Today in Military History 22nd September

 904   The warlord Zhu Quanzhong kills Emperor Zhaozong, the penultimate emperor of the Tang dynasty, after seizing control of the imperial government. W

1236   The Samogitians defeat the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Battle of Saule. W

1499   The Treaty of Basel concludes the Swabian War. W

1586   The Battle of Zutphen is a Spanish victory over the English and Dutch. W

1711   The Tuscarora War begins in present-day North Carolina. W

1789   Battle of Rymnik: Alexander Suvorov's Russian and allied army defeats superior Ottoman Empire forces. W

1857   The Russian warship Lefort capsizes and sinks during a storm in the Gulf of Finland, killing all 826 aboard. W

1866   The Battle of Curupayty is Paraguay's only significant victory in the Paraguayan War.W

1939   World War II: A joint German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk is held to celebrate the successful invasion of Poland.W

1898 

For his actions this day Captain the Honourable A.G. A. Hore-Ruthven, 3rd Battalion, Highland Light Infantry did received the Victoria Cross

The Queen has been graciously pleased to signify Her intention to confer the decoration of the Victoria Cross on the undermentioned Officer, whose claims have been submitted for Her Majesty's approval, for his conspicuous bravery during the attack on the Baggage Guard at the action of Gedarif on the 22nd September 1898, as recorded against his name: On the 22nd September 1898, Captain Hore-Ruthven, seeing an Egyptian officer lying wounded within 50 yards of the advancing Dervishes, who were firing and charging, picked him up and carried him towards the 16th Egyptian Battalion. He dropped the wounded officer two or three times and fired upon the Dervishes, who were following, to check their advance. Had the officer been left where he first dropped, he must have been killed W

1917 

For his actions this day Reginald Roy Inwood was Awarded the Victoria Cross

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the advance to the second objective. He moved forward through our barrage alone to an enemy strong post and captured it, together with nine prisoners, killing several of the enemy. During the evening he volunteered for a special all night patrol, which went out 600 yards in front of our line, and there – by his coolness and sound judgment – obtained and sent back very valuable information as to the enemy's movements. In the early morning of the 21 September, Private Inwood located a machine gun which was causing several casualties. He went out alone and bombed the gun and team, killing all but one, whom he brought in as a prisoner with the gun.

— The London Gazette, 23 November 1917

W

1944

For his actions this day Commander Donald Cameron and Lieutenant Donald Cameron, was awarded the Victoria Cross

ADMIRALTY.

Whitehall. 22nd February, 1944.

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS for valour to:

Lieutenant Basil Charles Godfrey Place, D.S.C., Royal Navy.

Lieutenant Donald Cameron, R.N.R.

Lieutenants Place and Cameron were the Commanding Officers of two of His Majesty's Midget Submarines X 7 and X 6 which on 22nd September 1943 carried out a most daring and successful attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz, moored in the protected anchorage of Kaafiord, North Norway.

To reach the anchorage necessitated the penetration of an enemy minefield and a passage of fifty miles up the fiord, known to be vigilantly patrolled by the enemy and to be guarded by nets, gun defences and listening posts, this after a passage of at least a thousand miles from base.

Having successfully eluded all these hazards and entered the fleet anchorage, Lieutenants Place and Cameron, with a complete disregard for danger, worked their small craft past the close anti-submarine and torpedo nets surrounding the Tirpitz, and from a position inside these nets, carried out a cool and determined attack.

Whilst they were still inside the nets a fierce enemy counter attack by guns and depth charges developed which made their withdrawal impossible. Lieutenants Place and Cameron therefore scuttled their craft to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. Before doing so they took every measure to ensure the safety of their crews, the majority of whom, together with themselves, were subsequently taken prisoner.

In the course of the operation these very small craft pressed home their attack to the full, in doing so accepting all the dangers inherent in such vessels and facing every possible hazard which ingenuity could devise for the protection in harbour of vitally important Capital Ships.

The courage, endurance and utter contempt for danger in the immediate face of the enemy shown by Lieutenants Place and Cameron during this determined and successful attack were supreme.

