February 24

1303:

Battle of Roslin Glen, Scottish victory in the bloodiest battle ever fought in Scotland.

1838:

Battle of Fighting Island. A force of 2,000 Canadian Militia and British regulars cross the frozen Detroit River in order to dislodge 150 ill-equipped republicans of William Lyon Mackenie's "Patriot Army of the North-West". After a brief exchange of fire, the rebels flee over the ice to the American side of the border.

1900:

In South Africa, Sergeant Firth of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment twice braved enemy fire to rescue wounded men. He was badly wounded in the face on the second occasion. Elsewhere, near Colenso, Lieutenant Inkson of the Royal Army Medical Corps also rescued a wounded man, carrying a maimed fellow officer to safety for some 400 yards through heavy fire. Inkson and Firth each received the Victoria Cross.

1901:

Corporal Clements of Rimington's Guides suffered a bullet in the lungs during a skirmish with Boers. Lying alone, the Boers called on him to surrender, but he instead chose to fight on, and killed three of his opponents at close range. The others promptly chose to surrender to him instead. Clements survived his wound and received the Victoria Cross.

1915:

Armentières France - Canadian Corps takes over 6.5 km section of trench line near Armentières.

1917:

Washington DC - German plan to get Mexican help in WW I exposed by US Naval intelligence; Zimmerman telegram

1940:

Germans revise plan for attack to West to include panzer assault through Ardennes

1944:

Bomber Command attacked Schweinfurt, the main German industrial centre for ball-bearing production, perceived as a bottle-neck industry which could seriously affect armaments production. 734 aircraft took part, following a USAAF raid the previous day. The RAF tried a new tactic, dispatching the force in two waves separated by two hours, in the hope that the Germans would exhaust their night-fighters against the first wave, leaving a clear run for the second. This apparently worked, since of the 33 aircraft lost, only four from the second wave were thought to have fallen to fighter attack. The bombing, however, proved relatively ineffective, with many aircraft dropping short.

1944:

HMCS WASKESIU picks upa Submarine in the early morning. After 2 hours of depth charging, the contact was lost. At 0530, she regains the contact and blankets the U-Boat with everything from 4" HE shells to 20 mm Oerlikon and Bren Gun Fire. As the da

1965:

Operation Rolling Thunder, sustained American bombing of North Vietnam, begins

1991:

Canada's "Desert Cats" fighter squadron, stationed in Qatar, makes its first ground attack sorties against Iraqi targets

1991:

Iraq - Saddam Hussein refuses Allied ultimatum to leave Kuwait; US and Allies begin ground war assault on Iraqi troops