Description
Book SynopsisA plain-English guide to Britons in battle, from the Roman invasion to the ongoing Iraqi war Charging through the Britain's military past, this accessible guide brings to life the battles and wars that shaped the history of Britain-and the world.
Trade Review"a ‘who, what, when, where and why’ of military events in Britain from the Romans to the present day." (
Family Tree Magazine, September 2007)
"Although the chapter titles and subtitles are jokey, the content is solidly descriptive...a very useful one-volume reference book." (Ancestors, November 2007)
Table of ContentsIntroduction
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book is Organised 3
Part I: Ancient and Medieval Warfare 3
Part II: The Arrival of Gunpowder 4
Part III: Wars of Succession, Independence, and Revolution 4
Part IV: Nineteenth-Century Wars 4
Part V: The First World War 5
Part VI: The Second World War (and Beyond) 5
Part VII: The Part of Tens 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Ancient and Medieval Warfare 7
Chapter 1: Small Islands with Lots of Clout 9
Checking Out Britain’s Wars Through the Ages 10
Moving with the Times: Key Strategies through History 12
Remembering the Regiment: Traditions and Spirit 13
Realising the Army’s Role in the Modern World 14
Chapter 2: Swords, Sandals, and Geometry: The Romans 15
Fighting from the Start: The Ancient Britons 16
Caesar Seizes an Opportunity 17
Caesar’s first raid, 55 BC 18
Caesar’s second raid, 54 BC 19
The Roman Invasion, AD 43 21
Harvesting a landing 21
Bring on the elephants! 22
Caratacus, the first British hero 22
Setting London Ablaze: The Boudiccan Rebellion 23
Policing Roman Britain 24
The Legions Depart 26
Chapter 3: Arthur, Alfred, and Aethelstan: The Dark Ages 29
(Not) Welcoming New Arrivals: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes 30
Riding to the Rescue: King Arthur 31
Carving Up Saxon England 31
An Unbeatable Offa 33
Shipping in the Viking Menace 34
The Saxons Fight Back: Alfred and Aethelstan 35
The Battle of Brunanburgh, 937 36
Turning Back the Tide: Ethelred and Canute 37
Chapter 4: The Hard Knight’s Day: The Norman Conquest and Medieval Period 39
1066: The Disputed Throne 40
The Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 41
The Battle of Hastings, 14 October 1066 42
William takes the crown 43
Fighting over Medieval England 43
Here a castle, there a castle 44
The days of knights 45
Looking north and west 46
The Scottish Wars of Independence 48
The Battle of Bannockburn, 14 June 1314 49
Continuing Anglo-Scottish hostilities 49
Fighting the French: A National Sport 50
The Battle of Crecy, 26 August 1346 50
The Battle of Poitiers, 19 September 1356 51
The Battle of Agincourt, 25 October 1415 52
Roses Are Red, Roses Are White 54
Part II: The Arrival of Gunpowder 57
Chapter 5: With Pike and Shot: Renaissance Warfare 59
Introducing Gunpowder Artillery 60
Getting to grips with different types of gun 61
What’s your gun called? 62
Hiring in guns, gunners, and ammunition 62
Upgrading the Infantry 63
Waving goodbye to the longbow 63
. . . And saying hello to the arquebus 64
Riding Around in Circles: Cavalry 65
Testing Out the New Ideas 66
The Battle of Flodden, 1513 66
The Spanish Armada, 1588 67
Chapter 6: Hearties versus Gloomies: The Civil Wars 69
The First Civil War 71
Setting the Civil War in swing 71
Campaigning in 1644 74
Reaching a conclusion: 1645–1646 75
The Second Civil War 77
The Third Civil War 77
The Battle of Worcester, 3 September 1651 78
The Irish Campaign, 1649–1652 79
Campaigning for the Commonwealth 79
Chapter 7: Founding a Regular Army: The Late Seventeenth Century 81
The Changing Army 82
Raising a regiment: The proprietary system 82
Buying a commission 83
Introducing new types of soldier 84
Dressing for battle 84
The First Regiments 85
Colours 87
Battle honours and honour titles 87
Preparing for War: Logistics, Ballistics, and Fortification 88
