As all British readers would know from their 'proper' education .. On 18th September 1955 at precisely 10.16 am, in what would be the final territorial expansion of the British Empire, the island of Rockall (a small outcrop of rock in the North Atlantic somewhere between Scotland and Iceland) was officially annexed by the British Crown when Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM, Corporal AA Fraser RM and James Fisher (a civilian naturalist and former Royal Marine) were deposited on the island by a Royal Navy helicopter from HMS Vidal (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island).
The team cemented in a brass plaque on 'Hall's Ledge' and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UK's claim. The inscription on the plaque read:
By authority of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen,
Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith,
and in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions dated the 14th day of September, 1955,
a landing was effected this day upon this island of Rockall from HMS Vidal.
The Union flag was hoisted and possession of the island was taken in the name of Her Majesty.
R H Connell, Captain, HMS Vidal, 18 September 1955.
Royal Navy Survey Ship HMS Vidal in the Atlantic with a Westland-Sikorsky WS51 Dragonfly aboard
Video of the event:
