On this day...... 26 August

1346: The English army of Edward III won its first great victory of the Hundred Years War at Crecy.  Philip VI had led his French army out of Abbeville that morning to try to cut off Edward from the route back to the coast.  The French army marched in some disorder, with the cavalry ahead of Genoese mercenaries and French militia infantry, and in the late morning found the English army waiting for them between the villages of Crecy and Wadicourt.  Most of Philip's advisers advocated caution, with due regard to the tiredness of the troops after several hours marching and the straggling bulk of the forces.  However, Philip feared that his already damaged reputation could not risk another stalemate, and he opted to attack. 

The Genoese probably represented the majority of the infantry which had managed to keep up with the cavalry, and they were placed to lead the attack.  Most of the French cavalry formed up behind them.  Edward's troops had dismounted, and formed up with the men-at-arms in the centre, flanked by longbowmen, many of them Welsh.  Pits had been dug in front of the position, and baggage carts used to protect the flanks from the cavalry.  Edward had also brought some early cannon with him, probably the first time that either the English or French had tried using them on the battlefield rather than in sieges.

The Genoese crossbowmen advanced in the late afternoon, just as it began to rain, but suffered heavy casualties from the faster-firing longbowmen, and were forced to retreat.  The French cavalry, not appreciating the power of the longbow, took the withdrawal as a sign of cowardice rather than prudence, and, led by the Count of Alencon, charged through them.  The English arrows brought down many horses, and the noise of the cannon fire, while probably relatively ineffective as a weapon, panicked others.  The disordered survivors reached the English lines, however, and bitter hand-to-hand fighting ensued, during which King Edward's 16 year old son Edward, the Black Prince, famously won his spurs.  The Prince's standard briefly fell, but was rescued by Sir Thomas Daniel.  Philip's ally, the blind King John of Bohemia, ordered his men to lead his horse into a desperate attack, but was killed.  With the French in full flight, Edward had the English horses brought forward, and his men mounted up to conduct a vigorous pursuit.  The victory was capped the following morning when a detachment of 2,000 French troops arrived on the battlefield unaware of the disaster the previous day, and were massacred by the English cavalry. Philip had escaped with a handful of men, having been wounded in the face by an arrow.

The victory allowed Edward III to besiege Calais - it fell a year later.  Philip, in a fit of anger, murdered most of the Genoese who had managed to survive.

1758: Fort Frontenac, a key French position on Lake Ontario, was captured by British troops from the American colonies under Lieutenant Colonel John Bradstreet, a native of Maine.  Bradstreet masterminded an approach march of over 400 miles which caught the French garrison by surprise.  The capture of the fort left Fort Duquesne cut off, and it fell to the British later in the year.

1914: The German advance came up against the British Expeditionary Force, dug in at Le Cateau.  During the two-day battle, five Victoria Crosses were won:

• Major Yates, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (posthumous)
• Lance-Corporal Holmes, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
• Captain Reynolds, Royal Field Artillery
• Driver Drain, Royal Field Artillery
• Driver Luke, Royal Field Artillery

1917: Corporal Day, Suffolk Regiment, led a bombing team on dangerous trench clearance work, then mounted a strong defence for nearly three days against determined counter-attacks.  He received the Victoria Cross.

1918: A further four VCs were won during the Allied advance in France:

• Lieutenant Rutherford, Canadian Mounted Rifles
• Sergeant Judson, Auckland Regiment
• Lance-Corporal Gordon, 41st (Queensland) Australian Battalion
• Lance-Corporal Weale, Royal Welch Fusiliers

1940: Heavy Luftwaffe attacks were again launched.  The day's events are recorded on the RAF's Battle of Britain website.