Join Chris Green – The History Chap – as he explores the stories behind British history – the great events, the forgotten stories and the downright bizarre!Chris is a historian by training, and has a way of bringing history to life by making it relevant, interesting and entertaining.www.thehistorychap.com
The podcast The History Chap Podcast is created by Chris Green. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
In the year 865, a new and terrifying force arrived on English shores—not a raiding party, but a full-scale invasion. The Great Heathen Army, a coalition of battle-hardened Viking war bands, swept across the land with ruthless efficiency.
Northumbria, divided by internal strife, fell quickly. East Anglia offered tribute—then resistance—and paid dearly for it.
These early campaigns would shatter Anglo-Saxon unity and mark the beginning of a long and brutal struggle for control of England.
This is the story of when those English Anglo Saxon kingdoms first came face-to-face with the Great Heathen Army..
Major General Robert Rollo Gillespie was described the by historian of the British Army as "the bravest man to ever wear a redcoat".
But who was he and what did he do?
In the year 793, the monks at Lindisfarne—one of the holiest sites in Anglo-Saxon England—were attacked by Viking raiders.
It heralded the start of growing Viking raids and then invasions that would bring Anglo Saxon England to its knees.
In 1900, the British Empire launched what would become the final and most dramatic chapter in a decades-long struggle with the Ashanti people of West Africa—the War of the Golden Stool. Also known as the Fifth Anglo-Ashanti War, this conflict was sparked not by land or trade, but by a single, sacred object: the Golden Stool, the symbol of the Ashanti nation’s soul and unity.
Charles Lightoller was the most senior officer to survive the sinking of the Titanic — and nearly three decades later, he took his own small boat to rescue soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.
Listen to HMS Birkenhead Disaster (the origin of "Women & Children First")
Support my Show
The ‘Fighting Bradford’s” were 4 brothers from the north East of England who served in the First World War.
The 4 brothers, 3 of whom were killed, were awarded 2 Victoria Crosses, 1 DSO, 2 Military crosses and numerous Mentions in Dispatches, making them the most decorated British family in that war.
You can support my show by...
In this episode I look at "The Man Who Would Be King", a story by Rudyard Kipling and made into a film in 1975 starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
A ripping adventure yarn set on the wild frontiers of British India.
But, was there any historical truth to the story?
Related episode:
James Brooke: The White Rajah of Sarawak
The almost comical story of the last invasion of mainland Britain in 1797.
Other podcast that you might enjoy:
The Barbary Pirates & England's White Slaves
Support My Show:
This is a recording of the weekly live show for Patrons that is broadcast on YouTube.
It is more informal and slightly more spontaneous than my usual episodes.
Amid the chaos of the British defeat at Isandlwana on January 22, 1879, 22-year-old Private Samuel Wassall of the 80th Regiment displayed extraordinary bravery.
As the Zulu warriors overran the British camp, Wassall, already escaping on horseback, spotted a fellow soldier struggling in the raging Buffalo River, desperately trying to flee the massacre.
Without hesitation, Wassall turned back, dismounted under enemy fire, and pulled his comrade from the torrent, placing him on his horse before swimming to safety himself.
For his selfless act of courage, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the only recipient from the disastrous battle.
More of my podcasts about the Anglo Zulu War 1879
Saving the Queen's Colour - the Epic Ride of Coghill & Melvill
Prisoner of the Zulus
Support the show by:
Penda of Mercia, the last pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England.
A warrior king who was largely written out of history by Christian monks.
You might also enjoy the story of Raedwald: The Forgotten Warrior from Dark Ages Britain.
William Raynor VC is the oldest Victoria Cross recipient ever.
He was 61 years and 10 months old when he was awarded his Victoria Cross during he 1857 Indian Mutiny (Revolt / Great Mutiny).
The Battle of Gujrat - the final battle between the Sikhs and the British,
The British victory brought to a close the 2nd Anglo Sikh War and resulted in the annexation of the Punjab.
Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.
SUPPORT MY CHANNEL BY:
Become A Patron
Make a one-off donation
This is the last in my series on the Anglo-Sikh Wars.
Here are all the other episodes:
First Anglo Sikh War (1845-46)
1. Battle of Mudki
2. The Battle of Ferozeshah
3 Battle of Aliwal
4. Battle of Sobraon
Second Anglo Sikh War (1848-49)
1. Battle of Ramnagar
2. Battle of Chillianwalla
On the 15th February 1942, the British surrendered the island of Singapore to the Japanese.
85,000 British, Australian, Indian and local troops were taken prisoner.
It was the largest ever surrender in the history of the British army and fatally undermined the British Empire in Asia and the Pacific region.
Many thousands of those prisoners would die in camps before the war finished.
So seeing as the British outnumbered their attackers by 2:1, how did this disaster come about?
And how much was the British commander, Lt. General Percival responsible for this defeat?
The Long Lost Relative of William Shakespeare who played a key role in the Great Game between the British & Russian Empires in the 1840's.
Would you swap a tiny island just 1 mile (or 3 kilometres) square for New York City?
Crazy though that sounds, that is exactly what the British and the Dutch did in 1667.
In a peculiar twist in history, the Dutch swapped their settlement of New Amsterdam on Manhattan island for the island of Run, in modern-day Indonesia.
The Barbary Pirates & England's White Slaves
The little known story of the Barbary pirates and England's White Slaves.
Did you know that at the same time that the British were involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, white Britons were being sold into slavery in Africa?
For over 200 years, from the reign of James I right up until George III, Muslim pirates from the abducted thousands of British sailors and sold them in the slave markets on the Barbary Coast in North Africa.
They even landed in Cornwall raiding coastal villages and taking men, women and children into captivity.
It is a fascinating and little known story from British history.
Measuring less than one square mile, the island of Heligoland in the North Sea, just 30 miles off the north German coast, is an easily forgotten British colony.
But, this Frisian (not German) peaking island of 3,000 inhabitants was part of the British Empire from 1814 to 1890.
Support My Show
Heligoland had its own British governor (or.Lt. governor), its own flag incorporating the Union flag, and from 1867 issued its own stamps with Queen Victoria’s head on them.
During British rule, the island became a spa resort attracting the cream of European society.
The laid-back colony, became a hub for German liberals, avoiding the more draconian
governments in places like Prussia.
One of these liberal was the poet, August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben.
Whilst staying on the island in 1841 he wrote a poem entitled “Das Lied der Deutschen”
Put to a tune previously written by Joseph Hayden 40 years before, it has become the German National Anthem.
In 1890 in a bizarre land deal, Britian gave up the island to Kaiser Wilhelm II's Germany in return for recognition of her colonial ambitions in Uganda, Kenya & Zanzibar.
During both the First and Second World Wars the island was heavily fortified by the Germans.
During WW2, it suffered from a 1,000 bomber raid from the RAF and after the war, in 1947 the British conduscted one of the largest ever non-nuclear explosions to destroy German fortifications once and for all (operation Big Bang).
Nowadays, Heligoland, with a population of just over 1,000 is part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
“Rule Britannia” is one of the most recognised songs that identifies Great
Britain.
But what is the history behind the song?
In this episode you will discover:
The little-known story of why it was actually written,
The real person Britannia was modelled on,
And why most people are singing the wrong words!
Almost wiped out by the Zulus, Losing half their men charging Sikh cannon with bayonets, Surrendered twice, captured twice, losing their colours...
Were the 24th Regiment of Foot the unluckiest regiment in the British army?
You decide, as we explore their heroic, bloody and forgotten charge ta the battle of Chillianwala in 1849.
Support my show by becoming a Patron
My other episodes about the British - Sikh Wars:
133 The Battle of Mudki - Opening battle of the 1st war
137 Ferozeshah
141 Battle of Aliwal
143 Sobraon - the Indian Waterloo?
151 Ramnagar - the opening battle of the 2nd Anglo Sikh War
Further episodes about the 24th Regiment in the Anglo Zulu War:
104 The Battle of Isandlwana
107 Saving the colours at Isandlwana
King Raedwald of East Anglia (reign 599-624 AD), an Anglo Saxon Bretwalda (sort of high king) is believed to be the man who was buried in the Sutton Hoo Ship.
The ship and its treasures (many of which are on display in the British Museum) were discovered in 1939. The centre piece is an amazing warrior helmet.
This is the story of Raedwald, the forgotten warrior king from Dark Ages Britain.
Support my show by becoming a Patron
The battle of New Orleans fought between Great Britain and the USA on the 8th January 1815 resulted in a resounding American victory in which the British lost over 2,000 men killed, wounded or captured.
And Whilst It was the last battle of the war of 1812, it was actually fought after the US and the British had already agreed a peace treaty.
So, was this battle just pointless bloodshed?
Here is a my British perspective.
Support my channel by becoming a Patron
The War of 1812, was fought between the United States of America and Great Britain and was a spin off from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe.
Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.
Support my channel by becoming a Patron
Did you know that a real life Captain Blackadder went forth across no mans land during the First World War?
As did a Lt. George, a Captain Darling and a Private Baldrick.
This is their story.
Support My Work, Become A Patron
On Christmas Eve (24 December) 1914, Britain was bombed from the air for the first time.
A lone German plane flew over the port of Dover and one bomb was dropped towards Dover Castle.
It missed its target and landed in a civilian street.
This is the story of that historic moment in Britain's history, when the first bomb was dropped on the island and what happened next.
Support my show by becoming a Patron
Chris Green is The History Chap, telling stories that bring history to life.
Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, has often be called the best King England (or Britain) never had.
But who was Prince Albert and exactly what role did he play in British history?
I recently told the story about how Prince Albert helped to prevent a war between the USA and Britain in the 1860’s.
Loads of you got in touch asking me to tell a little bit more about him.
So here is a brief overview of Prince Albert, his life, impact on Britain, and his legacy.
48 hours after the Japanese launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbour their aircraft delivered an equally devastating blow to the Royal Navy.
On the 10th December 1941, the warships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by torpedoes launched by Japanese aircraft.
