Today in Millitary History June 30

    
June 30 296  Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.

June 30 350  Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed in Rome by troops of the usurper Magnentius.

June 30 763  The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.

June 30 1422 Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.

June 30 1520 Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan.
  
June 30  1521  Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.

June 30 1559  King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.

June 30 1651 The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.    June 30 1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.

June 30 1758 Seven Years' War: The Battle of Domstadtl takes place.

June 30 1794 Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.

JUNE 30 1857  For his actions between 30 June and 22 November Robert Aitken was awarded the Victoria cross.  The citation reads

For various acts of gallantry performed during the defence of the Residency of Lucknow, from the 30th June to the 22nd of November 1857

1. On three different occasions, Lieutenant Aitken went into the garden under the enemy's loopholes in the "Captain's Bazaar. On two of these occasions, he brought out a number of bullocks which had been left in the garden; - subsequently, on the 3rd of July, the enemy having set fire to the Bhoosa Stock in the garden, and it being apprehended that the fire would reach the Powder Magazine which had been left there, Lieutenant Aitken, accompanied by other Officers, went into the garden, and cut down all the tents which might have communicated the fire to the powder. This was done, close to the enemy's loopholes, under a bright light from the flames. It was a most dangerous service.
2. On the night of the 20th of August, the Enemy having set fire to the Baillie Guard Gate, Lieutenant Aitken was the first man in the gateway, and, assisted by some sepoys and a water-carrier of his Regiment, he partially opened the gate under a heavy fire of musketry, and, having removed the burning wood and straw, saved the gate.
3. On the evening of the 25th of September, this Officer led on twelve sepoys of his Regiment for the purpose of attacking two guns opposite the gate referred to, in order to prevent their being turned on the late Major-General Havelock's second column. Having captured them, he attacked and took the Teree Kotee, with a small force.
4. On the morning of the 26th of September, with a small party of his Regiment, he assaulted and captured the barricaded gateway of the Furreed Buksh Palace, and the Palace itself. On this occasion, he sprang up against a small wicket gate on the right, and prevented the enemy from shutting it, until, with assistance, it was forced open, and the assaulting party were thus able to rush in. The complete success of the attack was solely owing to this Officer's distinguished bravery.
5. In a subsequent sortie on the 29th of September, Lieutenant Aitken volunteered to take a gun which still continued firing, taking with him four soldiers through the houses and lanes to the gun. The enemy fired on this party from the houses, but they held their ground, until a stronger party coming up, the gun was upset from its carriage, and taken into the Residency. Another gun was subsequently taken.

June 30 1934 The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.

June 30 1944 World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.

June 30 2015 A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.

Today in Military History June 29

June 29 1149 Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.

June 29 1444 Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman invasion force at Torvioll.

June 29 1644 Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge.

June 29 1659 The Russians, led by Prince Trubetskoy are defeated by the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky in the Battle of Konotop.

June 29 1807 Russo-Turkish War: Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos.

June 29 1857 Battle at Chinhat (Indies rebel under Barkat Ahmed beat British)

June 29 1863 Confederate General Robert Lee orders his forces to concentrate near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania   

June 29 1880 France annexes Tahiti.

June 29 1943 Germany begins withdrawing U-boats from North Atlantic in anticipation of the Allied invasion of Europe

June 29 1944 German counter attack at Caen

June 29 1944 Soviet Armies join in Bobroesjk

June 29 1949 US troops withdraw from Korea after WW II

June 29 1950 Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman authorizes a sea blockade of Korea.

June 29 1952 USS Oriskany becomes 1st aircraft carrier to sail around Cape Horn

June 29 1966 Vietnam War: US planes bomb the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong for the first time

June 29 1970 US ends 2 month military offensive into Cambodia

June 29 1974 Military coup in Ethiopia

June 29 1994 US reopens Guantanamo Naval Base to process refugees

June 29 2002  Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel.

Today in Military History June 28

June 28 1098  Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul.