Getting Some Action! 89
The Battle of Sedgemoor, 6 July 1685 89
The Battle of the Boyne, 1 July 1690 90
Part III: Wars of Succession, Independence, and Revolution 91
Chapter 8: O’er the Hills and Far Away: Marlborough Country and Beyond 93
The War of Spanish Succession, 1701–1714 95
The Battle of Blenheim, 13 August 1704 96
The Battle of Ramillies, 22 May 1706 97
The Battle of Oudenarde, 11 July 1708 98
The Battle of Malplaquet, 11 September 1709 98
Handing out the spoils of war 99
The War of Austrian Succession, 1740–1748 99
The Battle of Dettingen, 27 June 1743 100
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745 101
The Seven Years’ War, 1756–1763 103
Losing Minorca, 1756 104
The Battle of Minden, 1 August 1759 104
The Battle of Emsdorf, 14 July 1760 107
The Battle of Warburg, 31 July 1760 108
Same Old Enemy, Brand New Venues 108
Possessing the West Indies 108
The French and Indian War, 1754–1763 109
Getting curried away: War in India 113
Defending Gibraltar 115
Chapter 9: Risings and Rebellions: Jacobites and Americans 117
One Day My Prince Will Come, 1708 118
Here Comes James – Again! The ‘Fifteen’ 118
¡Hola! Spain’s (Mini) Invasion of Scotland, 1719 119
The Jacobites Return And This Time They’re Bonnie: The ‘Forty-Five’ 120
The Battle of Prestonpans, 21 September 1745 120
The Battle of Falkirk, 17 January 1746 121
The Battle of Culloden, 15 April 1746 122
The American War of Independence, 1775 –1783 123
The Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, 1775 124
Rebel failures in Canada 126
New York, New York 126
Making plans with Johnny and George 128
Georgia on my mind, 1779–1781 130
Turning the world upside down 131
Chapter 10: Revolting Frenchmen, The Grand Old Duke, and Boney: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 133
Campaigning with the Grand Old Duke of York: The Low Countries, 1793–1795 134
The Battle of Fishguard, February 1797 135
The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798 136
Chasing the French out of Egypt, 1801 138
Fighting France Here, There, and Everywhere 139
Chapter 11: Wellington Boots the French Out: The Peninsula to Waterloo 143
The Peninsular War, 1808–1814 144
The Battle of Corunna, 16 January 1808 146
The Battle of Talavera, 27 July 1809 146
The Battles of Torres Vedras and Busaco, 27 September 1810 147
The Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, 5 May 1811 148
The Battle of Albuera, 16 May 1811 149
The storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, 19 January and 7 April 1812 153
The Battle of Salamanca, 22 July 1812 153
The Battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813 154
The War of 1812 155
The northern theatre 155
The Atlantic front 160
Fighting beyond the bitter end: New Orleans, 1815 163
Catching the 1815 to Waterloo 163
The Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras, 16 June 1815 164
The Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815 165
Part IV: Nineteenth-Century Wars 171
Chapter 12: Britain’s Little Wars: Imperial Expansion 173
The Changing Face of the Army 174
Have Guns, Will Travel, 1815–1852 174
South Africa 174
Aden 175
Persia (Iran) 175
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 176
Burma 176
China 178
New Zealand 180
India 181
The First Afghan War 181
The conquest of Scinde 183
The First Sikh War 183
The Second Sikh War 185
Chapter 13: Helping Turkey Fight the Bear: The Crimean War 187
In the Red Corner: Commanding the British Army 189
The Battle of the Alma, 20 September 1854 190
The British advance 190
The Guards and Highlanders advance 192
The Russians counter-attack 193
Sauntering on to Sevastopol 194
The Battle of Balaklava, 25 October 1854 194
The thin red line 195
The charge of the Heavy Brigade 196
The charge of the Light Brigade 197
The Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854 199
Bungling Beyond Belief 200
The Fall of Sevastopol, 8 September 1855 201
Chapter 14: Rebels, Rajahs, and a Rani: The Indian Mutiny 203