It was the first time that warships defending themselves & sailing in open water had been sunk solely by an air attack.
It would change naval warfare forever.
Support me by becoming a Patron
In 1820, a group of radical revolutionaries plotted to overthrow the British government.
Their plan? To assassinate the entire Cabinet whilst at a dinner and spark a nationwide uprising.
It was bold. It was desperate. And it was doomed.
This is the story of the Cato Street Conspiracy—a tale of revolution, betrayal, and tragedy in the heart of Georgian London.
In an epic naval encounter on the 8th December 1914, the Royal Navy decisively defeated German admiral Maximilian von Spee. He along with 4 of his warships and 2,000 of his sailors were lost to the cold waters of the Atlantic.
That’s over double the number of men killed in the Falklands War in 1982.
Become A Patron
On the 3rd December 1854 British redcoats fought rebelling gold miners in Australia.
The Battle of the Eureka stockade was the bloody finale between industrial and political unrest amongst in the mining community and the British authorities, which became a defining moment in Australian history.
On the night of the 26th November 1703 a storm hit southern Britain in which over 10,000 were killed, 13 Royal Navy warships were destroyed in the middle of a war with France, windmills caught fire, cows ended up in trees, and even the Queen had to flee for her life!
This is the story of the Great Storm of 1703.
Support My Show; Become A Patron
Just two years after the British victory in the First Anglo-Sikh war in India, the Sikhs squared up to the British all over again.
This is the story about how the 2nd Anglo-Sikh War started and what happened when, on the 22nd November 1848, the two sides met at the Battle of Ramnagar
Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.
Become a Patron
On the 29th April 1916, after 140 day, the besieged British & Indian garrison at Kut in modern-day Iraq surrendered to the Turks.
It was the biggest surrender of british forces since Yorktown 130 years before we’re
But, why were the British were there? how did the siege end in defeat? and what happened to the garrison after Kut?
Support Me By Becoming A Patron
Books used to produce this episode include:
"Kut: The Army of Death" - Ronald Millar
My Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/40WR8kS
"Farewell The Trumpets" - James Morris
My Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3UYkAD6
The Trent Affair, in 1861 during the American Civil war, when a Union warship boarded a British mail ship and seized Confederate envoys, brought Britain and the USA to the very brink of war.
It was only the intervention by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, that helped pull the two nations back from the abyss.
So, What actually happened in the Trent Affair in 1861? How close did the USA and Great Britain really come to fighting each other? And, exactly how did Prince Albert help avert that war?
Become A Patron
In Westminster Abbey, London, lies the tomb of Britain’s Unknown Warrior.
But how was he chosen from all the thousands who died? Why did he end up in this ancient place or worship, and why, is it called the tomb of the Unknown Warrior and not the Unknown Soldier?
With his magic tricks that went wrong, his catch phrase “Just like that” and his ironing fez, Tommy Cooper was an icon of Post War British comedy.
But why did he start wearing that fez?
Well, it all has to do with his little-known time serving in Monty’s “Desert Rats” in Egypt during the Second World War.
Intrigued? Then sit back as we explore the story of Tommy Cooper, his World War 2 service & his fez.
Support The Show - Become A Patron
The epic charge of the Australian Light Horse - Battle of Beersheba 1917.
Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club
On the 31st October 1917, during the First World War, 800 Australian horsemen charged against Turkish machine guns.
Using their bayonets as swords, it was the culminating action in the allied victory at the Battle of Beersheba, and was depicted in the film;”The Lighthorsemen”.
The Battle of Sobraon fought on the 10th February 1846, was the fourth, last and decisive battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War.
At the end of that bloody morning, over 12,000 men had been killed or wounded and the last formidable army opposing British rule in India had been defeated.
This is part 4 in my series on the First Anglo Sikh War.
P1 - Episode 133: Sikh Swords v British Bayonets (The Battle of Mudki)
P2 - Episode 137: Egos, Madness & Traitors (Battle of Ferozeshah)
P3 - Episode 141: The Charge of the 16th Lancers (Battle of Aliwal)
Join My Supporters Club
Get My Free Weekly Newsletter
The Battle of Coronel fought on the 1st November 1914, was the first defeat for the Royal Navy in over 100 years.
Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club
Books About Battle of Coronel:
"The Grand Fleet 1914-19" - Daniel Ridley-Kitts
"Naval Warfare 1914-1918" - Tim Benbow
Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter
https://www.thehistorychap.com
Tommy Macpherson, the "Kilted Killer", was a British World War 2 commando.
Parachuted into France, he worked with the resistance blowing up bridges, taking on an elite panzer regiment and convincing an German army of 23,000 to surrender.
Once, having sabotaged a German fuel dump he cooly sat at a nearby cafe in full Highland uniform including kilt, drinking a glass of wine.
He caused so much havoc that the Germans placed a 300,000 Franc bounty on his head. But, even that couldn’t stop the man they called the “kilted killer.”
Become A Supporter
Tommy's autobiography - "Behind Enemy Lines'
Since it’s inception in 1856, there have been 1358 Victoria Crosses awarded.
But 8 of these heroes were forced to forfeit their medals.
This is their story.
2 Ways To Support My Channel:
1) Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club
2) Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter
The battle of Aliwal, fought on the 28th January 1846 proved to be a turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War.
Support My Show By Becoming a Patron
A bloody cavalry charge by the 16th Lancers combined with British commander, Sir Harry Smith’s, clever combining of artillery and cavalry to support his infantry produced a victory in what one military historian called a “near perfect battle”.
It’s time to explore the Battle of Aliwal, which Sir Harry Smith called his “complete victory”
Welcome to part 3 of my series on the Anglo-Sikh Wars in the 1840’s.
Have you heard of the British officer who was shot in the stomach, the groin, the hand, the ear, the skull, the ankle, the hip, the leg and they eye, and lived to tell the tale?
Awarded the Victoria Cross, he also survived plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner of war camp with one hand; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them.
This is the story of Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart VC, the soldier they couldn’t kill.
Become A Patron; Join My Supporter's Club
Get Adrian Carton De Wiart's Autobiography
In the 1840’s an Englishman, created his own private kingdom on the island of Borneo. Supported by the Royal Navy, one of whose commanders is a far off relative to Queen Camilla, he fought the Borneo Pirates.
This is the story of James Brooke, the white Rajah of Sarawak, and the Borneo Pirates.
Become a Patron; join my Supporter's Club
Get my history newsletter
During the First World War, Private Henry Tandey was awarded of the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military medal, in just 4 weeks!
But 20 years later just before the outbreak of World War Two another story began to circulate; that he had saved the life of Adolf Hitler.
So did he save Hitler or did the German leader hijack a British war hero's reputation for his own ends?
Become a Patron & Support My Shows
The battle of Ferozeshah, fought during 1st Anglo-Sikh War in 1845, was battle of egos, madness and traitors.
A farcical power struggle between the two most senior British officers, bayonet charges against cannon, British cavalry and artillery ordered off the field midway through the battle, and Sikh commanders snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
It’s almost comical, if it were not for the 5,000 men killed and wounded.
Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club
The battle of Cape St. Vincent turned Horatio Nelson into a national hero.
The battle where Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Navy was fought on the 14th February 1797. It was not so much a St. Valentine’s Day massacre, but it did make Nelson the darling of the British public.
My recent video about “The African Queen”. has resulted in loads of requests to find out more about the Great War in German East Africa.
So, by popular demand, I thought I’d explore this fascinating and, largely, forgotten conflict in a little more detail.
The war in East Africa saw Paul von Lettow Vorbeck commanding a small army of German colonial troops hold out against an allied army nearly 10x his size for the entire 4-yea war (1914-1918).
Undefeated, he surrendered two weeks after the Armistice in Europe.
This is the story of that war, against a man nicknamed the “Lion of Africa.”
Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club
Get my free weekly newsletter
The story of Ernest Grandier, the only European prisoner of war taken by the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu War 1879.
But was his tale one of heroism or just a tall story?
Become a Patron
The Anglo-Sikh wars fought in the 1840’s, were probably the bloodiest the British ever fought in India. 9,000 British & Bengali troops and well over 20,000 Sikhs were killed or wounded in 7 epic battles and one siege. Marked by incredible bravery on both sides, with a good dose of incompetence and accusations of treachery thrown in, the wars would change India forever.
And yet, most people, have very limited (if any) knowledge about them. Well, unless you are a fan of Harry Flashman of course!
Flashman gets up to his usual adventures (on the battlefield and in the bedroom) in "Flashman and the Mountain of Light" which is set in the First Anglo Sikh War
This is the first in my series about those two Anglo-Sikh wars.
In this episode I explore how the first war started and the opening battle of Mudki on the 18th December 1845.
Get my FREE weekly history newsletter.
Many of you in Britain, will be aware of fire at Grenfell Tower, in London in 2017 which cost the lives of 72 people.
But have you paused to wonder how the tower block gained its name?
Well, it is actually named after a Victorian army officer who played a decisive role in defeating the Sudanese Mahdist invasion of Egypt in 1889.
Yet, his name and his deeds have largely been lost in the mists of history.
This is the rarely told story of General Sir Francis Grenfell, a forgotten Victorian hero.
Join my Supporters Club
Get my FREE weekly history newsletter
This is the story of the only family to ever be awarded 3 Victoria Crosses.
Brothers Charles & Hugh Gough, and Charles's son, John Gough.
Their military service record reads like a roll call of the British Army campaigns in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Become a Supporter
The African Queen was a 1951 adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
Set in German East Africa (Tanzania) during the First World War, it is actually based upon real events.
This is the story of Mimi, Toutou, a wacky British commander and the moment when the Royal Navy fought the German Imperial Navy on a lake deep inside Africa - the battle for lake Tanganyika.
Join my Supporter's Club
Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter
In 1866, Irish veterans from the US Civil War invaded Canada.
This is the story of that Fenian Invasion and the battle of Ridgeway.
Join my Supporter's Club
Victorian British army surgeon, William Manley, is the only man to have ever been awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross.