June 28 1651  The Battle of Berestechko between Poland and Ukraine starts.

June 28 1709  Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava.

June 28 1745  A New England colonial army captures the French fortifications at Louisbourg (New Style).

June 28 1776  American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Sullivan's Island ends with the American victory, leading to the commemoration of Carolina Day.

June 28 1776  American Revolutionary War: Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington, is hanged for mutiny and sedition.

June 28 1778  American Revolutionary War: The American Continentals engage the British in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse resulting in standstill and British withdrawal under cover of darkness.

June 28 1797  French troops disembark in Corfu, beginning the French rule in the Ionian Islands.

June 28 1807  Second British invasion of the Río de la Plata; John Whitelocke lands at Ensenada on an attempt to recapture Buenos Aires and is defeated by the locals.

June 28 1865  The Army of the Potomac is disbanded.

June 28 1880  Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is captured at Glenrowan.

June 28 1917  World War I: Greece joins the Allied powers.

June 28 1919  The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending the state of war between Germany and the Allies of World War I.

June 28 1922  The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces.

June 28 1942  World War II: Nazi Germany starts its strategic summer offensive against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue.

June 28 1950  Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers (between as many as 100,000 to 200,000) are executed in the Bodo League massacre.

June 28 1950  Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow North Korea's offensive. The city falls later that day.

June 28 1950  Korean War: North Korean Army conducts the Seoul National University Hospital massacre.

June 28 1987  For the first time in military history, a civilian population is targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht.

Today in Military History June 27

June 27 1580 Duke of Alva's army occupies Portugal

June 27 1693 1st sea battle of Lagos: a French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke

June 27 1743 In the Battle of Dettingen, George II becomes the last reigning British monarch to participate in a battle.

June 27 1759 British general James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec.

June 27 1760 Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

June 27 1806 British forces take Buenos Aires during the first of the British invasions of the River Plate.

June 27 1862 Battle at Garnett's/Golding's Farms, Virginia

June 27 1862 Battle of Gaines's Mill, VA (Cold Harbor, Chickahominy Bluffs) Day 3

June 27 1863 Skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia

June 27 1864 Confederate forces defeat Union forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.

June 27 1905 During the Russo-Japanese War, sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian battleship Potemkin.

June 27 1940 Soviet Army attacks Romania

June 27 1941 German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.

June 27 1950 The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.

June 27 1950 US sends 35 military advisers to South Vietnam

June 27 1988 The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people
.
June 27 1991 Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.

June 27 2007 The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.

Today in Military History June 25

June 25 524   The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.

June 25 841   In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the
German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.

June 25 1258   War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre.

June 25 1658   Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.

June 25 1876  Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

June 25 1913   American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.

June 25 1923   Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH.4B biplane.

June 25 1940   World War II: The French armistice with Germany comes into effect.

June 25 1944   World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins.

June 25 1944   World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg..

June 25 1950   The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.

Today in Military History June 24

June 24 217 BC   The Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius, are ambushed and defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.

June 24 109   Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north west of Rome.

June 24 637   The Battle of Moira is fought between the High King of Ireland and the Kings of Ulster and Dál Riata. It is claimed to be the largest battle in the history of Ireland.[1]

June 24 972   Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place.[2]

June 24 1128 Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães: Forces led by Afonso I defeat forces led by his mother Teresa of León and her lover Fernando Pérez de Traba.[3]

June 24 1230   The Siege of Jaén begins, in the context of the Spanish Reconquista.[4]

June 24 1314   First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce.[5]

June 24 1340  Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys: The French fleet is almost completely destroyed by the English fleet commanded in person by King Edward III.

June 24 1622   Battle of Macau: The Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.

June 24 1762   Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The British Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats French forces in Westphalia.

June 24 1779   American Revolutionary War: The  Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.

June 24 1812   Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman river beginning the invasion of Russia.

June 24 1813   Battle of Beaver Dams:: A British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.

