Today in Military History May 8th

May 8 1429        Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans, turning the tide of the Hundred Years' War.

May 8  1821        Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.

May 8 1846         Mexican–American War: Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

May 8 1941        World War II: The German Luftwaffe launches a bombing raid on Nottingham and Derby.

May 8 1941        German Q-ship Pinguin sinks in Indian Ocean

May 8 1942      World War II: The German 11th Army begins Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) and destroys the bridgehead of the three Soviet armies defending the Kerch Peninsula.

May 8 1942     World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.

May 8 1945       Canadian troops move into Amsterdam

May 8 1945     World War II: German forces in the west agree to an unconditional surrender.
 V-E Day: WWII ends in Europe after Germany signs an unconditional surrender

May 8 1945     Hundreds of Algerian civilians are killed by French Army soldiers in the Sétif massacre.

May 8  1984    Corporal Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three people and wounding 13. René Jalbert, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.

May 8 1987      The SAS kills eight Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers and a civilian during an ambush in Loughgall, Northern Ireland.