… in 1415, the Battle of Agincourt took place between the English and the French during the Hundred Years’ War. The result was a major English victory, despite the fact that the French troops vastly outnumbered the English. Their success is attributed to their use of longbows – an English weapon that was greatly superior to the French crossbow. A trained English archer could shoot six aimed arrows a minute, and these arrows could penetrate armour from 100 yards away (and kill from 200).
15th Century miniature depicting the Battle of Agincourt
…in 1914, the first trenches were dug on the Western Front. As it became ever more apparent that the war would not be ‘over by Christmas’, both Allied and German forces began digging trenches. In total, if these trench systems were laid out in one long row, they would stretch for 25,000 miles. 12,000 of those miles belonged to the Allies; 13,000 to the Central Powers.
Code-named ‘Operation Dynamo’ and nick-named by some as ‘The Miracle Of Dunkirk,’ hundreds of boats sailed across the Channel to rescue almost a quarter of a million Allied troops who were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk in France. The rescue vessels ranged from military ships to ordinary fishing boats and even private yachts. As they would do so many times throughout the war, the British people came together in the face of adversity and triumphed.
In total, 338,226 soldiers were saved as a result of Operation Dynamo. Had the evacuation not happened, the outcome of the Second World War could have been very different.
For a Titanic-obsessed, WW1-enthusiast, you can imagine how delighted I am to find myself currently working on a World War One battleship. Not that I am doing anything nautical in my job, I should add, but the digital agency I work for happens to have its office onboard the HMS President.