June 24 1821   The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.

June 24 1859   Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns): Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.

June 24 1866    Battle of Custoza:: An Austrian army defeats the Italian army during the Austro Prussian War.

June 24 1900  

Captain (now Brevet Major) Lewis Stratford Tollemache Halliday, Royal Marine Light Infantry On the 24th June, 1900, the enemy, consisting of Boxers and Imperial troops, made a fierce attack on the west wall of the British Legation, setting fire to the West Gate of the south stable quarters, and taking cover in the buildings which adjoined the wall. The fire, which spread to part of the stables, and through which and the smoke a galling fire was kept up by the Imperial troops, was with difficulty extinguished, and as the presence of the enemy in the adjoining buildings was a grave danger to the Legation, a sortie was organised to drive them out. A hole was made in the Legation Wall, and Captain Halliday, in command of twenty Marines, led the way into the buildings and almost immediately engaged a party of the enemy. Before he could use his revolver, however, he was shot through the left shoulder, at point blank range, the bullet fracturing the shoulder and carrying away part of the lung. Notwithstanding the extremely severe nature of his wound, Captain Halliday killed three of his assailants, and telling his men to "carry on and not mind him," walked back unaided to the hospital, refusing escort and aid so as not to diminish the number of men engaged in the sortie.

— London Gazette, 1 January 1901.

June 24 1940   World War II: Operation Collar  the first British Commando raid on occupied France, by No 11 Independent Company.

June 24 1943   US military police attempt to arrest a black soldier in Bamber Bridge, England, Battle of Bamber Bridge

June 24 1954   First Indochina War: Battle of Mang Yang Pass: Viet Minh troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment ambush G.M. 100 of France in An Khê.
 

Today in Military History June 23

June 23  1266   War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.

June 23  1280   The Battle of Moclín takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista pitting the forces of the Kingdom of Castile against the Emirate of Granada. The battle resulted in a Granadian victory.

June 23 1314   First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn (south of Stirling) begins.

June 23 1594   The Action of Faial, Azores. The Portuguese carrack Cinco Chagas, loaded with slaves and treasure, is attacked and sunk by English ships with only 13 survivors out of over 700 on board

June 23 1757   Battle of Plassey: Three thousand British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey.

June 23 1758   Seven Years' War: Battle of Krefeld: Allied (British, Hanoverian, and Prussian) forces defeat French troops at Krefeld in Germany.

June 23 1760   Seven Years' War: Battle of Landeshut: Austria defeats Prussia.

June 23 1780   American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township).

June 23 1865   American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate, Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army.

June 23 1913   Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.

June 23 1914   Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.

June 23 1919  Estonian War of Independence: The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; this date is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.

June 23 1942  World War II: Germany's latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.

Today in Military History June 22

June 22  813   Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars led by Krum defeat the Byzantine army near Edirne. Emperor Michael I is forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V the Armenian.

June 22 910   The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).

June 22 1593   Battle of Sisak: Allied Christian troops defeat the Ottomans.

June 22 1807   In the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair, the British warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the American frigate USS Chesapeake.

June 22 1813   War of 1812: After learning of American plans for a surprise attack on Beaver Dams in Ontario, Laura Secord sets out on a 30 kilometer journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon.

June 22  1893   The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet's commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.

June 22 1898   Spanish–American War: The US Fifth Army Corps lands in Cuba.

June 22 1921   Rif War: The Spanish Army suffers its worst military defeat in modern times to the Berbers of the Rif region of Spanish Morocco.

June 22 1940   World War II: France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany, in the same railroad car in which the Germans signed the Armistice in 1918.

June 22 1941  World War II: Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. 

June 22 1942  World War II: Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the capture of Tobruk

June 22 1944   World War II: Opening day of the Soviet Union's Operation Bagration against the Army Group Centre.

June 22 1945   World War II: The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end

June 22 1948   The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought the first group of 802 West Indian immigrants to Tilbury, marking the start of modern immigration to the United Kingdom

June 22 1990   Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.

