On this day...... 2 September

1644: Out-manoeuvred and trapped on the Fowey peninsula, south of Lostwithiel, the infantry of the Earl of Essex's army, Parliament's main field force, surrendered on terms to King Charles; the cavalry had previously escaped the Royalist net, and Essex himself had fled in a fishing boat to London.  The men were allowed to march away, having surrendered all their weapons.  5-6,000 men set off for Southampton, but, demoralised and without supplies, many deserted or died en route.

1855: At the siege of Sevastopol, Private Ablett of the Grenadier Guards won the Victoria Cross by picking up a Russian shell which had landed in a trench and throwing it clear just before it exploded.

1898: Kitchener's British and Egyptian troops, dug in beside the Nile at Omdurman, were attacked by the Mahdi's successor, Abdullah el-Taaishi, better known to the British as The Khalifa.  Modern firepower slaughtered the attacking Dervishes, and the army was able to leave its zareba fortifications and march on Khartoum.  The dervishes continued to attack the column, at one point getting in amongst the large number of journalists with the force, who were saved by Captain Smyth.  However, each assault was driven off, not least by the efforts of the Sudanese Brigade and a charge by the 21st Lancers.  By the afternoon, Khartoum had been retaken and General Gordon avenged.  Four Victoria Crosses were awarded:

• Captain Smyth, 2nd Dragoon Guards
• Lieutenant Kenna, 21st Lancers
• Lieutenant de Montmorency, 21st Lancers
• Private Byrne, 21st Lancers

1918: Eleven Victoria Crosses were won on the Western Front during the British attack on Arras:

• Lieutenant-Colonel Peck, Manitoba Regiment
• Captain Hutcheson, Canadian Army Medical Corps
• Company Sergeant-Major Doyle, Royal Munster Fusiliers
• Chief Petty Officer Prowse, Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division
• Sergeant Knight, Alberta Regiment (posthumous)
• Lance-Sergeant Evans, Lincolnshire Regiment
• Corporal Weathers, 43rd Australian Battalion
• Lance-Corporal Metcalf, Manitoba Regiment
• Private Harvey, London Regiment
• Private Rayfield, British Columbia Regiment
• Private Young, Quebec Regiment

1940:   RAF airfields remained the primary targets for the Luftwaffe.   The day's events are recorded on the RAF's Battle of Britain website.  Lieutenant Archer of the Royal Engineers was awarded the George Cross for successfully defusing a bomb in the middle of an oil refinery in Llandarcy, Glamorgan, despite fires and explosions about him as he worked.

1941: Ordinary Seaman Howarth of HMS Foresight survived being blown overboard by an explosion, and saved the life of another man in the water, helping get him to safety.  It was only when he in turn was rescued that colleagues realised that he had lost a foot in the blast.  He received the Albert Medal.