As we approach Armistice Day, it is worth remembering four of the most iconic British battles of the past that were fought on 23 and 25 October.
On St Crispin’s Day, 25 October 1415, an exhausted band of English and Welsh archers defeated a French army twice their size at Agincourt (north of the Somme). This battle was immortalised by Shakespeare and came to represent part of British identity (I remember having to learn the lines of Henry V’s speech at school), but sadly its importance seems to be fading in the modern education curriculum.
On 23 October 1805, Admiral Nelson led the British fleet to a devastating victory at Trafalgar and thus established the United Kingdom as the pre-eminent world naval power for more than 100 years. The man and the myths around him were part of my upbringing, but it was not until I attended a Royal Navy Trafalgar Night that I realised how this battle is stitched into the uniform of every British matelot serving today.
On 25 October 1854, the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava provided a shock that reverberated around the world. Immortalised through the pens of the great war journalist, William Howard Russell and the poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson and the brushes of Richard Caton-Woodville and Elizabeth Butler, this action, as much as any other, established the unwavering sense of duty that epitomised the British approach to the futile trench offensives of World War I.
On 23 October 1942, a thousand gun barrage began the fourth battle at El Alamein. Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery was quick to proclaim conceptual ownership of the success, but in reality his plan went awry on two occasions. The first big hiccup resulted in a heated row on 25 October between him and X Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden. The dispute about cavalry advancing against well sited artillery guns ironically took place on the 88th anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade. After Monty adjusted his plans, he eventually wore down Rommel’s forces and won a superb victory for the Allies. Winston Churchill described this battle as the turning point of the war and its influence was enshrined by the stories of the Desert Rats and through images created by artists such as Terence Cuneo.
I learned about all these iconic conflicts when I was at school, but I wonder how many British children are now being taught about how these historical battles established the freedoms that they enjoy on a day-to-day basis? We will remember them!
Rupert Wieloch 