June 22 2012   A Turkish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter plane is shot down by the Syrian Armed Forces, killing both of the plane's pilots and worsening already-strained relations between Turkey and Syria.

Today in Military History June 21

June 21 533   A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).

June 21  1529   French forces are driven out of northern Italy by Spain at the Battle of Landriano during the War of the League of Cognac.

June 21 1798   Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.

June 21 1813   Peninsular War: Wellington defeats Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria.

June 21 1824   Greek War of Independence: Egyptian forces capture Psara in the Aegean Sea.

June 21 1826   Maniots defeat Egyptians under Ibrahim Pasha in the Battle of Vergas.

June 21  1854  

    The first known recipient of the Victoria Cross Charles Davis Lucas( then Boatswains Mate )  on HMS Hecla in the Baltic, , with two other ships, was bombarding Bomarsund, a fort in the Åland Islands off Finland. The fire was returned from the fort, and at the height of the action a live shell landed on Hecla's upper deck, with its fuse still hissing. All hands were ordered to fling themselves flat on the deck, but Lucas with great presence of mind ran forward and hurled the shell into the sea, where it exploded with a tremendous roar before it hit the water. Thanks to Lucas's action no one on board was killed or seriously wounded by the shell, and accordingly he was immediately promoted to lieutenant by his commanding officer

The medal was presented to him on 26th June 1857 by Queen Victoria.

June 21  1864   American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.

June 21  1898   The United States captures Guam from Spain.

June 21 1900   Boxer Rebellion. China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.

 June 21 1919   Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.

June  21 1941 2nd French troops occupies Damascus Syria

 June 21 1942   World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.

June 21 1942   World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland.

June 21 1945   World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the organized resistance of Imperial Japanese Army forces collapses in the Mabuni area on the southern tip of the main island.

June 22 217 BC   Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.

June 21 168 BC   Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus who surrenders after the battle, ending the Third Macedonian War.

Today in Military History June 20

June 20  451   Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.

June 20 1180   First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.

June 20 1620  The Battle of Höchst takes place during the Thirty Years' War.

June 20 1756   A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.

June 20 1900    Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China. (Film 55 Days in Peking.)

June 20 1943  World War II: The Royal Air Force launches Operation Bellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Lancaster bombers damage the V-2 rocket production facilities at the Zeppelin Works while en route to an air base in Algeria.

June 20 1944   World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot"

June 20 1944   Continuation War: The Soviet Union demands an unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.

Today in Military History June 19

June 19  1179   The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle changes the tide of the civil wars.

June 19 1306   The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven.

June 19 1800    War of the Second Coalition Battle of Höchstädt results in a French victory over Austria.

June 19 1816   Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

June 19 1875   The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins.

June 19 1915  USS Arizona (BB-39) is launched.

June 19 1944   World War II: First day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

June 19 1944     French troops free Elba

June 19 1944     Japanese troops conquer Changsha China

June 19  2009   War in North-West Pakistan: The Pakistani Armed Forces open Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the Taliban and other Islamist rebels in the South Waziristan area of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Today in Military History June 18

June 18  860   Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.

June 18  1053  Battle of Civitate: Three thousand horsemen of Norman Count Humphrey rout the troops of Pope Leo IX.

 June 18 1429   French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.

June 18  1757  Battle of Kolín between Prussian forces under Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun in the Seven Years' War.

June 18 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia.

June 18 1799   Action of 18 June 1799: A frigate squadron under Rear-admiral Perrée is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith

 June 18 1812   The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison.

June 18 1815  Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.

June 18  1822   Constantine Kanaris blows up the Ottoman navy's flagship at Chios, killing the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha

June 18 1953   A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tachikawa, Japan, killing 129.

June 18  1954   Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état

June 18  1965   Vietnam War: The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.

June 18 1981   The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.

Today in Military History June 17

June 17  1497   Battle of Deptford Bridge: Forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.

