Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 53rd Division, in forward positions outside Heike on the road to Hertogenbosch on 23 October 1944. 📸 Richard Gee / IWM (B 11142)

30 Commando IX Group, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, conducts a raid using Inflatable Raiding Craft (IRC) in Northern Norway in February 2026. 📸 LPhot Hutchins / UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

A parliamentary report published by the House of Commons Defence Committee warns that the UK has "glaring gaps" in its Arctic defence capabilities.

Commons Defence Committee warns of 'glaring gaps' in Arctic defence

A parliamentary report published by the House of Commons Defence Committee warns that the UK has "glaring gaps" in its Arctic defence capabilities, leaving

militaryjournal.co.uk

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of the 51st Division crossing the railway at Douchy-lès-Ayette by the ruins of the blown-up railway bridge on 22 October 1918 during the Hundred Days Offensive. 📸 Lt. Thomas Keith Aitken / IWM (Q 11413)

Paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) engage the enemy during an attack on Wireless Ridge while on the routine exercise CAPE UPHOLDER in the Falkland Islands on 2 October 2026. 📸 Cpl Niran Lewis / UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

Paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) attacking enemy positions at Goose Green during Exercise CAPE UPHOLDER on the Falkland Islands on 29 September 2026. 📸 Cpl Niran Lewis / UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

21 October 1805: A Royal Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson defeated Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's combined Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. Prior to the battle, Napoleon had already abandoned his plans to invade Britain, and they were never revived.

British Mark IV tank F4 'Flirt II', from 'F' Battalion, photographed on 21 October 1917 at the Tank Driving School in Wailly. More than 400 tanks gathered there for specialised combined-arms training ahead of the Battle of Cambrai, which began on 20 November 1917. 📸 John Warwick Brooke / IWM Q 6297

Royal Marines Reservists have wrapped up Exercise Campbell Hardy 26, a demanding two-week tactical exercise in Wales designed to strengthen their operational readiness.

Royal Marines Reservists wrap up Exercise CAMPBELL HARDY 26

Royal Marines Reservists have wrapped up Exercise Campbell Hardy 26, a demanding two-week tactical exercise in Wales designed to strengthen their operational

militaryjournal.co.uk

The 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (1 LANCS), is undergoing intensive build-up training on Exercise HARAKA STORM in Kenya to prepare for an operational deployment to Estonia in spring 2027.

1 LANCS preparing for operational deployment in Exercise HARAKA STORM

The 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment (1 LANCS), is undergoing intensive build-up training on Exercise HARAKA STORM in Kenya to prepare for an

militaryjournal.co.uk

Personnel from Access Troop, 24 Commando Royal Engineers, constructed a Subterranean Special Operations Surgical Team (SOST) facility as part of Exercise STRIKE WARRIOR 26 in Scotland. 📸 SLt Harber / UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

Soldiers of the 8th (Service) Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), part of 9th (Scottish) Division, resting by the roadside near Contalmaison Wood during the Battle of Le Transloy (1-18 October 1916).

A Royal Navy Merlin Mk2 helicopter has successfully airlifted 18 historic cast-iron cannons ashore from the tidal island of St Michael's Mount in Cornwall.

Royal Navy Merlin airlifts 18th-century cannons from St Michael's Mount

A Royal Navy Merlin Mk2 helicopter has successfully airlifted 18 historic cast-iron cannons ashore from the tidal island of St Michael's Mount in Cornwall.

militaryjournal.co.uk

The Royal Air Force has completed Exercise AGILE OWL, a week-long training event designed to test the service's ability to maintain combat air operations from dispersed locations during periods of heavy disruption.

Royal Air Force completes dispersal exercise AGILE OWL - British Military Journal

The Royal Air Force has completed Exercise AGILE OWL, a week-long training event designed to test the service's ability to maintain combat air operations from

militaryjournal.co.uk

16 October 1939: Ju 88 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 30 conducted the first bombing raid on Britain, targeting Royal Navy warships in the Firth of Forth. The raid was intercepted by No. 602 and No. 603 Squadrons, resulting in the first German aircraft being shot down in the air war over Britain.