But how did that happen?
Let's explore his forgotten story.
William Manly VC (1831 - 1901).
Join my Supporter's Club
Actor Christopher Lee appeared in over 200 films during a 67 year career.
But what a lot of people don’t know is that he served as an intelligence in the RAF during World War 2.
More intriguingly, he also claimed that he served with special forces too.
Following the death of Charles Gordon in Khartoum in 1885 at the hands of the Mahdists, one of his key Lieutenants, German-born Emin Pasha, was left cut off from the world in the swamps of southern Sudan facing the Mahdist forces alone.
With their hero, Gordon, dead the British public demanded that the same fate should not befall Emin Pasha.
And thus in 1887 the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition was born.
Join my Supporters Club
For the next two years it battled through over 2,000 miles of impenetrable forests in the Congo before finally reaching the beleaguered Emin. Two thirds of the force died of starvation and the leaders were accused of beating porters to death and even colluding with cannibals.
Many say the brutality of some of the leaders, provided the basis for some of the characters in Joseph Conrads classic novel set in the Congo at that time, “Heart of Darkness”.
The expedition was an epic, chaotic and violent climax to the golden age of European exploration in Africa.
This is the story of that epic relief expedition to the heart of darkness.
On the 31st July 1970 a 300 year naval tradition ended.
The daily ritual in the Royal Navy of receiving a tot of Rum.
It is remembered as Black Tot Day.
Join me as I explore this, now lost, tradition.
Join my Supporter's Club
Get my Newsletter
The little-known Battle of Inyezane was fought on the 22nd January 1879 during the Anglo-Zulu War.
The first major encounter of the conflict, it resulted in a British victory.
However, it was totally overshadowed (and consequently forgotten) in light of the British defeat at Isandlwana that same morning and the subsequent defence of Rorke's Drift.
Join my Supporter's Club
Keep in touch with my newsletter
During the Jacobite Revolt of 1745, Hannah Snell, a woman from Worcester, dressed up as a man and joined the British army.
Her amazing adventure saw her fighting in India alongside Robert Clive, and conducting DIY surgery to remove a musket ball from her groin so her cover wasn't blown.
She is credited as the first woman to ever serve in the Royal Marines.
Join My Supporter's Club
Robert Clive was The East India Company’s first governor of Bengal, victor at the battle of Plassey (episode 118)and arguably the founder of the British Empire in India.
Yet he is also a highly controversial figure, not just now but in his own day too. Accused of accumulating huge personal wealth whilst presiding over a system that ruined the Bengal economy and cost the lives of millions in a famine.
British cartoonists called him Lord Vulture and he was forced to defend himself in front a parliamentary committee.
Join my Supporter's Club
The assassination of British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval on 11th May 1812.
The only British PM to ever have been assassinated.
Join My Supporter's Club
Keep in Touch
The Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron is a small and often forgotten part in the fight to end slavery.
Join My Supporter's Club
For 60 years, Royal Navy vessels, patrolled the west coast of Africa and the Atlantic capturing over 1,500 slave ships and liberating 150,000 slaves.
It was an exercise which cost the lives of 1,600 Royal Navy sailors, one for roughly every 100 slaves liberated.
Join my Supporter's Club
Every year on the 12th July, Northern Ireland’s loyalist, protestant community celebrate the battle of the Boyne.
A battle in 1690 between 2 kings involving nearly 60,000 troops, on the banks of a river in Ireland.
One representing Irish Catholic hopes and the other, representing Protestant aspirations.
But what actually happened at the Battle of the Boyne,?
And why were they fighting at all?
It’s time to explore the battle that still shapes Ireland to this day.
This is the real story of behind the film "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare"
A colonial confrontation in Africa that nearly led to an all-out war between Britain & France.
Get in touch at my website: thehistorychap.com
Richard Todd - who played Major John Howard in the epic film about D-Day 1944 ("The Longest Day") was actually a D-Day veteran.
Indeed, he was part of the airborne landings that had captured Pegasus Bridge, alongside Major Howard himself.
This is the story of his D-Day experiences.
Now listen to the full account of Major Howard and the battle of Pegasus Bridge
Get my free weekly newsletter
The Battle of Pegasus Bridge was fought just after midnight on the 6th June 1944, when 180 British airborne troops, led by Major John Howard successfully captured 2 bridges in Normandy.
This action, helped secure the eastern flank of the seaborne landings 6 hours later.
The capture and then holding of those two bridges by the numerically outnumbered British airborne troops is a stirring story in itself.
But what makes it even more incredible is the skill of the young pilots who landed their gliders, some just 50 meters from the bridges, in the dark night, thus catching the defenders by complete surprise.
This is the story of those glider pilots, the men under Major Howard and the battle of Pegasus Bridge on the 6th June 1944.
Get my free weekly history newsletter
Check out episode 113 about the D-Day weathermen.
This is the little-told story about the weather forecasters who prevented a disaster on D Day 1944.
Get my free weekly history newsletter
Exercise Tiger was a large-scale dress rehearsal for the D-Day landings in 1944 that went horribly wrong.
A friendly fire incident was compounded when high-speed German torpedo boats intercepted an American convoy off the coast of Southern England.
Over 700 men were killed, more than were killed on Utah beach on D-Day itself!
Support my work by becoming a patron or simply get my free weekly newsletter.
Click here
General Sir William Butler, was an enigmatic member of Sir Garnet Wolseley’s Ashanti Ring of officers in the British Army during the late 19th century.
And yet, despite being part of Queen Victoria’s army as it painted large parts of the globe British red, he was also a passionate supporter of Irish Home Rule and of Boer Independence in South Africa.
Indeed, there was a brief moment when he came tantalisingly close to preventing the 2nd Boer War. And how history might have been different if he had done so.
Become a Patron or get my free weekly newsletter
Other episodes that link to this talk:
56 The Ashanti Ring
66 The Nile Expedition to Rescue General Gordon
Donald Pleasence, who starred in "The Great Escape" was actually a WW2 Prisoner of War (POW).
He later found fame as Bond villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and as Dr. Loomis in the cult horror film "Halloween".
Support My Channel as a Patron:
Donald Pleasence served in the RAF from 1940, particpating in 60 bombing missions.
Eventually his Lancaster bomber was shot down whilst on a raid to bomb a V1 rocket site in northern France.
Captured, Donald Pleasence was to spend the rest of the war as a German Prisoner in a POW camp, Stalag Luft I / Stalag Luft 1.
Situated on the Baltic coast of Germany, Stalag Luft I housed over 9,000 prisoners of war (POW).
Whilst Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force men made up about 20% of the camp population, over 7500 men were US airmen.
Included in their number were John C. Morgan (the only US airman to receive the Medal of Honor and also be a POW), flying ace Vermont Garrison, and Colonel Hubert Zemke.
After the war, Donald Pleasence resumed his acting career and was to appear in 140 films over the next 50 years.
Arguably, one of the greatest villains that James Bond (007) was to go up against, Pleasence played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in "You Only Live Twice".
Later on he also appeared as Dr. Samuel Loomis in the cult "Halloween" film franchise.
In 1963, he reprised his experience as a wartime POW when he starred in "The Great Escape".
Speaking of wartime movies, he also appeared in "The Eagle Has Landed".
Donald Pleasence died in France in 1995.
Boudica, the legendary British queen of the Iceni who led a revolt against the Romans in Ad 60/61, destroying 3 Roman towns (including London) and massacred all the inhabitants inside.
Responsible for thousands of deaths was she a freedom fighter or a psychopath?
Join my free weekly history newsletter
Dick Turpin is without a doubt, Britain's most famous highwayman.
But, exactly who was Dick Turpin, and why is he so famous?
Join my Supporter's Club
During the annihilation of the British Army by the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 two British officers. Lt’s Melvill and Coghill made a desperate escape, trying to carry the Queen’s Colour to safety.
But were they really heroes trying to save the colour, or were they merely trying to save their skins?
"Carry On" star, Peter Butterworth, had a wartime secret that only came out long after his death.
Contact me
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, was the inspiration for C.S. Forester’s naval hero Horatio Hornblower or Patrick O’Brian’s, Jack Aubrey (played by Russell Crow in the film, “Master and Commander”).
Largely forgotten to the general public, yet he was one of the Royal Navy’s most audacious and feared commanders during the Napoleonic Wars, known to his enemies as the wolf of the sea and El Diablo (the devil).
In a rollercoaster career, he didn’t just fight in the Royal Navy but also in the navies of Chile, Brazil and Greece in their wars of independence too.
An engineer, who worked with the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and whose inventions are still used today; he eloped with a woman 20 years his junior and was humiliatingly thrown out of parliament and stripped of his knighthood after being convicted of serious fraud.
He ended his days, honour restored and is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The life of Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane (Lord Cochrane / Earl Dundonald) is one heck of a story!
Get my free weekly newsletter
On the 22nd January 1879 in South Africa, the British suffered the greatest defeat ever inflicted upon them by a native African army - when a force of 1,500 was annihilated by the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu war.
Get in touch and get my weekly newsletter:
Click here
Chelmsford was quick to lay the blame for the defeat at Isandlwana on anyone but himself.
Equally it could not be the fault of the redecorated infantry.
So rather than Pullene being held to account for spreading his troops out too thinly 3 myths were planted as to who was to blame.
NNC collapsed at crucial moment
Durnford didn’t take command
Commisariat delayed ammo supply but quibbling and screwdrivers.
Not only do these myths obscure Chelmsford culpability in dividing his force and Pulleine’s decision to spread his line too thinly and not create any entrenched positions.
It ignores something more important.
That they British had been out manoeuvred and out fought by an enemy with spears and shields.
The Zulus had successfully fooled Chelmsford into dividing their force. They had moved 25,000 undetected to the north. They then delivered a horns of the buffalo attack over a 4 mile front and despite one of the horns going behind the mountain they had timed the devastating attack perfectly.
