What was the biggest battle on British soil?

Answer 1

It depends on what you call the 'Biggest' battle. Are you purely counting the number of combatants, if so then the battle of Britain against the Luftwaffe (and elements of the Italian air force) was by no means a large battle as less than 5000 RAF pilots actually 'fought' the battle (not counting RAF ground crews and air defence)

A lot of answers to this question only seem to comment on 'The civil war' of the 17th century, the fact is that there have been many many more battles on English soil apart from this. That said what is commeonly refered to as 'The civil war' was by no means the first conflict of its type and should really be considered 'The 2nd civil war'.

The Battle of Culloden, while not the largest on British soil by any stretch (approx 13500 men) was possibly one of the most important.

But, if we are measuring size by the death toll then the 'Biggest' has to be the battle of Towton on the 29 March 1461. Of the estimated 80'000 combatants on the field that day at least a quarter, maybe more were killed, mostly due to a combination of archers firing through a blizzard and the fact that during the Parley before the battle both sides (York and Lancaster) stated that no quarter would be given or asked for.

Most people, when talking about war and battle in Britain ignore the wars of the roses which were a civil war, in all but name.

Answer 2

Further to previous answers, the correct answer is the Battle of Towton in 1461. This is the largest properly documented battle ever to have taken place on British soil, with fairly well-verified strength and casualty figures (although certain contemporary estimates exaggerated the casualties as up to 40,000).

The Battle of Britain (July-October 1940), despite the name, was not a Battle as such, but a campaign, within which a series of (more or less daily) engagements were fought between the British and German Air Forces. The two best-known single-day engagements during the Battle of Britain were on 13 August 1940 (known to the Germans as 'Eagle Day') and 15 September 1940. On the first day, around 420 aircraft were involved; on the second, around 700. The vast majority of the British aircraft were single-seat fighters, as were around 30-40% of the German aircraft. Therefore, on neither of these two days did the direct combatants number more than around 800-1200 aircrew. Although there were larger numbers of people indirectly involved on the ground (ground crew on airfields, control centre personnel, spotters, etc), the overall numbers were quite small.

As to the English Civil Wars (1642-51), the size of the armies was limited in part by financial constraints (particularly on the Royalist side) and partly by the fact that the majority of the population (estimated in some cases at up to 70%) was in fact indifferent, or at best wished to avoid direct involvement in the conflict.

During the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487, and a de facto civil war, as has already been pointed out), the scale of the conflict and support for the opposing Houses of York and Lancaster was exacerbated by a high pre-existing degree of civil unrest and armed insurrection in many areas of England. As the Wars were primarily dynastic in character, they saw the landed nobility leading forces of feudal 'retainers', peasants who were dependent upon the nobility for their land and livelihood, and were bound to military service as the need arose. These were among the factors which enabled the opposing sides at Towton in 1461 to muster at least 76,000 men (36,000 Yorkists and 40,000 Lancastrians).

Answer 3

The Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On June 14, 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax. A total of 31,000 people died in this battle.

Answer 4

The Battle of Britain during the second world war, although it was fought mainly in the air it was over British territorial ground and was to prevent an invasion by the Nazis (God forbid.) During a few months in 1940.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

what do you understand through biggest?

most people were probably involved in the battle of britain in world war 2.

however i think the most important was the battle of hastings after which the normans conquered england. it had the biggest consequences in the long run.

Answer 6

Possibly Mons Graupius. Fought in Scotland between the Caledonians and the Romans. AD 84
Around 10,000 Caledonians were killed in the battle.

Answer 7

If you mean biggest, as in the most participants or most destruction, then hands down that would be the Battle of Britain in WWII. Much of Britain was completely leveled during this time.

Answer 8

the civil war was a WAR - it was made up of battles. Not sure about the biggest - Marston Moor maybe.

re - above, I just checked and the battle of Edgehill was bigger than Marston Moor and Naseby. Still not sure if it was the biggest.

Answer 9

The battle of Sedgemoor was pretty big I think during the civil war.

Answer 10

One of the Civil War battles - either Marston Moor or Naseby, if I recall correctly.