15 October 1855: Prior to the naval bombardment of the Russian fort of Kinburn on the Dnieper estuary, 5,000 British and 3,500 French troops were landed on Kinburn Spit to seal off the fort and prevent any Russian reinforcement. 📸 National Maritime Museum

14 October 1853: At the request of the Ottomans, the British and French fleets left Besika Bay and transited the Dardanelles as the Ottoman army prepared to engage Russian forces occupying Wallachia. Meanwhile, the Austrian mobilisation against Russian troops in the Principalities continued.

"A 25-pdr field gun ready to fire from a rather perilous position alongside the pumps at a petrol station, during exercises in Kent, 13 October 1941." 📸 James Arthur Tanner / IWM (H 14685)

2nd Battalion, Scots Guards on the march to Tielt after leaving Ghent on 12 October 1914. The 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, which was part of the British 7th Division, had landed at Zeebrugge on 7 October and was initially tasked with the defence of Antwerp. 📸 IWM (Q 57177)

Royal Navy destroyer HMS KEPPEL (D84) on her arrival back at Greenock on 12 October 1943 following the vessel's ramming and sinking of the surfaced German submarine U-229 south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland on 22 September. 📸 Lt S J Beadell / IWM (A 19691)

12 October 1854: British commander Lord Raglan issued instructions for the army to prepare for a winter campaign in the Crimea and ordered fuel to be stockpiled at Scutari. The French commander Canrobert issued similar instructions. The grand raid to seize Sevastopol would last longer than expected.

HMS SCYLLA's mascot watching over proceedings during a visit by Winston Churchill to the Home Fleet base at Scapa Flow on 11 October 1942. 📸 Photo by Lt. C. H. Parnall

Soldiers from The Royal Dragoon Guards secure the riverbank to prepare the other half of the patrol to safely cross during Exercise Cambrian Patrol 2026 in Brecon Beacons, Wales. 📸 CPL PAUL SQUIRES / UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026

13/18th Royal Hussars during an exercise near Vimy, on 11 October 1939. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the regiment was transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps and fought as a reconnaissance unit in the Battle of France in 1940, before being evacuated at Dunkirk. 📸 IWM (O 117)

A jeep and Sherman tanks of HQ 2nd Armoured Brigade on 10 October 1942. "The white line on the tank was being used as a guideline by the Camouflage Unit, who were called away before completing the painting of the Brigade's tanks." 📸 Lt. Derrick Knight / IWM (E 17898

9 October 1855: Royal Navy ships Vesuvius, Curlew, Recruit, Weser, and Ardent began cruising in the Sea of Azov. The squadron, commanded by Captain Sherard Osborne, would destroy a large number of Russian supplies heading for the Crimea from the Don basin at Mariupol, Azov, Glofira, and Gheisk.

British Troops moving towards the front in Albion lorries near Joncourt on 9 October 1918, during the Battle of St. Quentin Canal, which was part of the Hundred Days Offensive. 📸 Lt. David McLellan / IWM (Q 9530)

A Royal Air Force C-130 arriving at Kuwait International Airport in October 1994, bringing equipment for British troops stationed in various parts of Kuwait during Operation VIGILANT WARRIOR (8 Oct - 15 Dec 1994), a response to Saddam Hussein's advancement of two divisions toward the Kuwaiti border.

7 October 1855: British and French warships set sail from Kameisch Bay in the Crimea bound for a rendezvous off Odessa before sailing to their objective of Kinburn Fort, which guarded the Bug and Dnieper rivers and the access to the Russian shipyards at Nikolaev.

Officers of the right half, 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards, aboard the troopship SS Lake Michigan on 6 October 1914. The officer looking towards the camera is Captain the Hon. D.A. Kinnaird, who was killed on 24 October 1914. 📸 Sergeant Christopher Pilkington / IWM (Q 57127)