WW1 START OF BATTLE OF CAMBRAI
The Battle of Cambrai was the first tank offensive in history. Although used before on the Somme, Cambrai was where the tank was first used in the way that its early protagonists envisaged, in mass to achieve a decisive breakthrough. That is what was achieved. The initial success fulfilled most expectations. However, the usual difficulties of communication on the Western Front hampered the conduct of the breakthrough and ultimately there were not enough reserves to deal with the German counterattacks.

FIRST KILL BY RADAR EQUIPPED NIGHT FIGHTER
Prior to the introduction of radar the business of fighters intercepting bombers at night was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The pursuing crew could only locate a target if it was illuminated by a searchlight or if they could see its exhaust sparks in the dark. All this changed over England on the night of 19/20th November 1940 when a Bristol Beaufighter, fitted with radar and flown by Flying Officer John “Cats Eyes” Cunningham shot down a German bomber.

START OF OP CRUSADER DESERT OFFENSIVE
The British 8th Army, recently reequipped with equipment from Britain and also lend lease from the USA, launched its offensive to breakout from Egypt and retake the areas of Libya that had been lost to Rommel’s Afrika Korps earlier in the year. One of the aims was to outflank the Germans by hooking to the south of them in the desert and then link up with the besieged garrison of Tobruk 70 miles behind the German lines.

ROMMEL RAID
In a daring operation to capture or kill Rommel (the “Desert Fox”) a British commando force, led by Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Keyes, was landed by night behind the German lines in North Africa. Surprise was lost when an alert sentry challenged the force as they approached Rommel’s villa and a firefight ensued. Keyes was killed and those members of the force who could not escape were also killed or captured. Only later was it learned that Rommel had been in Rome at the time of the raid.

BATTLE OF LUTZEN
During the Thirty Years War the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus gave battle to the Imperialist armies of Wallenstein at Lutzen, 20 km southwest of Leipzig, in order to prevent them cutting the Swedes off from their bases in the Baltic. The battle was characterised by a very misty battlefield, which hampered both sides. The outcome was a victory for the Swedes, but at the cost of Gustavus Adolphus himself, who died leading a cavalry charge.

CANADIAN TROOPS ARRIVE IN HONG KONG
On 15th November 1941 2,000 Canadian troops under Brigadier J Lawson arrived on the liner Awatea in Hong Kong. They had been sent to Hong Kong, as they were not considered to be ready for deployment to Europe. The two infantry battalions were the Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Royal Regiment of Canada. They reinforced the Garrison, which then consisted of two British and two Indian battalions and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force.

COVENTRY BOMBED
During the night of 14/15th November 1940 449 of Herman Goering’s Luftwaffe bombers almost destroyed the English city of Coventry. 568 people were killed and 863 were seriously injured. The incident remains controversial as intelligence from Enigma intercepts had indicated that such a raid was to take place. However, the importance of ensuring that the Germans did not know that their enigma traffic was being read, forced the decision not to take counter action, which would alert the Germans to this fact.

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL DEDICATED IN WASHINGTON
The Vietnam War had been the most traumatic in the USA’s history. Much controversy surrounded the question of how to commemorate the over 50,000 US service personnel who lost their lives during that conflict. The result was a memorial, designed by a woman of Asian origin, that is a dignified monument listing the names of all those who never returned.