Finally, despite the withering fire laid down by the experienced British redcoats, the Zulu warriors had held their nerve and pressed home their attack, inspired by the Chief Biyela.
Between 1814-1816, the British and the Gurkhas fought a vicious bloody war - the Anglo Nepalese War.
It was the only time they ever fought each other.
The bravery shown by both sides built a mutual respect and a 200 year tradition of Gurkhas serving in the British Army began.
It continues to this day.
The Empire Windrush brought 800 Caribbean immigrants to Britain in 1948.
But have you heard the whole story about this ship?
German Naval Vessel, British troopship and Holocaust vessel...
Get My Newsletter
The HMS Birkenhead disaster occurred off the coast of South Africa in 1852.
Subscribe To My Newsletter
A British troopship sank after hitting rocks and over 600 soldiers and sailors were cast into the shark infested waters on a dark February night.
Scores were attacked and killed by Great White Sharks.
Just 193 - a third - survived.
The Battle of Khambula, fought on the 29th March 1879, was the turning point in the Anglo-Zulu War.
After three defeats the British finally turned the tide against an enemy that they had severely underestimated to their cost.
It marked the beginning of the end for Zulu independence.
Get my free weekly newsletter
The Bantam battalions of the British (& Canadian) army during the First World War were made up from men below the normal height requirement of 5’3.
Get my Newsletter / Get in Touch
Over 30,000 pint-sized warriors volunteered, including a corporal who was just 4’9 and I will share his story later in this episode. I will also tell you about a bantam war poet, and another bantam who would make a huge impact on Britain after the war.
They made up in courage and aggression what they lacked in height. Each one, described in a poem as : “A pocket Hercules”
The battle of Hlobane was the third (& final) defeat the British suffered during the Zulu War in 1879.
Get in touch and also get my weekly newsletter
Over 90 white and 100 African troops were killed in a defeat that could have ended in complete disaster.
Once more the Zulus proved they were worthy adversaries.
Having said that, the battle of Hlobane was a disaster of the British own making.
Poor scouting by the commander, Sir Evelyn Wood, meant that Colonel Redvers Buller was effectively attacking the Zulus mountain stronghold blind.
That poor scouting also failed to spot a Zulu army numbering over 20,000 approaching the British.
In many respects, the defeat could have been a lot worse.
5 Victoria Crosses were awarded for acts of bravery during a terryfinig restreat off the mountain down a 150 foot steep rock face.
The battle of hlobane was the third victory for the Zulus in this war.
It was also to be their last.
”The Cockleshell Heroes” was released in 1955, , and tells the story of a daring raid by British commandos using kayaks to attack German ships.
It starred Jose Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Christopher Lee, Anthony Newley, and David Lodge.
It was actually based upon a real historic event during World War 2, Operation Frankton, when British commandos really did use kayaks to conduct a sabotage attack on German ships in the French port of Bordeaux in December 1942.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter
William Coltman volunteered to join the British Army in 1915.
But once on the Western Front, the deeply religious Coltman realised that he couldn't bring himself to kill another man.
So he volunteered to become a stretcher bearer, going out into no mans land to rescue the wounded.
For the rest of the war he risked his life again and again to help the wounded.
For his bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross..and also 2 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 2 Military Medals, making him the most decorated "other rank" British soldier in WW1.
If you enjoy my work and want to know more about British history then please do sign up for my free weekly newsletter.
Get my weekly newsletter
The Battle of the Taku Forts (otherwise known as the storming of the Taku Forts) took place during the Second Opium War in 1860.
7 Victoria Crosses were awarded, including to the youngest recipient ever.
Get my free weekly newsletter
This story, which is the 2nd of two episodes on this Opium War, tells the story of those VC recipients as well as the storming of the Taku Forts in 1860, the
British (and French) occupation Beijing and their forcing the Chinese to sign a peace treaty, which still impacts China’s view of the west to this day.
Along the way you will also hear how the Emperor of China’s Summer Palace was burned to the ground by the British, including the future General Charles Gordon (Gordon of Khartoum). You will also learn how the future General Sir Garnet Wolseley narrowly missed being beheaded by the Chinese, and how Private John Moyse was beheaded and became a Victorian legend.
The storming of the Taku Forts took place during the Second Opium War between Britain & France on one side and China on the other in 1860.
The battle led to the British (and their French allies) occupying Beijing and forcing the Chinese to sign a peace treaty, which still impacts China’s view of the west to this day.
As I was researching this story, I realised just how many fascinating sub stories there are and after a poll with my subscribers I have decided to break it into two parts.
So in this part 1 episode, I want to share with you why the war even happened, an audacious plot to poison all the British in Hong Kong, and a humiliating British military defeat - also at the Taku Forts.
Albert Ball VC, was a British First World War fighter pilot who became an ace when he was just 19. Eventually he shot down 44 German planes, was awarded the Victoria Cross, 3 Distinguished Service Orders (the first person ever to achieve that feat), a Military Cross along with the French Legion d’Honneur.
And he achieved all of that by the time he was killed in action at the age of just 20.
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter
Exactly what were the Opium Wars and how did they end up with the British in charge of Hong Kong until 1997?
Get my free, weekly history newsletter
The Opium Wars were two 19th century wars fought between China and Britain (and also France in the second one). Two mighty and proud empires fighting each other and all, ostensibly about the trade in opium.
The British were trying to export the narcotic into China and the Chinese authorities, unsurprisingly, wanted to stop them.
That’s the horrifying headline…and it is hardly something for us British to be proud of.
But, despite the name, there was a lot more to these wars than just opium.
In this episode, I will be exploring the reasons behind the 1st Opium War 1839-1842, what happened and how it resulted in the British ruling Hong Kong for over 150 years.
The Battle of Medway was a decisive turning poiunt in the he Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD.
Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter
In AD43, the Romans launched a successful invasion of Britain.
They decisively defeated a huge army of `Britons at a battle on the banks of the river Medway in modern day Kent and the king leading the resistance was killed.
The Britons never again presented such a united front or fielded a such a vaste army.
That victory paved the way for the Roman occupation of most of the island of Britannia for the next 400 years.
“55 Days at Peking” is the title of a 1963 Hollywood movie and is based upon a real historical event - the siege of the foreign diplomatic quarter in Peking (now Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.
Sign up for my Newsletter
The film starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven is a swash buckling period piece, but what are the real historical events and how close does the film come to them?
This is the story of the Boxer Rebellion, An 8 Nation Army, and that siege, that really did last for 55 days at Peking.
In 55 & 54BC, Julius Caesar led two military expeditions to Britain.
Sign up to my free weekly newsletter
You will probably know that Britain (or at least a large part of it) was part of the Roman Empire, but the mighty Caesar’s invasions were nearly 100 years before that happened.
Sign up to my free weekly newsletter
This is the story of debonair, quintessentially British film star, David Niven and his military service in World War 2.
David Niven began his film career during Hollywood’s “golden age”, under producer Samuel Goldwyn and starring alongside some of the greats like Errol Flynn and Ginger Rogers.
He was also an Academy Award and Golden Globe recipient.
But, did you know that he was also the recipient of the US Legion of Honour?
Or that he served in the British commandos during the Second World War?
Or that he came under fire in Normandy, was caught up in the Battle of the Bulge, and narrowly missed capture in Belgium?
But what even fewer people know is that David Niven has a link to the Zulu War.
And not just the war, but the British defeat at the battler of Isandlwana.
His wartime service and that little-known link to the Zulu War is the subject of this episode.
I thoroughly recommend "The Moon's A Balloon", David Niven's autobiography
https://amzn.to/3HqDhZ2
Or if you'd like to know more about the Zulu War then why not read Ian Knight's "Zulu Rising"
https://amzn.to/3UoOqS7
I'm an Amazon Affiliate and will earn commission if you purchase a book using the link above.
In 1898, future British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, took part in one of the last great regimental cavalry charges by the British Army at the Battle of Omdurman in Sudan.
Little did they know, that they were riding into a ambush.
A railway covering 235 through the harsh Nubian desert was to prove crucial in General Herbert Kitchener's defeat of the Mahdist army at the battle of Omdurman.
Get my weekly free newsletter
The Battle of Atbara, fought in April 1898, between a combined Egyptian-British army and an army loyal to the Mahdi's successor (the Khalifa) was a decisive victory for General Kitchener.
It cleared the way for his ultimate march on Omdurman later that year.
Join my FREE weekly history newsletter.
Become A Subscriber & Get Exclusive Episodes
Did you know that in its 170 year history, the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest medal for valour, has been awarded to 5 Americans?
Four were members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War One.
But the very first American to receive the VC was serving in the Royal Navy, at the time of the American Civil War, in a tiny and forgotten action in Japan.
This is the story of that man, William Seeley, and the bombardment of Shimonoseki in 1864.
“Woodbine Willie”, or to give him his real name, the Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy was a British Army chaplain in the First World War.
Support My Channel
Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter
He was one of those Christians who believed that the the church should not wait for people to come to it but should go out to the people.
And it was this belief that took him to the Western Front. There he quietly listened to the fears and worries of ordinary soldiers and shared his Woodbine cigarettes with them…gaining him the nickname: “Woodbine Willie”.
Loved by officers and men alike, he stood up to generals who didn’t like his sermons, and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
When he died, thousands thronged the streets of his adopted city of Worcester to say farewell.
This is the story of “Woodbine Willie”, the soldier’s chaplain.
Rev. Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy MC 1883 - 1929
Born: Leeds
Died Liverpool
Buried: Worcester
Sign up to my free weekly history newsletter
The Battle of Waterloo, fought in 1815 saw the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte.
At the end of the 8 hour struggle nearly 50,000 dead and dying men lay on the battlefield.
Whilst celebrated (in Britain) as a British victory, it’s often forgotten that Wellington’s army was an international army containing Dutch, Belgians & germans. In fact the British troops were actually in the minority.
And despite his victory, Wellington was the first to admit that the battle was a near-run thing; the result could have been very different.