June 17 1580  Battle at Hardenberg: Spanish troops beat rebels

June 17 1665   Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.

June 17 1734   French troops occupy Philipsburg at Rhine

June 17  1775   American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.

June 17 1855 Heavy French/British bombing of Sebastopol, Crimea: 2,000+ killed

June 17  1861   American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.

June 17 1863   American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.

June 17 1863   American Civil War: Battle at Middleburg, Virginia

June 17 1863   Naval Engagement at Warsaw Sound GA-USS Weehawken vs CSS Atlanta

June 17  1876   American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: One thousand five hundred Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

June 17  1877   American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
 

June 17  1898   The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.

June 17 1900    Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.

June 17 1940   World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain's worst maritime disaster.

June 17 1940 The Soviet Union annexed  the Baltic state.

June 17 1940 – World War II: The British Army's 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.

June 17 2019  Bombardier Patrick Labrie, a member of the 2^nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based at 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa, Ontario, has died as a result of his injuries during parachute training as part of Exercise SWIFT RESPONSE

Today in Military History June 16

June 16  363    Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal Roman forces suffered several attacks from the Persians.

June 16 1407   Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.

June 16 1487  The  Battle of Stoke Field. War of the Roses.

June 16 1745   War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg.

June 16 1746   War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.

June 16 1755   French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.

June 16 1779 Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.

June 16 1795   French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis's Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.

June 16 1815   Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.

June 16 1858   The Battle of Morar takes place during the Indian Mutiny.

June 16 1861     Battle of Vienna, Virginia and Secessionville, South Carolina (James Island)

June 16 1864     Battle of Lynchburg, Virginia

June 16 1864    Skirmish at Golgotha, Georgia

June 16 1940   World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France.

June 16 1982   Falklands war  Britain requests Argentina to arrange for return of prisoners
 

Today in Military History June 15

June 15 923  Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.

June 15 1184   King Magnus V of Norway is killed at the Battle of Fimreite.

June 15 1219   Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.

June 15 1246   Battle at Leitha: Hungary-Austrian

June 15 1312   At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.

June 15 1389   Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.

June 15 1410   The Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor. In the battle at Onon River

June 15 1567    Battle at Carberry, Scotland: Protestant troops beat Earl Bothwell's army

June 15 1670   The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.  

June 15 1779    General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, Bronx

June 15 1800   The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.

June 15  1863   Second Battle at Winchester Virginia.

June 15 1864   American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.

June 15 1864   Arlington National Cemetery is established.

June 15 1866    Prussia attacks Austria.

 

June 15 1940   World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.

June 15 1940    Soviet Army occupies Lithuania

June 15 1944  World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States invade Japanese-occupied Saipan.

June 15  1944  US forces begin invasion of Saipan in Pacific

June 15 2018  The U.S. Navy christened and launched the eleventh Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21).

Today in Military History June 14

June 14 1216   First Barons' War: Prince Louis of France captures the city of Winchester and soon conquers over half of the Kingdom of England.

June 14 1285   Second Mongol invasion of Vietnam: Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of the Trần dynasty destroy most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.

June 14 1287 – Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.

June 14 1381   Richard II of England meets leaders of Peasants' Revolt at Mile End. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.

June 14 1645   English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.

June 14 1667   The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War ends. It had lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.

June 14 1690   King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront the former King James II.

June 14 1775   American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.

June 14  1789   Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.

June 14 1800   The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.

June 14 1807  Emperor Napoleon's French Grande Armée defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

June 14 1821   Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end

June 14 1830   Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers begin their invasion of Algiers, landing 27 kilometers west at Sidi Fredj.

June 14 1863   American Civil War: Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.

June 14 1863   Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.

June 14 1900   The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size.

June 14 1940   World War II: The German occupation of Paris begins.

June 14 1944   World War II: After several failed attempts, the British Army abandons Operation Perch, its plan to capture the German-occupied town of Caen.

June 14 1945   World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.

