The History Network

On May 7, the Royal Flying Corps suffered one of their greatest losses when the great Albert Ball was shot down near Annoeullin, France. Ball had just scored his 44th victory and was pursuing another plane when he disappeared into a cloud. When he reappeared, his plane was falling from the sky and his propeller was motionless. Ball fell from the sky and his plane crashed some distance away. Lothar von Richthofen, the Red Baron’s younger brother, was officially credited with the kill.

Just ten years after the Wright brothers successfully flew the world's first powered airplane, the First World War erupted across Europe and with it came the first air war. Airplanes of wood, metal, and canvas took to the skies to act as observers and engage in combat with enemy planes. The best pilots became known as "aces" and were celebrated by both sides.

It is a cliche that wars seldom go according to plan, but perhaps none has gone astray as dramatically as the First World War. The vast German sweep through the Low Countries succeeded only in branding the Kaiser's Reich a nation of butchers and bringing the United Kingdom into the war. Field commanders were unable to achieve the clock-work precision required by the Schlieffen Plan and the German advance was stopped at the Marne in early September

If one were to travel through the modern day US state Louisiana, you would quickly be transported to what seems like another world. French language signs adorn the streets as the sounds of Zydeco or Louisiana French folk music fills the air. Most would cite the menagerie of foods combining french peasant recipes with African and native additions cooked into the various creatures inhabiting the bayou or swamps as the most intriguing sight of all.

A fortnightly military history podcast looking at all aspect of war throughout the ages.

The French invasion of Egypt in the summer of 1798 was the first great seaborne invasion of the modern era. With 335 ships and almost 40,000 men, it was the largest seaborne force ever launched in the Western world – at least since Xerxes' vast fleet attacked Athens at the Battle of Salamis in 480BC. It remained the largest ever seaborne invasion throughout the nineteenth century, only to be superseded in size by the Gallipoli landings in 1915.

On the morning of 16 December 1914, at around 8am, the German battlecruisers SMS Von der Tann and Derfflinger opened fire on the British coastal resort of Scarborough. For the town's inhabitants the shelling seemed indiscriminate, the prominent Grand Hotel was hit a number of times, as was the medieval castle overlooking the bay and residential parts of the town.

In 1753, the Governor of the colony of Virginia sent George Washington, who was a twenty one year old major in the Virginia militia, to the French Fort LeBoeuf near Lake Erie in the Ohio Valley, to demand the French leave the area. This ultimatum was rejected and Washington returned to deliver the message.

A battle at Dorking, that never happened, and German spies that never existed were a cause of great anguish to the British in the early part of the twentieth century. The result would be the creation a secret service, the rounding up of foreign nationals and an explosion in the popularity of the spy genre; which would manifest itself with classics such as John Buchan's 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'

A more successful attack was made in 1667 by the Dutch, they sailed up the river Medway, which flows into the Thames estuary, attacking British ships whilst they were in dock. It proved to be a crushing defeat for the Royal Navy

The Duke of Wellington, late in life, was asked what was his most difficult battle during all his years of soldiering, after a short pause he replied with just one word, Assaye; his great victory against the Marathas in 1803. A hard fought battle, he would lose a third of his men, the Indian Marathas troops were well equipped and drilled in modern tactics by mercenary European officers.

Long time listeners might know after ten years of producing the podcast, last year Angus took the decision to return to university to study a Masters Degree in History. More by chance than design his niche turned out to be the First World War. During his studies he came across a new book titled ‘Led By Lions’ written by Neil Thornton, which looks at British Members of Parliament, who, serviced in the military during World War One. So he asked Neil if he fancied a chat!

Murray Dahm has decided to read some of his old Articles from Ancient Warfare Magazine, exclusively for patrons of the Ancient Warfare podcast. As we had a hole in our schedule, we thought we’d let you guys have a listen to the first one Murray recorded… 'You could be the next Alexander’

British soldiers in Boston were furious. They were pent up in the city by a bunch of farmers and merchants while their commander seemingly did nothing. April turned to May. The militia forces grew stronger as more companies joined the siege. By now, four colonies were represented at Boston: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

On June 17, 1775, over one thousand New England militia stood on a hill overlooking Charlestown, Massachusetts and Boston Harbor. Arrayed in front of them in their scarlet and white uniforms, brushed clean for the occasion, were regiments of the British Army. Their goal was to take this hill from the erstwhile colonists-turned-rebels and fortify it, which would prevent the rebels from controlling the harbour.