The Mutiny Begins 204
The Siege of Delhi, 8 June–20 September 1857 206
Reinforcing the besiegers 207
Assaulting Delhi’s walls 208
Fighting inside the city 208
The Reliefs of Lucknow, 1857–1858 210
Defending Lucknow 211
Havelock and Outram to the rescue: The First Relief 211
Campbell is coming, hurrah! Hurrah!: The Second Relief 214
Evacuating Lucknow 216
Fighting in Central India, 1858 216
Action in Jhansi 217
Fighting in Kalpi 219
Ending the mutiny at Gwalior 220
Waving Goodbye to John Company, 1860 221
Chapter 15: Home and Away: Reorganisation, Re-Equipment, and More Trouble in India 223
Addressing Matters Close to Home 224
Shootin’ fastest and bestest 224
Introducing new uniforms 226
Mr Cardwell knows best 226
Seeing Action on the North West Frontier 228
The Second Afghan War, 1878–1880 230
Defending the Kabul Residency 230
Retaking the Kabul Residency 231
Intriguing Afghan politics 232
The Maiwand disaster, 27 July 1880 233
Marching from Kabul to Kandahar 235
The Great Frontier Rising, 1897–1898 236
Chapter 16: Boots, Boots, Boots, Boots: Marchin’ Over Africa 239
Rescuing Hostages in Abyssinia, 1868 240
The Ashanti War, 1873–1874 241
The Zulu War, 1879 243
The Battle of Isandhlwana, 22 January 1879 243
The Defence of Rorke’s Drift, 22–23 January 1879 246
Ending the Zulu War 248
The First Boer War, 1880–1881 249
Introducing Boer commandos 249
The Battles of Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill, 28 January and 27 February 1881 249
Invading Egypt, 1882 250
Send Sir Garnet! The Sudan, 1884–1885 252
Khartoum or bust! 253
Sallying from Suakin against Osman Digna 255
Reconquering the Sudan, 1896–1898 256
Steaming along Kitchener’s desert railway 257
The Battle of Omdurman, 2 September 1898 258
The Second Boer War, 1899–1902 260
Opening moves 261
Defending Mafeking 262
Struggling on through Black Week, 10–15 December 1899 263
Taking the initiative from the Boers 264
Fighting the guerrilla war 266
Part V: The First World War 267
Chapter 17: ‘Hangin’ On the Old Barbed Wire’: The Western Front, 1914–1917 269
All Noisy on the Western Front 271
The Battle of Mons, 23 August 1914 271
The Battle of Le Cateau, 26 August 1914 272
The Battle of the Marne, 5–10 September 1914 272
The First Battle of Ypres, 18 October–30 November 1914 273
Digging In to Trench Warfare 274
Coping with shell shock 274
‘Your Country Needs You!’ 275
The Second Battle of Ypres, 22 April–25 May 1915 276
The Battle of Loos, 25 September–8 October 1915 277
The Battle of the Somme, 1916 277
Starting the Somme offensive 278
Turning the tide 280
Bringing on the tanks 281
The Battles of 1917 283
Chapter 18: Storm Troopers and Tank Attacks: The Western Front, 1918 287
The Ludendorff Offensives, March–June 1918 289
The Allies Fight Back 291
The Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918 292
Breaking the Hindenburg Line 294
Reflecting on the War: Lions, Donkeys, and Poets 294
Chapter 19: Turkey With All the Trimmings: The Middle East and Beyond, 1914–1918 297
Defending Egypt 298
Attacking the Suez Canal 298
Fighting in the Western Desert 299
Landing in the Dardanelles 302
Optimism gone mad – the Dardanelles plan 302
Getting everything wrong: Gallipoli 303
Fighting in Mesopotamia 305
Baghdad or bust: Take one 305
Baghdad or bust: Take two 307
Campaigning in Palestine 309
Fending off early Turkish advances 310
Taking the Gaza Line 312
Battle of Megiddo, 19–21 September 1918 313
Engaging Enemies World Wide 317
Part VI: The Second World War (and Beyond) 319
Chapter 20: Phoney War, Panzers, and Miracles: The Outbreak of the Second World War 321
Campaigning between the Wars 322
The Phoney War, 1939–1940 324
The Arras counter-attack, 21 May 1940 325
The Dunkirk evacuation, 26 May–4 June 1940 326
Standing Alone after Dunkirk 328
Chapter 21: Sun, Sand, Sea, and Tanks: The Middle East and North Africa, 1940–1943 331
Facing the Italians in Libya 334