Intriguingly, the battle pitted two formidable generals, both born in 1769, against each other - Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington.
The so-called Battle of Graveney Marsh in 1940 claims to be the last battle on English (and indeed British soil).
But is it really?
Listen to this subscribers only special episode to find out.
Theodore Hardy, an army chaplain serving in WW1 was awarded three of Britain's highest medals for bravery - the DSO, the MC and the highest of them all, the Victoria Cross.
Not bad for a slight, short sighted, vegetarian former school teacher in his 50's!
This is his amazing story.
Get my free weekly newsletter
The 1963 film, "Zulu" tells the story of the defence of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879.
11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders.
One of those VC recipients was Private Henry Hook.
In the film, his character, played by James Booth was a insubordinate barrack room lawyer, partial to drink and malingering in the hospital.
The film does this soldier a huge dis-service.
Far from being a malingerer in hospital he was actually the cook in the hospital, who after the battle was found making tea for the men.
It’s time to tell real story of Henry Hook VC, a very humble warrior.
The Malayan Emergency - when the British fought communist guerrillas in the Malay Peninsular, was one of the few successful counter insurgency operations undertaken by western powers during the Cold War.
1500 British and Commonwealth troops lost their lives (including men from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Rhodesia), along with over 1,300 local troops and police. 6,000 communist fighters and somewhere around 7,000 civilians were also killed.
Subscribe to my free weekly history newsletter
Get My Free Weekly Newsletter
What is the Kohima Epitaph and what has it got to do with Britain’s forgotten battle that changed the Second World War?
Well, those of you living in the UK and who attend Remembrance Sunday services will probably know the words even if you don’t know the story behind them:
“When you go home, tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrow, We gave our today.”
The memorial which bears those powerful words, stands in a cemetery containing the graves over over 1,400 british servicemen and memorials to over 900 Indian troops who died alongside them.
They died in one of the bloodiest, toughest, grimmest battles of the Second World War.
A battle sometimes called the “Stalingrad of the East.”
Outnumbered 6:1 and half of whom were from non-combat units, the multi-national British garrison stood their ground in bloody hand-to-hand fighting, refusing to retreat or surrender for two weeks until relieved. And even then the battle continued for another vicious month.
That stand stopped the Japanese invasion of India in its tracks and turned the tide of the war in South East Asia.
Both for its ferocity and its turning point in the war, it has been called: “Britain’s greatest battle.”
And yet, it is almost completely forgotten.
Rather like the army that fought against the Japanese in Burma.
So, as we near Remembrance Sunday, I think it is time to reveal the story of the Battle of Kohima in 1944.
During the First World War, over 2,000 professional footballers in Britain fought frothier country.
Three specific Footballer's Battalions were formed.
Many became officers, many were decorated for valour (including to VC's).
Over 300 never came home.
This is the story of those football battalions and some of the men who left the sports field and went to the battlefield.
Get my free weekly newsletter
The Battle of Agincourt, fought on the 25th October 1415, was one of the greatest victories the English achieved over the French.
The English army, under King Henry V, despite being outnumbered inflicted a crushing defeat on the French forces, killing over 6,000 of them for the loss of just 400 English.
Get my free weekly newsletter
“The Bridge On The River Kwai” has often been referred to as one of the greatest war films of all time.
Whilst it was based upon a fictional novel, British Prisoner's of War did build a bridge over the river on the infamous Burma railway.
This is the story of the “Death Railway”, the real Bridge on the River Kwai and Lt. Colonel Philip Toosey DSO.
This is the story of George Edwin Ellison the last British soldier to be killed in the World War 1.
Amazingly, he is buried in the same military cemetery in Belgium, where the first British soldier killed in this conflict was also laid to rest, John Parr.
In this episode I also tell John Parr's story.
Just to make the story complete, I also share with you the last Commonwealth, the last American, and the last German to die - all on the final day of the war.
Get my FREE weekly history newsletter by clicking here
You might remember the 1957 film Yangtze Incident, starring Richard Todd, all about a Royal Navy vessel, trapped by communist forces deep inside China in 1949.
Well, it was based upon real events.
And if you think the film was dramatic, then it is not a patch on real life.
This is the real story of HMS Amethyst, her crew and a cat called Simon, in the Yangtze incident 1949.
The Battle of Trafalgar is probably Britain's greatest naval victory. It was certainly the one that had the longest lasting impact on her position as a global power in the 19th century.
It was also the lasting legacy of her most famous naval commander, Admiral Lord Nelson.
At the height of the battle, Nelson was mortally wounded and died soon after hearing of the Royal Navy's success.
This is a subscribers exclusive episode, in which I tell the tragic story of the explosion of the R101 on her maiden voyage in 1930.
The resulting 48 deaths (out of the 54 people on board) put pay to Britain's ambitious plans for a fleet of airships to rule the skies.
On the back of my stories about the battles of the Nile and Copenhagen, this episode charts the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Get my free weekly newsletter
In August 1914, as the British Expeditionary Force conducted a fighting retreat from the Germans following the Battle of Mons, a strange story began to circulate.
Outnumbered and in danger of being overrun by the Kaiser’s army, the British were saved by a supernatural army that descended on the advancing Germans.
Some said this army consisted of English bowmen from Agincourt, others claimed that it was winged angels led by St. George or the Archangel Michael.
But what was the truth?
This is the story of the Angels of Mons.
The battle of Copenhagen - or more correctly the First Battle of Copenhagen - was fought between Denmark and the British Royal Navy on the 2nd April 1801.
Sandwiched between the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar (both of which I have talked about in the past), it was yet another emphatic victory by, arguably, Britain’s greatest naval commander - Admiral Horatio Nelson.
One which he, himself, declared the most terrible battle he had fought in.
At one point Nelson was ordered to designate but famously put his telescope to his disabled eye and claimed that he couldn’t see the signal.
And yet, in one of those sliding door moments in history, the battle could have been avoided completely if only news had travelled faster.
This is the story of the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.
The Battle of Abu Klea was fought in January 1885 between the British and the Mahdist forces in Sudan.
It was part of the British effort to rescue General Charles Gordon who had been besieged by the Mahdists in Khartoum.
General Sir Garnet Wolseley, commanding the Nile Expedition (Gordon Relief Expedition) sent a flying column across the desert to speed up the rescue effort.
Before the wells at Abu Klea it ran into a huge Sudanese army.
The ensuing battle saw the Mahdists actually getting into the British square and for a short time a British military disaster looked certain.
The Battle of Tami was fought on the 13th March 1884 between the British and Mahdist armies in Sudan.
During the 3 hour battle the British were to lose over 100 men killed and a similar number wounded.
It was the costliest battle that they fought in Mahdist War.
And despite it being a British victory, for 5 minutes, it all looked like it was about to go horribly wrong; as for one of the only times since the Napoleonic Wars, the British square was actually broken by the fearsome Beja warriors.
This is the story of the Battle of Tamai 1884.
It follows on from podcasts 47 & 50, which you might want to listen to first so it all fits together.
The Battle of Maiwand was a major British defeat in Afghanistan, back in 1880.
Fought on the 27th July 1880, during the 2nd Anglo Afghan War, the Battle of Maiwand was one of the greatest defeats ever suffered by one of Queen’s Victoria’s armies - over 900 men were wiped out by an Afghan army which outnumbered it by 10:1.
It is a forgotten story of bravery combined with some questionable tactical decisions .
It is also a sad tale of a Victoria Cross forfeited and a loyal dog.
On the night of the 1st August 1798, the Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson clashed with the French off the coast of Egypt.
Fought during the French Revolutionary Wars, the battle resulted in arguably one of the finest victories in the Royal Navy's long history.
The two fleets were equally matched in numbers and guns.
Nevertheless, Nelson achieved a decisive victory sinking 4 French ships and capturing 9 others without the loss of a single British ship.
Get my free weekly newsletter:
Field Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood VC seemed to have more lives than a cat!
Shot twice, numerous riding accidents, bitten by a horse, attacked by a tiger, trampled by a giraffe.
Recipient of the the Victoria Cross and the French Legion of Honour.
He fought in the Crimean War, the Ashanti War, the Xhosa War, the Zulu War, the First Boer War, and in both Egypt and Sudan.
This is his incredible story.
Get my free weekly newsletter
You may have come across the old Victorian music hall song "The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo".
But did you know that the song was based upon real events?
In 1891, an English inventor and fraudster, Charles Deville Wells, really did break the bank at the casino in Monte Carlo.
To this day, no one knows how he did it.
This is his incredible story.
Sign up for my newsletter
The War of Jenkins Ear was fought between Great Britain and the Spanish Empire between 1739 - 1748.
Subscribe to my newsletter
Despite its comical name, it proved to be a bloody affair particularly at the Battle of Cartagena de Indies (in modern-day Colombia) where the British lost nearly 6,000 men.
In the end it was subsumed into the larger War of Austrain Succession which was being fought in Europe and the conflicts between the british and Spanish in the Americas fizzled out.
It produced some notable heroes such as Admiral Vernon and Commodore Anson as well as the Spanish commander, Blas de Lezo.
Also involved was Lawrence Washington, older half-brother to George.
Whilst the war is pretty much forgotten it has left its mark with Portobello Rd in London and Portobello in Edinburgh based after Britain's biggest victory.
It also helped give us the anthem: "Rule Britannia"
Sign up for my newsletter
The Pig War in 1859 is one of the most obscure and unusual events in Britain’s long and colourful history.
In this forgotten moment, the United Kingdom and the United States almost went to war…and all because of a dead pig!
In a tense stand off 400 US soldiers faced 5 Royal Navy warships on a tiny island between Vancouver and Seattle.
Sign up for my newsletter
In this 2nd part to my story about Sir Garnet Wolseley's Ashanti Ring of officers in Britain's Victorian army, I am going to focus on one of more famous…or infamous member, who deserves a story in his own right.
A soldiers soldier, highly popular with his troops.
Awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during the Zulu War.
He fought at the battles of Kambula, Ulundi, Tel-El Kebir, Tamai, and El Teb.
