On this day...... 27 August

1648: Colchester, which had been held by Royalists led by the Earl of Norwich, finally surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax's New Model Army.  The Parliamentarians showed no mercy to the defending officers: two of the King's most distinguished commanders, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle, were summarily executed.

1900: In action with the Boers, a corporal of the Rifle Brigade was wounded.  His injury left him dazed and confused, and he left the safety of his position, running towards the enemy.  Private Durrant went after him and pulled the man into cover.  Finding that he needed urgent treatment, Durrant then carried him several hundred yards through enemy fire to an aid post, before resuming his own position in the firing line.  Durrant was awarded the Victoria Cross.

1914: II Corps achieved the British Expeditionary Force's second defensive victory over the German First Army, at Le Cateau.  British casualties amounted to some 7,000.

Wing Commander Samson led the Eastchurch Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service across the Channel to operate on the north French coast.  An extremely aggressive commander both in the air and on the ground, Samson also pioneered the use of armoured warfare, fitting cars with makeshift armour and machine gun mountings to support his aircraft's reconnaissance missions, and on occasions leading mobile raids on German positions with ad hoc forces comprised of RNAS officers, Royal Marines and French gendarmes.

1918: Near Fresnes, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark-Kennedy led a battalion of the Quebec Regiment with particular distinction, his efforts opening up the advance for the rest of the brigade against difficult German positions.  Clark-Kennedy suffered a serious wound, but remained in command until success had been assured.  He received the Victoria Cross.

1940: Bad weather impeded Luftwaffe operations during the day, but they delivered attacks during the night against targets as widely spread as Aberdeen, Cardiff and the Wash.  The day's events are recorded on the RAF's Battle of Britain website.

1941: An RAF Hudson patrol aircraft of 269 Squadron repeatedly attacked the German U-570, until the U-boat finally surrendered to the aircraft.  Royal Navy vessels subsequently arrived to escort the captured submarine to harbour.

1942: Nine Lancasters of 106 Squadron, Bomber Command, were dispatched on a dangerous unescorted long-range raid against Gdynia in occupied Poland, where the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was being fitted out.  The Lancasters were equipped with special Capital Ship bombs, designed to attack the target below the waterline.  Seven of the Lancasters managed to find Gdynia after a 950 mile flight, but heavy haze prevented them from locating Graf Zeppelin, and they were forced to bomb targets of opportunity in the dockyard.  All nine aircraft returned safely from an epic flight, notwithstanding the disappointing result.

The same night also saw a more conventional raid against Kassel.  The newly formed Pathfinders provided good marking, and much damage was done in the south-west of the city, with all three of the Henschel aircraft factories put out of action.