The Battle of Sidi Barrani, 9–12 December 1940 335
Chasing ‘Electric Whiskers’ 336
Taking Tobruk, 6–22 January 1941 337
The Battle of Beda Fomm, 5–7 February 1941 338
Rommel Arrives in the Desert 339
Holed up at Tobruk, April–December 1941 340
Operation Battleaxe, 15–17 June 1941 341
Operation Crusader, 18 November–7 December 1941 341
First Battle of Alamein, 1–27 July 1942 345
Second Battle of Alamein, 23 October–4 November 1942 347
Operation Bertram, October 1942 348
Operation Supercharge, 2 November 1942 350
Pursuing Rommel to Tunisia 351
Chapter 22: One Bloomin’ Ridge After Another: The Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 353
Warming Up for Italy: Sicily 354
Landing at Salerno 354
Monte Cassino and the Gustav Line 356
The Anzio Beachhead 357
Fighting through the Gothic Line 358
Assaulting the Po 359
Chapter 23: Beachheads and Bridges: Normandy and Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 361
The Raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942 364
D Day, 6 June 1944: The Greatest Amphibious Invasion in History 365
Pushing on through the hedgerows 366
Pursuing through France and Belgium 368
Operation Market Garden, 17–26 September 1944 369
The drops 370
Withdrawing from Arnhem 371
Fighting Through to Germany: The Last Winter 372
The Battle of the Bulge, 16 December 1944–16 January 1945 372
Operation Veritable, 8 February–8 March 1945 373
Crossing the Rhine 374
Advancing across Germany to Victory 375
Chapter 24: Welcome to the Jungle: The Far East, 1941–1945 377
Losing the Empire in the Far East (For the Time Being) 378
The Malayan Debacle, December 1941–February 1942 379
Retreating from Burma, 1942 381
Ending the Myth of Jungle Supermen 383
Defending New Guinea 383
Chasing out the Japanese 384
Fighting Back into Burma, 1943–1944 385
The Admin Box, 6–25 February 1944 385
Kohima and Imphal 387
Destroying the Japanese Burma Area Army 389
The capture of Meiktila, 28 February–4 March 1945 390
Driving to Rangoon 391
Chapter 25: Around the World in 60 Years: Operations 1945–2006 393
Withdrawing from the Empire 395
Palestine, 1945–1948 395
India and Pakistan, 1947 395
Malaya, 1948–1960 396
Kenya, 1952–1956 397
Cyprus, 1954–1974 398
Aden, 1964–1967 398
The ‘Real’ Wars: Great and Small 399
Korea, 1951–1953 399
Suez, 1956 401
Borneo, 1962–1966 402
The Falkland Islands, 1982 403
The First Gulf War, 1991 406
Afghanistan, 2001 onwards 407
The Second Gulf War, 2003 407
Peacekeeping Around the World 408
Ulster, 1969–1998 409
Yugoslavia, post-1992 410
Part VII: The Part of Tens 411
Chapter 26: Ten Great British Generals 413
King Edward I (Chapter 4) 413
Oliver Cromwell (Chapter 6) 413
The Duke of Marlborough (Chapter 8) 414
The Duke of Wellington (Chapters 10 and 11) 414
General Sir Colin Campbell (Chapters 13 and 14) 414
Field Marshal Lord Roberts (Chapters 14–16) 415
Field Marshal Lord Wolseley (Chapters 15 and 16) 416
Field Marshal Lord Allenby (Chapter 19) 416
Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (Chapters 21–23) 417
Field Marshal Viscount Slim (Chapters 21 and 24) 418
Chapter 27: Ten Decisive Battles in British Military History 419
Hastings, 1066 (Chapter 4) 419
Bannockburn, 1314 (Chapter 4) 419
Blenheim, 1704 (Chapter 8) 420
Saratoga, 1777 (Chapter 9) 420
Waterloo, 1815 (Chapter 11) 420
Amiens, 1918 (Chapter 18) 421
Operation Compass and its Sequels, 1940–1941 (Chapter 21) 421
The Second Battle of Alamein, 1942 (Chapter 21) 421
Normandy, 1944 (Chapter 23) 422
Meiktila, 1945 (Chapter 24) 422
Chapter 28: Ten British Military Museums Worth Visiting 423
Housesteads Roman Fort, Northumberland 423
The Tower of London 423
Caernarfon Castle 424
Edinburgh Castle 424
The Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds 424
Firepower! The Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich 424
The Imperial War Museum, London 424
The National Army Museum, London 425
The Tank Museum, Bovington 425
The D Day Museum, Southsea 425
Index 427