June 14 1982: British forces take Argentine positions  overlooking Port Stanley.

June 14 1982: Argentine surrenders the Falklands to British Forces.

  

Today in Military History June 13

June 13 1514   Henry Grace à Dieu, at over 1,000 tons the largest warship in the world at this time, built at the new Woolwich Dockyard in England, is dedicated.

June 13 1777   American Revolutionary War: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army.

June 13 1881   The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.

June 13 1917   World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries.


June 13 1944  World War II: The Battle of Villers-Bocage: German tank ace Michael Wittmann ambushes elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, destroying up to fourteen tanks, fifteen personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns in a Tiger I tank.

June 13 1944   World War II: German combat elements, reinforced by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, launch a counterattack on American forces near Carentan.

June 13 1944   World War II: Germany launches the first V1 Flying Bomb attack on England. Only four of the eleven bombs strike their targets.

June 13 1952   Catalina affair: A Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.

June 13 1981   At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II

June 13 1982   Battles of Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge, during the Falklands War.

June 13 2002   The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

June 13 2012   For his actions this day  L/CPL Ashworth was awarded the Victoria Cross

Lance Corporal James Thomas Duane Ashworth, Grenadier Guards, 25228593 (killed in action).

On the 13th June 2012 the conspicuous gallantry under fire of Lance Corporal Ashworth, a section second-in-command in 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards Reconnaissance Platoon, galvanised his platoon at a pivotal moment and led to the rout of a determined enemy grouping in the Nahr-e-Saraj District of Helmand Province.

The two aircraft inserting the Reconnaissance Platoon on an operation to neutralise a dangerous insurgent sniper team, were hit by enemy fire as they came into land. Unflustered, Ashworth – a young and inexperienced noncommissioned officer – raced 300 metres with his fire-team into the heart of the insurgent dominated village. Whilst two insurgents were killed and two sniper rifles recovered in the initial assault, an Afghan Local Police follow-up attack stalled when a patrolman was shot and killed by a fleeing enemy. Called forward to press-on with the attack, Ashworth insisted on moving to the front of his fire team to lead the pursuit. Approaching the entrance to a compound from which enemy machine gun fire raged, he stepped over the body of the dead patrolman, threw a grenade and surged forward. Breaking into the compound Ashworth quickly drove the insurgent back and into an out-building from where he now launched his tenacious last stand.

The village was now being pressed on a number of fronts by insurgents desperate to relieve their prized sniper team. The platoon needed to detain or kill the final sniper, who had been pinned down by the lead fire team, and extract as quickly as possible. Ashworth realised that the stalemate needed to be broken, and broken quickly. He identified a low wall that ran parallel to the front of the outbuilding from which the insurgent was firing. Although only knee high, he judged that it would provide him with just enough cover to get sufficiently close to the insurgent to accurately post his final grenade. As he started to crawl behind the wall and towards the enemy, a fierce fire fight broke out just above his prostrate body. Undaunted by the extraordinary danger – a significant portion of his route was covered from view but not from fire – Ashworth grimly continued his painstaking advance. After three minutes of slow crawling under exceptionally fierce automatic fire he had edged forward fifteen metres and was now within five metres of the insurgent’s position. Desperate to ensure that he succeeded in accurately landing the grenade, he then deliberately crawled out from cover into the full view of the enemy to get a better angle for the throw. By now enemy rounds were tearing up the ground mere centimetres from his body, and yet he did not shrink back. Then, as he was about to throw the grenade he was hit by enemy fire and died at the scene. Ashworth’s conspicuous gallantry galvanised his platoon to complete the clearance of the compound.

Despite the ferocity of the insurgent’s resistance, Ashworth refused to be beaten. His total disregard for his own safety in ensuring that the last grenade was posted accurately was the gallant last action of a soldier who had willingly placed himself in the line of fire on numerous occasions earlier in the attack. This supremely courageous and inspiring action deserves the highest recognition.

Wikipedia