Touted as a possible commander-in-chief of the british army - possibly even leapfrogging his mentor, Wolseley, to the top job.
In 7 days, his career came crashing down.
And instead of these battles or his bravery he is remembered for just two words: “Black Week”.
3 defeats of the British Army, under his command, in the Boer War.
This is the story of General Sir Redvers Buller VC.
The Ashanti Ring were a group of talented British army officers gathered together by general Sir Garnet Wolseley for the Anglo-Ashanti War in 1873.
They were, in many ways, to be the fore runner of a General Staff in the Victorian British Army.
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter
General Wolseley's Ashanti Ring of Officers (sometimes called the Africa Ring or the Wolseley Gang) was never a fixed group of officers. it's membership was fluid depending upon Wolseley's requirements.
Nevertheless a core group of about a dozen officers tended to congregate around Wolseley in his different campaigns in Canada, Ghana, Egypt, South Africa and Sudan (the Nile Expedition to rescue General Gordon in Khartoum).
That inner circle effectively consisted of:
Redvers Buller VC
Sir Evelyn Wood VC
Sir William Butler
Henry Brackenbury
General John Carstairs mcNeil
General Sir Archibald Alison
General George Colley (battle of Majuba)
Sir Herbert Stewart (battle of Abu Klea)
Eleven members of Wolseley's Ashanti Ring went on to become generals in the British army and 3 were recipients of the Victoria Cross.
The Aden Emergency 1963-67, is another one of those forgotten conflicts that marked the end of the British Empire.
Over 90 British servicemen were killed and 500 wounded in a 4-year war that not only has been largely forgotten but which Britain never really wanted to fight in the first place.
It brought to the end, the 128-year British rule on this southern tip of the Arabian Peninsular.
It also brought to the fore a maverick British Army officer, Lt. Colonel Colin Mitchell, dubbed by the press “Mad Mitch”.
I wanted to tell this story because my dad served in Aden, although just before the emergency, and was constantly humming the pipe tune “The Barren Rocks of Aden”.
The Battle of Majuba, fought in South Africa on the 27th February 1881 was one of the British Army’s most humiliating defeats.
Of their force of 400 men, the British lost 92 killed (including their commanding general), 134 wounded and 59 captured - a 70% casualty figure.
In comparison their Boer opponents lost just 2 men killed and 4 wounded.
It would result in the Boers regaining their independence from Britain: the first
time since the American colonists that part of the British empire had successfully broken free.
It is a story of folly, mixed with ego and good dose of bravery too.
Don't forget to sign up for my weekly history newsletter
With General Charles Gordon besieged in Khartoum and Egyptian authority in Sudan in tatters, British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, was forced to intervene.
Whilst an expeditionary force, led by General Sir Garnet Wolseley, was being assembled, in the short term he diverted a British force en-route to India to the Red Sea coast of Sudan.
Here they met the Mahdist supporting Beja warriors, led by Osman Digna.
Their first encounter was at the Battle of El Teb in February 1884.
Sign up for my free weekly newsletter
The Battle of Ulundi (also called the battle of Ondini) fought on the 4th July 1879 was the final battle of the Anglo-Zulu War.
The British victory brought to an end the independent kingdom of the Zulus established by Shaka 50 years before hand.
In a bloody, one-sided encounter, over 1,500 Zulu warriors died that morning defending the old Zulu order.
Join my free weekly newsletter
In 1907, 20 boys came together for a camp on Brownsea Island, in Poole harbour, Dorset.
It was the brain child of Boer War veteran, Robert Baden-Powell.
Little could he, or they, know that the camp would give birth to the Scouting Movement, which now has over 40 million members worldwide.
Whilst any former Scout (or Guide) will probably know that Robert Baden-Powell was the founder of this incredible movement, many won’t know that the idea of this youth organisation came out of the Boer War in South Africa.
And more directly, from Baden-Powell’s own experiences during the siege of Mafeking.
Without the siege of Mafeking there probably wouldn’t be a Scouting Movement.
Without the young boys in the town forming a cadet force to run errands during that long siege, Baden-Powell might not have had the idea.
And, if Baden-Powell hadn’t become a national hero because he held out against the Boers for 217 days, maybe his camp on Brownsea island would never have received the publicity that helped launch the movement.
This is the story of Robert Baden-Powell, the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War, and the start of the Boy Scouts.
Join my free weekly newsletter
I do mention two further stories that are related to events in this podcast.
At the moment they are both only availably on YouTube but here are the links:
The Jameson Raid (1895/96)
A Summary of The Boer War (1899-1902)
The Battle of El Teb fought on the 29th February 1884, was the first battle between the British and the Sudanese Mahdists, that would culminate in the Battle of Omdurman 14 years later.
A British Army led by General Gerald Graham VC and consisting of 4,000 men battled 15,000 Sudanese warriors under the Mahdi’s lieutenant, Osman Digna in eastern Sudan, close to the Red Sea coast.
The British force was drawn from:
1st Black Watch;
3rd King’s Royal Rifle Corps;
1st Gordon Highlanders;
2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers;
1st York & Lancaster Regiment;
Royal Marine Light Infantry,
10th Hussars
19th Hussars
Royal Artillery.
There was also an attachment from the Royal Engineers and a party from the Naval Brigade.
2 Victoria Crosses were awarded for gallantry during this battle, which resulted in a British victory.
But Osman Digna would live to fight another day...in fact he would cross swords with General Graham very soon indeed at the Battle of Tamai.
Join my free weekly newsletter
On the 21st November 1916, HMHS Britannic, sister ship to The Titanic, was sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea.
despite lying in only 400 feet of water, compared to the Titanic at 12,500 feet, her story has been forgotten.
Join my free weekly newsletter
Thomas Alfred Jones from Runcorn, Cheshire, was like a real life Rambo (or the British version of Sgt. Alvin York) who single-handedly captured 102 German soldiers.
This is his incredible story from the First World War.
Join my free weekly newsletter
The British were to fight a series of battles in Sudan throughout the 1880's and 1890's.
Firstly, in an attempt to rescue General Charles Gordon who was besieged by Mahdist forces in Khartoum.
And then to avenge his death.
But what was Gordon doing in Khartoum in the first place?
This is the story of Charles Gordon and how he ended up in Sudan.
Join my free weekly newsletter
"It's like the Black Hole of Calcutta" is a phrase regularly used to describe an overcrowded or stuffy room.
But where does it come from?
Well, it is actually based upon a real historic event.
In 1756, a large number of British prisoners were crowded into a tiny cell in Calcutta, India.
Measuring just 14 x 18 feet, they spent a night in this jail in tropical temperatures with no water.
Less than a third survived.
This is the story of that event, plus the events that led up to it and the aftermath.
Join my free weekly newsletter
Join my free weekly newsletter
In November 1883, an Egyptian army numbering 10,000 and led by British officer, William Hicks (Hicks Pasha) was annihilated by the warriors of the Mahdi in Sudan.
Just 300 troops out of that 10,000 army managed to reach the safety of Khartoum.
This battle (the battle of Shaykan) featured at the beginning of the 1966 film "Khartoum" starring Charlton Heston.
The defeat undermined Egyptian authority in Sudan and in desperation they asked the British for help.
Prime Minister, William Gladstone, saw no reason to waste British troops or tax payer money in a country that held no strategic or economic value.
He did however, agree to send a british general to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to oversee an evacuation.
Enter General Charles Gordon...
During the Indian Revolt of 1857-59, a young 29-year old warrior queen, rose up and led her people against the British Empire.
This is the story of the Rani of Jhansi.
Part 5 in my series on the Indian Revolt of 1857 (Rebellion / Sepoy Mutiny / Indian Mutiny / First War of Independence).
Join my free weekly newsletter
Visit Website
For nearly 5 months a British garrison of 1,500 troops and a similar number of civilians were surrounded by Indian rebels at the Residency at Lucknow.
This is the incredible story of a failed rescue, a rescue which ends up being besieged too, and finally their rescue by the general who commanded the "Thin Red Line" during the Crimean War.
En-route we meet the first civilian to be awarded the Victoria Cross and the first black man to receive the VC too.
And we also meet the sister of Lord Chelmsford of Zulu War fame!
This is the story of the siege of Lucknow in 1857
Join my free weekly newsletter
The Cawnpore Massacre in 1857 was a defining moment in the 1857 Revolt in India.
This is episode 3 in my series on the Indian Sepoy Mutiny / Rebellion.
Join my free weekly newsletter
After a three week siege, the British garrison at Cawnpore surrendered to the Indians who had risen against British rule.
Despite being offered safe passage, the British soldiers and civilians were attacked as they tried to board boats taking them to safety.
Of the survivors, about 60 men were executed whilst approaching 200 women and children were locked up.
As the British relief column approached the city, the Indian leadership ordered those women and children to be massacred, which they duly were.
This act shocked the British but it also unleashed a reign of terror across northern India as they sought revenge.
It would affect British attitudes in colonial India for decades and remains a sore point for many Indians to this day.
Join my free weekly newsletter
This is part 2 in my series on the Indian Rebellion against British rule in 1857 (sometimes called the Sepoy Mutiny or Indian Mutiny).
Having left their barracks in Meerut, the sepoys arrived at the ancient Mughal capital of Delhi. Greeted enthusiastically by many in the local population and in the court of the last Mughal emperor they took control of the city.
British forces arrived but were not strong enough to take the offensive so tried to place the city under siege.
Eventually in September 1857, the British stormed the city.
This episode tells that story.
Part 1 in my series on the Indian Sepoy Rebellion of 1857-58.
Join my free weekly newsletter
The Indian Mutiny, or Sepoy rebellion or First War of Independence was the most critical challenge to British rule in India in the 19th century.
It resulted in the loss of thousands of British and Indian lives, it saw savagery that rivals any modern conflict and saw the snuffing out of the last vestiges of the Mughal Empire, the end of the powerful East India Company and the establishment of the British Raj.