W

1965   The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, ends after the United Nations calls for a ceasefire. W

1980   Iraq invades Iran, sparking the nearly eight year Iran–Iraq War. W

1989

Today marks 33rd anniversary of Deal bombing at the Royal Marines School of Music, where we lost 11 brothers and many injured. Never forgotten by the Corps Family, our thoughts are with the families and friends of those lost on that day. RIP Royals @RMBandService @LtGenMagowan pic.twitter.com/VYJUtOnGsY

— Globe & Laurel Mag (@GlobenLaurel) September 22, 2022

1995   An E-3B AWACS crashes outside Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska after multiple bird strikes to two of the four engines soon after takeoff; all 24 on board are killed. v

Today in Military History 2nd September

 31BC  Final War of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.[3]

1649  The Italian city of Castro is completely destroyed by the forces of Pope Innocent X, ending the Wars of Castro.

1807  Napoleonic Wars: The British Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.

1856  The Tianjing incident takes place in Nanjing, China.

1862  American Civil War: United States President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disastrous defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

1864  American Civil War: Union forces enter Atlanta, a day after the Confederate defenders flee the city, ending the Atlanta Campaign.

1870  Franco Prussian War: Battle of Sedan: Prussian forces take Napoleon III of France and 100,000 of his soldiers prisoner.

1898  Battle of Omdurman: British and Egyptian troops defeat Sudanese tribesmen and establish British dominance in Sudan.

1898 Thomas Byrne,

At the Battle of Khartoum on the 2nd September 1898, Private Byrne turned back in the middle of the charge of the 21st Lancers and went to the assistance of Lieutenant the Honourable R.F. Molyneux, Royal Horse Guards, who was wounded, dismounted, disarmed, and being attacked by several Dervishes. Private Byrne, already severely wounded, attacked those dervishes, received a second severe wound, and, by his gallant conduct, enabled Lieutenant Molyneux to escape

 Raymond De Montmorency,

'At the Battle of Khartum on the 2nd September 1898, Lieutenant de Montmorency, after the charge of the 21st Lancers, returned to assist Second Lieutenant R. G. Grenfell, who was lying surrounded by a large body of Dervishes. Lieutenant de Montmorency drove the Dervishes off, and, finding Lieutenant Grenfell dead, put the body on his horse which then broke away. Captain Kenna and Corporal Swarbrick then came to his assistance, and enabled him to re join, the Regiment, which had begun to open a heavy fire on the enemy.

 Paul Kenna,

On 2 September 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, Sudan, when a major of the 21st Lancers was in danger, as his horse had been shot in the charge, Captain Kenna took the major up on his own horse, to a place of safety. After the charge Captain Kenna returned to help Lieutenant De Montmorency who was trying to recover the body of an officer who had been killed

 Nevill Smyth, 

At the Battle of Khartum on 2 September 1898, Captain Smyth galloped forward and attacked an arab who had run amok among some camp followers. Captain Smyth received the Arab's charge, and killed him, being wounded with a spear in the arm whilst in so doing. He thus saved the life of at least one of the Camp Followers

Alexander Hore-Rithven 

On the 22nd September, 1898, during the action of Gedarif, Captain Hore-Ruthven, seeing an Egyptian officer lying wounded within 50 yards of the advancing Dervishes, who were firing and charging, picked him up and carried him towards the 16^th Egyptian Battalion. He dropped the wounded officer two or three times, and fired upon the Dervishes, who were following, to check their advance. Had the officer been left where he first dropped he must have been killed.

where awarded the Victoria Cross for There actions this day actions this day 

1939  World War II: Following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany.

1944  The last execution of a Finn in Finland takes place when soldier Olavi Laiho is executed by shooting in Oulu.[7]

1945  World War II: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender is signed by Japan and the major warring powers aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

1958  A USAF RC130 is shot down by fighters over Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed.

1968  Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.

1985  Sri Lankan Civil War: Sri Lankan Tamil politicians and former MPs M. Alalasundaram and V. Dharmalingam are shot dead.

Today in Military History 1st September

 

1644  Battle of Tippermuir: James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose defeats the Earl of Wemyss's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause. W

1645  English Civil War. Scottish Covenanter forces abandon their month-long Siege of Hereford, a Cavalier stronghold, on news of Royalist victories in Scotland. W

1862 American Civil War: Battle of Chantilly: Confederate Army troops defeat a group of retreating Union Army troops in Chantilly, Virginia. W

1864  American Civil War: The Confederate Army General John Bell Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta, ending a four-month siege by General William Tecumseh Sherman. W

1870  Franco-Prussian War: The Battle of Sedan is fought, resulting in a decisive Prussian victory. W

1880 The army of Mohammad Ayub Khan is routed by the British at the Battle of Kandahar, ending the Second Anglo-Afghan War. W

1939  World War II: Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II. W

1969  A coup in Libya brings Muammar Gaddafi to power. W

1982  The United States Air Force Space Command is founded W

1983  Cold War: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet Union jet fighter when the commercial aircraft enters Soviet airspace, killing all 269 on board, including Congressman Lawrence McDonald. W

2008  Iraq War: The United States Armed Forces transfers control of Anbar Province to the Iraqi Armed Forces. W