On 15 Novmber 1899 Republican forces in southern Natal ambushed a British armored train departing from Estcourt. The train was partially wrecked and in the ensuing fight four British soldiers were killed and 34 wounded. Winston Churchill, a war correspondent for The Morning Post was amongst 69 taken prisoner - he was captured trying to help the injured reach Estcourt. Churchill, although supposedly due non-combatant status as a war reporter was treated as a prisoner-of-war. (Just under a month later, on 12 December, Churchill managed to escape captivity by climbing over the wall of the State Model School in Pretoria whilst his compatriots distracted the guards - he walked to the nearest railway line and hid on a train.)

On 14 November 1975 the Franco government signed the tripartite Madrid Agreement with Morocco and Mauritania for the proposed administration of the region. Earlier in the month, 6 November, Morocco's King Hassan had ordered 350,000 people to begin the Green March into Western Sahara with the intent of annexing the entire country. The capital, Laayoune, was captured shortly afterwards. Mauritania also made moves to take control of the region.

Claims by Morocco and Mauritania were rejected by The International Court of Justice, who found for the indigenous Saharawis' right to self-determination. The Madrid Agreement, however, resulted in a two-thirds to one-third partition between Morocco and Mauritania, which came into effect on 28 February 1976. (Mauritania renounced its claim in 1979 and Morocco seized the whole country.)

On 13 November 1942 Tobruk changed hands for the last time in World War II's North African campaign -- but Montgommery's quarry, Rommel, is nowhere to be found. The port, which was captured by Rommel's forces back in June, is just a smoking shell: the harbor more or less unusable and its installations mostly destroyed.

Meanwhile in Tunisia, following the start of Operation TORCH, fresh German troops under the command of General Walter Nehring are being landed. It is a start of a race between Anderson's First Army moving up through Algeria and the 5th Panzer Army which is arriving by ship and plane.

Fourteen years ago, on 10 November 1995, writer and political activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military government after being charged with the murder of four tribal leaders. His execution was widely condemned across the world and helped turn Nigeria into a 'pariah' state. Find out more...