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Part 3 Battle of Spion Kop, 1900 The British, reinforced after the trauma of 'Black Week', were still labouring to relieve Ladysmith after almost three months of siege. General Buller decided on seizing Spion Kop because the hill stood slap-bang in the centre of Boer positions around Ladysmith. 20,000 troops, Mahatma Gandhi and Winston Churchill... Continue Reading →
Click for part 2 Battle of Saint-Denis, 1837 The Lower Canadian Rebellion was a toothless attempt to fight the British Army out of modern-day Quebec. The standout success for the Patriote insurgents, was when they fought off a British assault at Saint-Denis. The rebellion kicked off on November the 6th and the Patriots established the... Continue Reading →
Seven men who were famous for their colossal height, size and strength, including the 'Cape Breton Giant', 'Canadian Colossus' and 'Childe of Hale' Robert Wadlow is the tallest human being to have ever existed as verified by science, towering over all at 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m). Yet the same condition which made him... Continue Reading →
It's a myth that since King William conquered, barely a single foreign attacker has set foot on British shores without some natives in connivance, but here are eight times Britain suffered seaborne raids you might not know about. Southampton and Portsmouth Sacked, Nearly Destroyed, 1338-9 King Edward III launched a military campaign in 1337 against... Continue Reading →
The lowdown of what Gloucestershire has given Britain, including literature, festivals, food 'n' drink, famous historical figures ...and a Michael Jackson song. My home county is supposably an innocuous corner of the land. A Liverpudlian housemate testily put it once: ‘Gloucestershire is known for NOTHING’. But is Gloucestershire - Glos for short - known for... Continue Reading →
Click for Part 1 Battles of Saratoga, 1777 Almost two years into the counter insurgency campaign to end the American Revolution, British General John Burgoyne set off from Quebec with mixture of 7,200 loyalist Americans and Germanic troops to meet two other armies with the aim of cutting off the particularly insurgent New England region from... Continue Reading →
'We lose every battle but the last one' is a proverb referring to how the British prevailed in a catalogue of conflicts from the British Empire's inception in 1707 until its end in the 1950s, yet were mauled on many an occasion. This 4-part article includes the worst military calamity of every decade - failures... Continue Reading →
Read about the worst that Mother Nature has thrown at Britain When Mother Nature gets angry the effects can be both spectacular and catastrophic. Stories of homes getting obliterated by violent winds, buildings rocking on their foundations or tornadoes tearing across the land rarely emanate from Great Britain, however. The UK has it seems a... Continue Reading →
History and Things 