1 October 1943
Allied forces enter Naples.

2 October 1944
The Battle of the Scheldt begins.

3 October 1914
More than 30,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force depart en route to Europe, the largest convoy ever to sail from Canada.

4 October 1957
The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow is unveiled at Malton, Ont.

6 October 1939
The Polish army surrenders to the Germans. Germany and the Soviet Union gain full control of the country.

7 October 1763
King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763 announcing the new administrative structure for British North America as the Treaty of Paris goes into effect, nullifying the government of New France.

8 October 1916
Private James Richardson stands in full view of the enemy, playing his bagpipes as his company attacks Regina Trench, inspiring the men to capture their objective. He then helps recover the wounded, but dies trying to retrieve his bagpipes. For his actions he is posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

9 October 1942
Merchant ship Carolus is torpedoed by U-69 and sinks. Eleven of a crew of 30 are lost.

10 October 1885
Round the Sky, Bad Arrow, Miserable Man, Iron Body and Little Bear are tried in Battleford, Sask., for their involvement in the Frog Lake Massacre. They are all found guilty and sentenced to hang.

13 October 1812
British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock is killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

15 October 1936
Canada’s first all-female flying club, The Flying Seven, is established.

18 October 1918
Troops from 1st Canadian Division enter the village of Pecquencourt, France, and are greeted by 2,000 starving citizens.

The monument commemorating the Battle of Cook’s Mills in Welland, Ont. [Wikimedia]

19 October 1814
The Americans defeat the British in the Battle of Cook’s Mills, the penultimate engagement fought on Canadian soil during the War of 1812. The victory is short-lived, however, as the Americans eventually withdraw back to the United States.

22 October 1943
U-537 arrives at Martin Bay in northern Labrador and its crew sets up an automatic weather station on the shore. Codenamed “Kurt,” it was only discovered in 1977.

24 October 1944
Troops from 2nd Canadian Infantry Division begin clearing Germans from the South Beveland peninsula in the Netherlands as part of Operation Vitality.

27 October 1918
Lieutenant-Colonel William Barker shoots down an enemy two-seater over France. He is seriously wounded, but manages to shoot down another three enemy aircraft before crash landing near Allied lines. He is awarded the Victoria Cross.

28 October 1940
Troopship Empress of Britain, already damaged by enemy fire, is torpedoed by U-32, while being towed by HMS Marauder and HMS Thames. She was the largest ship sunk by German U-boats during the Second World War.