#OnThisDay in 1917, the Austro-Hungarian navy attacked the Otranto Barrage. Three cruisers, two destroyers, and three submarines took part in the largest attack on the anti-submarine barrier. Of the forty-seven drifters on the barrage, fourteen were sunk and another four damaged.
Some drifters fought back, including the Gowan Lee, whose captain won the Victoria Cross.
#OnThisDay in 1942, British troops landed on the island of #Madagascar. The British assumed the French would pit up little resistance, but the subsequent campaign lasted almost exactly six months.
It was the first major Allied amphibious invasion of the #SecondWorldWar, with the first use of tank landing ships (LSTs), and the first use of tanks in an amphibious operation.