Storming party

I could wish, sir, that he would visit the works in open day, and in the form of a storming party; that is the least failing method of proving the countenance of an enemy, and would be far preferable to the battering system he has chosen.

Under cover of darkness a storming party got close enough for at least one to get a grenade in, it was thrown back and the intruder shot down.

Present at the siege and capture of Bhurtpoor, where he volunteered for the storming party, his portrait, Yeoman of the Guard painted in 1875 by Sir John Everett Millais, is according to the Dictionary of National Biography, "with his age-worn face and uniform of scarlet and gold, is strong in character, and perhaps the artist's most splendid effort as a colourist".

"Later, he led the left storming party with the greatest gallantry, and was the first man into the trench shooting the sentry with his revolver.

The London Gazette of September 26 1916 reported: "He led the storming party - with the greatest gallantry - and was the first man into the [German] trench, shooting the sentry with his revolver.

Upon gaining entrance to the base, the storming party raised a Russian flag on the headquarters square.

At the siege of Breda in 1637, Rupert ignored an order not to join a risky storming party, among whom another Civil War general, George Goring, was to be left lame for life.

The British plan was to land a storming party on the great curving sea-wall, the Mule, and create a diversion while the block-ships got into position under a smoke screen and sank themselves.