It is an event that has shaped India, it shaped Britain and its idea of empire and it continues to impact on the world today.
Welcome to my first talk in a series on the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857-58.
In this particular episode, we will explore at why and how the rebellion broke out.
I will follow up in the coming weeks with the war itself: the siege and storming of Delhi, the massacre at Cawnpore, the siege of Lucknow, and the Indian warrior queen, the Rani of Jahnsi.
Along the way I will also cover the savagery conducted by both sides.
Support Me:
https://www.thehistorychap.com/THC-Supporter
Whilst the traditional reason given for the Sepoy mutiny was their refusal to use a new cartridge that they believed was smeared in animal fat, this was more of a pretext than the fundamental reason.
Resentment had been growing against East India Company rule in many quarters.
Hereditary rulers were losing power and status.
Religious Indians feared the British wanted to convert them to Christianity.
Others resented the general replacement of Indian customs and laws with British ones.
Landowners resented losing rights to peasants.
Within the army, there was already disquiet over stagnation of wages, lack of promotion opportunities and a growing gulf between Indian sepoys and their British officers.
The Hindus in the Bengal army were also alarmed that the East India Company was recruiting a growing number of Muslims and Sikhs into their ranks - diluting their own identity and influence.
All it needed was a cause to coalesce around...and that is where the new cartridges came in.
As Indian (Hindu) sepoys refused to even touch the cartridges tensions grew.
Across northern Indian chappatis (flat bread) started to be passed from village to village.
No one knew where they came from or why they were being passed, but it was seen as a sign of monumental change.
That change came in May 1857 when the Indian troops at Meerut mutineed, killing British officers and civilians, before marching on (and seizing) the old Mughal capital, Delhi.
There, they captured the undefended magazine and were given the endorsement of the ageing Mughal Emperor.
Across northern India, sepoys began to follow their lead...
For a period of 20 years, Britain was almost continually at war with France.
Firstly with the Revolutionary regime and then with Napoleon Bonaparte.
Victories at the Battles of Waterloo (on land) and Trafalgar (at sea) became defining moments in Britain's growing self confidence and helped propel her into a position of global dominance.
The 19th century would be Britain's Century.
Join My Supporter's Club
The period from 1740 - 1790 saw Britain emerge as a world power - with interests spanning the globe, a booming economy and growing control of the world's oceans.
Join My Supporter's Club
How did the German House of Hanover ever end up on the British throne?
This episode explores how it happened and the ensuing fight with the supporters of a rival dynastic claim - The Jacobites.
Join my Supporter's Club
For 100 years, four Hanoverian kings named George sat on the throne.
They were to oversee the last major land battle ever fought on British soil, the conquest of India and Canada, the loss of the American colonies, victory over Napoleonic France, the birth of the industrial (& agricultural) revolutions, the arrival of Britain’s canal system and first steam locomotives.
They were to see the the luxuriant John Nash style buildings showing off Britain’s growing wealth..a wealth based on an ever-growing empire and, unfortunately on the slave trade.
But that industrialisation also caused immense social and economic hardship, which built a clamour for reform, not just of living conditions but of the way Britain was ruled too.And in this volatile world, the wiff of revolution was in the air.
Welcome to the story of the Georgians.
In this episode in my History of Britain, we explore the tumultuous years between 1660-1689 when the Stuarts are restored to the throne but then James II is usurped by his daughter and her husband, William of Orange, in the "Glorious Revolution".
Join my Supporter's Club
In this episode, we discover the reasons that drove King Phillip to launch his mighty Spanish Armada against England.
The subsequent defeat of the Armada was seen by many as the high-point of the Elizabethan Age.
Queen Elizabeth stood at the peak of her power - Gloriana - and her country basked in a new self confidence as explorers took the oceans and playwrights took to the stage...
Join my Supporter's Club
This is one of those stories from British history that has fascinated people down the generations.
In a world ruled by men, two women ascend the thrones of England and Scotland.
Relatives and rivals - Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots.
Join my Supporter's Club
When Elizabeth succeeded her sister to the English throne, she did so as a Protestant and, seen by many Catholics, as illegitimate.
They believed that she had no right to the throne and looked elsewhere for a champion.
And they didn't have to look far, Mary Queen of Scots was Elizabeth's half-cousin (once removed), the great-granddaughter of Henry VII (Henry Tudor).
Here was their replacement for Elizabeth.
In this episode we explore the undercurrents that drove these two Queens rivalry, which ultimately ended in tragedy.
When we talk about the Tudor’s we tend to think of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I.
Two larger than life monarchs, whose reigns (covering 83 years) account for 70% of the Tudor dynasty’s reign.
But sandwiched between these two towering monarchs, are three more people who were proclaimed King or Queen of England and who are often forgotten.
Two were crowned - Edward VI and Mary I.
One was proclaimed, never crowned and is often called the “Nine Days Queen” - Lady Jane Grey.
This is, very briefly, their story.
Join my Supporter's Club
Henry VIII, no talk about English (or Welsh history) would be complete without him!
Famous for marrying 6 wives, executing 2 of them and divorcing another too.
Father of Elizabeth I.
To many English & indeed foreigners, if you ask them to name a king or queen of England - Henry Viii springs to mind.
This larger than life character, who reigned for 37 years is almost a badge of England.
Join my Supporter's Club
And that may be it…because Henry Viii defines Englishness - a sense of independence and national identity.
And it has nothing to do with having 6 wives, and being a bloody tyrant, and a lot more to do with his break with the Roman Catholic Church and establishment of the Church of England.
The Tudors are probably the most famous, the most talked about royal dynasty in England or, indeed, in Britain’s history.
Yet they did not arrive on the throne through the natural line of succession.
Their arrival was entirely due to victory on the battlefield during the medieval civil war known as the Wars of the Roses.In 1485, Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
And yet how legitimate was his claim to the throne?
And
How secure was his grip on power?
In this episode I uncover the answer to both of those questions...
On the 24th June 1314 Robert the Bruce and his outnumbered Flower of Scotland faced Edward II’s English army and send them packing home. In truth the majority of Edward’s army weren’t sent packing from Scotland, they never got off the battlefield alive. The Scots still savour this victory at the battle of Bannockburn.
The victory at Bannockburn not only ensured Scottish independence from England for the next 300 years but instilled a deep sense of pride and consciousness in the Scottish nation which resonates to this very day - as you can hear when Flower of Scotland is belted out at Hamden Park or Murrayfield.
But how did Scotland and England’s stories get to this point?
That is what you are going to find out in this episode.
The Wars of the Roses is one of those events, or periods, in English history that many of us have heard about but actually we don’t really know very much about what they were about, who was fighting who and what happened.
Today, that will all change.
Join my Supporter's Club
In this talk you will get an overview about when they happened, the background to why they happened and what happened.
Believe you me this is one of the most complex and intriguing periods in English history and it changed England (& ultimately Britain) forever.
Welcome to the Wars of the Roses.
Join my Supporter's Club
It was the feast of John the Baptist - 24th June 1348.
The busy little port of Melcombe Regis sits on the north side of Weymouth Harbour in Dorset.
It had only received its charter 80 years before hand but in that time it had established itself as a busy port in this part of the south west of England.
That day boats were arriving from France, bringing back soldiers who had been engaged in King Edward III’s Hundred Years War.
Some of these men were possibly veterans who had stood and fought alongside the king at his incredible victory over the French at Crecy, two years before.
Other ships were arriving from the Mediterranean, having crossed the stormy Bay of Biscay. On board they had imports from Italy and exotic spices from further afield - the moorish cities of Spain and north Africa and far away Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire and largest city in Christendom.
Through the hubbub of noise, men shouting, cursing and laughing in many tongues, the panting & puffing as cargos were unloaded and the raucous noise from a nearby tavern you can imagine a priest pushing his way past people toward the church, whose bell was tolling on this religious feast day.
As he nears the stone church, he sees a man laying on the ground, shaking, maybe he has spent his wages on local ale.
As it is a feast day and the priest is a kindly man, he kneels down to assist the stranger.
The man has vomit down his clothes and his skin burns when the priest touches him.
Taking a strip of cloth he soaks it in some water from a nearby barrel and then the priest dabs the sailor’s forehead. Mopping his face, he pulls back the mans tunic and sees a large black lump on his neck and another under his armpit. He pulls back in horror…
The Black Death had arrived in England.
The Black Death was a name that later historians gave to the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the middle of the 14th century.
At the time was actually referred to as The Great Pestilence.
The symptoms were initially fever, convulsions and vomiting but quickly the lymph glands (in the neck, the armpits or groin) swelled up into black lumps or “Buboes” - hence the term Bubonic plague.
Highly contagious and highly deadly, it is estimated that 70% of people who caught it died.
Originating in the far east (possibly China or Mongolia) , it had traveled along the silk roads to Europe, carried by black rats. Flees feeding on the infected rates transferred the plague to humans.
Just over a year before it had been recorded in the Crimea and since then had swept across western Europe, carried by sailors returning from the trading ports at the end of the Silk Roads
And now, 24th June 1348 it had arrived in England.
By the 15th August it was in Bristol.
Panic struck townsfolk fleeing infection unwittingly transported the plague with them into the midlands and eastwards towards London.
On the 1st November it finally reached the capital.
By the 21st May the following year (1349) it had reached the northern city of York and swiftly crossed the border into Scotland.
The plague knew no boundaries (it had arrived in Ireland just weeks after it had first appeared in England) and knew no class boundaries.
The nobility were just as likely as serfs to be beaten by an infected flea.
Three successive Archbishops of Canterbury died from the bubonic plague.
Records indicate that 40% of priests died during the Black Death.
Join my Supporter's Club
The Kings of England occupied a slightly strange place in medieval France.
You need to understand that nation states in the way that we understand them in the 21st century were not a concept that existed in the same form in the early Middle Ages.
Kings would grant lands to powerful magnates who would rule those areas with a considerable degree of autonomy. In return they would pay homage to the king.
