continued on 3 June.
1666: On the second day of the Four Days battle Monck, down to only 45 ships facing 80 Dutch, still enjoyed the advantage of the wind, and resumed the attack, keeping to a long range gunnery duel. Cornelius Tromp, a squadron commander, attempted to close the line, but was almost overwhelmed before de Ruyter was able to rescue him. However, at close range, more English ships fell prey to boarding actions.
1900: During a skirmish between a mounted British raiding patrol and Boers, Corporal Kirby of the Royal Engineers turned back to rescue a comrade whose horse had been shot from under him. The Boers immediately concentrated their fire on him, but Kirby managed nevertheless to get the man up behind him in the saddle and got him safely clear. Kirby was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1917: Over the Western Front near Cambrai, Captain Bishop, a Canadian officer with the Royal Flying Corps, mounted a lone attack on a German airfield just as a formation of aircraft prepared to take off. Bishop closed on the first to get airborne, and shot it down. He then fired at the second aircraft, which flew into a tree whilst trying to evade his fire. A second pair of aircraft was now airborne; Bishop shot one down and used up his ammunition on the fourth, damaging it.
Bishop made it safely back home to receive the Victoria Cross, and ended the war as the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force's most successful ace, with 72 victories. He was later one of the founding fathers of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
1940: A week after it had started, the evacuation at Dunkirk was largely reduced to night operations With fewer shipping targets, the German aircraft turned their attentions to the rearguard holding the defensive perimeter.