On this day...... 25 August

1914: Royal Marines were landed at Ostend to help the Belgian defenders.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Harvey-Kelly of the Royal Flying Corps gained the first ever British victory in air-to-air combat despite flying an unarmed aircraft, managing to force a German aircraft to land purely by his aggressive flying.  On the ground, Lance-Corporal Wyatt, Coldstream Guards, won the Victoria Cross by fighting a blaze in a farm building which threatened to drive British defenders out of their position, all the time under German fire.  He then ignored a serious head wound to remain in the front line.

1918: In France, Sergeant Colley of the Lancashire Fusiliers was mortally wounded while organising a determined defence against heavy German counter-attacks.  Despite his injuries, he remained in command of his scratch force until he died.  He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

1940:  The main Luftwaffe attacks came in the early evening against south coast targets.  The day's events are recorded on the RAF's Battle of Britain website.  That night, Bomber Command mounted its first raid on Berlin in retaliation for the bombing of London the previous night.  Little damage was caused, except to Goring's pride, he having claimed that enemy bombers would never reach Berlin.

1942: The Royal Australian Navy cruisers HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart were part of the US-led fleet which engaged the Japanese in the Battle of the Solomons.  Japanese efforts to reinforce their troops on Guadalcanal were driven back with the loss of an aircraft carrier.