Normandy is a case in point.
History in a nutshell...Viking raiders from Scandinavia had ravaged large parts of Europe.
In England we tend to see the Viking raids as something unique to England or maybe the British Isles.
But Vikings didn’t just limit themselves to the British Isles raiding into modern day Russia and down into the Mediterranean even attacking Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) at about the same time as Alfred The Great was desperately trying to stop them over running England.
And just as the English resorted to paying a Danegeld (treasure) to buy peace so there rulers gave them land.
One such Viking beneficiary of this land-for-peace deal was Rollo, who was allowed to settle in lands around the mouth of the River Seinne by the King of France.
In return Rollo paid the King homage (or at least he was supposed to).
This area of land, Normandy and it’s viking descended rulers - the Dukes of Normandy - are a classic example of just how much autonomy these localised rulers had, because in 1066 one of Rollo’s descendants - William - conducted an invasion of England without any reference to the King of France.
So now, we had William Duke of Normandy a vassal of the King of France getting a Kingdom is his own right.
This dual role of the Kings of England caused tensions.
As Kings of their own realm, England, which was every bit as rich & powerful as France, they resented paying homage for their French lands.
By the time of the east Plantagenet rulers of England, their Angevin empire stretched from Hadrian’s Wall to the Pyrenees. England, and large parts of Wales and Ireland were under their direct control.
Meanwhile a huge swathe of France was ruled by them but as vassals to the French king (who at this time had less land in France under his direct control than the Plantagenets).
By the time Henry II’s great-grandson Edward III sat on the English throne these tension were reaching a boiling point.
That in itself could give cause for a war between the Kings of France & England.
Indeed over the years since King John (Edward’s grand fathers) reign the French kings had successfully been taking lands off their Plantagenet vassals.
But by 1337 another, equally (if not more) dangerous situation had developed. It centred around who should be King of France itself.
Phillip IV of France was Richard The Lionheart’s contemporary, fellow Crusader, and rival. When he died the phone went to his eldest son, Louis X.
Louis died just two years later.
His wife was pregnant at the time.
As there were no pregnancy scans at the time no one knew if his unborn child would be a girl or a boy.
Louis’ brother was appointed regent and declared that following the Salic rules on inheritance, if the baby was a boy it would be king, but under that Salic law, a girl could not inherit the throne, and so he, Uncle Phillip would be king.
5 months later the widowed queen gave birth to a....boy - who was proclaimed King John I of France.
Uncle Phillip would continue as Regent until the boy king came of age but the crown would not be his.
5 days later, King John died.
And so, the crown did indeed pass to Uncle Ph
The History of Wales is largely forgotten when we tell the story of Britain.
The best most people get is “Finally Edward I conquered Wales and built lots of castles which survive to this day”, but it is a fascinating story that deserves to be told in its own right.
It is complicated - we are not talking about one country called Wales but a patch-work of small kingdoms (Gwynedd, Powys, Deheubarth being the most powerful) and often one of them tends to dominate for a short period. The royal family’s were often interrelated and everyone had similar names, which (unless you speak Welsh) are hard to pronounce.
And because it is complicated we tend to avoid teaching it. But this is an opportunity to explore the story of Wales in a bit more detail.
So here goes...this is the story of Wales in the Middle Ages, when Wales (or at least parts of it) remained an independent political entity as they had for nearly 1,000 years.
Join my Supporter's Club
England's road to parliamentary democracy has been a long and winding one, with plenty of rocks along the path.
And yet it is the liberties and curtailments of royal power from over 800 years ago that echo through to today and have inspired countless others - not least the founding fathers of the USA - on their own journeys to freedom.
This is the story of King John being forced to sign the Magna Carta by his barons in 1215.
It is also the story of Simon de Montfort, rebelling against King Henry III and calling the "Model Parliament" - which is seem, today, as the first proper parliament in England's history.
Monarchs, thereafter, might not have liked that block on their power but it was here to stay (and would shape England's history for hundreds of years).
Join my Supporter's Club
Less than 60 years after the Norman Conquest, William's son, King Henry I was facing a succession crisis.
It was a crisis that would, ultimately, lead to a civil war and the first time in England's history that a woman would be proclaimed Queen of England.
This crisis ushered in a new royal dynasty...one that was to rule England for over 300 years...the Plantagenets.
Join my Supporter's Club
Ultimately, the Plantagenets would tear themselves apart in the Wars of the Roses but this is the story of their founder and his wayward sons.
Henry II, who ruled from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees.
This fiery king was responsible for the murder of his own Archbishop of Canterbury and then a series of wars with his sons.
One of those sons, was to become one of England's most famous warrior kings, Richard I (the Lionheart).
1066, probably the most famous year in English history.
The year of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest.
And yet, those facts are just the tip of the iceberg in an intriguing year which seems to be more out of a film script than the pages of history.
It was a year of 2 great invasions, 3 huge battles, 3 crowned Kings of England.
Yes, it was the last time that a foreign army ever conquered England but it was also the last time a Viking army invaded England and was demolished by Harold Godwinson.
In today's episode, you are going to learn so much more than the Battle of Hastings!
Join my Supporter's Club
As you will have discovered from previous episodes, once there wasn't a country called England. Nor were there countries called Wales or Scotland either.
Just like England, the countries were divided into a series of squabbling kingdoms.
This is the story of how they finally unified into the countries we know today.
Join my Supporter's Club
Our story ends in 1063 when all three, Scotland, Wales and England are, after hundreds of years, finally unified into their respective nations.
Three years later, the Normans will conquer England and Britain will never be the same again.
So join me as I explore the intriguing story of Wales in this period - it's the story od Rodri Mawr (the Great), Hywel Da (whose law codes survived the English invasions) and Gruffudd ap Llewelyn (the only man the English ever recognised as King of all of Wales.)
Then we will travel north to see how the Picts, the Brythonic kingdom of Strathclyde and the Irish Celts of Dal Riata start to be brought together by Kenneth Mac Alpin.
We finish as one of Kenneth's descendants, Duncan, is overthrown by MacBeth (yes, THAT MacBeth!) before, in turn, being killed by Duncan's son, Malcolm Canmore.
Alfred The Great had dreamed of a united Anglo-Saxon country - England.
But he never achieved it in his lifetime.
It was left for his descendants to carry out his work towards that goal.
And "Project England" had to apply the brakes on more than one occasion.
Finally, under Alfred's grandson, Aethelstan, England becomes a united country.
This is the story of how Aethelstan achieved this remarkable feat and how his successors nearly ruined everything...
Join my Supporter's Club
In an age of warrior kings, this is the story of England's forgotten warrior queen.
Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, was the daughter of Alfred The Great.
Her husband was the regent of Mercia and when he died she took over the reigns of power.
Working with her brother, Edward of Wessex, Aethelflaed started to finally push the vikings back in England.
Personally overseeing military victories at Chester and Tattenhall, her army stormed the Viking stronghold of Derby and forced the submission of Leicester.
And then, most amazingly, the Viking kingdom of Jorvik agreed to pay her homage...
A woman receiving the homage of vikings, ahead of her own brother.
This is a story you don't want to miss.
Join my Supporter's Club
If you have listened to episode 4, you will understand that in the year 793 there was no country called England. Instead there were a number of separate Anglo Saxon Kingdoms - Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex.
But in 793 that was all about to change.
The Anglo Saxon world was about to be blown apart and England brought to its very knees.
Within 80 years the Vikings will have conquered Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia.
Now just Wessex faced them, the Last Kingdom of the Anglo Saxons.
This is the story of that critical moment in the history of Britain, and all eyes are on their new king...Alfred.
Join my Supporter's Club
This is the story of how the disparate Anglo Saxon communities eventually consolidated into 7 kingdoms covering what we now know as England and how they each vied for supremacy.
Back in the 600's, Raedwald of East Anglia becomes "Top Dog" when he defeats the Northumbrians but when he dies, so does the prominence of East Anglia.
Northumbria then become the leading power in the land and try to push their influence into the land of the Picts.
Eventually, it is the turn of Mercia and their king Offa.
In fact, it is looking like the final power-play will be between Mercia and Wessex when some ships are sighted off the island of Lindisfarne on the North East coast of England....
In 410 the desperate citizens of the Roman province of Britannia sent the Emperor a plea for help against increasing attacks from pirates and the Picts from beyond Hadrians Wall.
The Emperor, Honorius sent them a simple reply which basically said "You are on your own."
Britain descended into chaos - "The Dark Ages"
The urban sophistication of the Roman years was abandoned, the land was ruled by warlords.
And into this chaos arrived a group of invaders turned settlers - the Anglo Saxons.
This is the story of how they tried to establish themselves on the island and how the locals fought back. It is the story of legendary warriors like King Arthur and real warriors like Urien of Rheged.
Legends and truths end up mixed together in "The Dark Ages."
Join my Supporter's Club
In AD43, the Romans began their invasion of Britain.
For the next 400 years, most of Britain would be a far-flung province of the Roman Empire.
A huge wall was constructed in the north to mark the furthest limit of Roman control. It is still there today, Hadrian's Wall.
But for all the so-called civilisation that the Romans brought, the Britons weren't convinced.
Roman rule was harsh and eventually there was an explosion.
The tribes of eastern Britain rose in revolt under a Queen whose name resonates down the centuries...Boudica.
Join my Supporter's Club
Britain has had an impact on the world way beyond its size.
But it hasn't always been that way.
Long, long before the British had established their won worldwide empire, they were a far-flung part of someone else's empire - The Romans.
The story of Britain begins even further back than that...
To a time when Britain was just part of a north European plain with tribes migrating backwards and forwards across Doggerland, now submerged beneath the North Sea.
When the last Ice Age ended, the sea levels rose and Britain became an island.
This episode is the story of those early years; of Stonehenge, Iron-Age Hillforts, Druids and Celts.
And then in 55BC a Roman general with huge ambitions landed upon the shores of the Island on the Edge of the World and history would never be the same again...
Join my Supporter's Club
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.