British Military History For Dummies

A plain-English guide to Britons in battle, from the Roman invasion to the ongoing Iraqi war Charging through the Britain's military past, this accessible guide brings to life the battles and wars that shaped the history of Britain-and the world. The book profiles commanders, explains strategies and tactics, and covers key developments in weaponry and technology.

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

About the Author :
Bryan Perrett served with the Royal Armoured Corps, the 17th/21st Lancers, the Westminster Dragoons, and the Royal Tank Regiment and has written more than 50 books on military history.

Review :
"a ‘who, what, when, where and why’ of military events in Britain from the Romans to the present day." (Family Tree Magazine, September 2007) "Although the chapter titles and subtitles are jokey, the content is solidly descriptive...a very useful one-volume reference book." (Ancestors, November 2007)