British military history?

Question

what do you think there finest moment in history was its hard to chose 1 because the British have won so many wars over the years and given the world a lot of the military technology we still use today such as the tank the fighter jet etc for me its got to be the British people and its and its powerful air forces defence in the battle of britain an armarda of german aircraft coming over the channel and with inferor numbers the british never broke and the skill of its pilots was to much for the germans effectivly turning the tide of the war .

Answer 1

Battle Of Britain a great Moment in UK History my Brother runs book signings (Pilots to Paras and Resistance forces.),and much of the money raised goes towards a new statue in London for the pilots and air crews etc.
Great folks whom where there and the pilots tell some great and very sad stories.
And yes the UK was down to scarey numbers at the start and the end of the Campaign for the UK skies.

Answer 2

Churchill called it just that, " our finest hour" and he was a bit of a historian on all thing Anglian so who am I to Argue the point. Mainly becasue ti was not a vicroy as in a deciding outcome of a land or sea battle, but the Germans where worn out, and as you say, and rightly so, by superior aircraft and numbers. And the British had full morale support from the citizens, who did so much to ensure the continuation of holding off the Huns. Lets face it the Brits back where pretty much against the preverbial wall, and they endured, they didn't overcome though, they founght a good defensive long hard battle and where still standing at the end, the Germans if they had know the real state of the British defences, could have crumbled the whole thing, but they gave up just a few weeks short of how ling th British believed they could endure, and that is well documentated after the war in several books and documentaries from the UK, like two very pummeled boxers in the ring, the Germans gave up the fight, so it was not a knock out, it was a decision, the one left standing in the ring when the bell rang was the winner by default. The British never did turn the tide in the battle, they just shut it down, which is amazing in itself.

Answer 3

Thank you to at least two American friends on here who appreciate the great contribution to peace through war that Britain has made. The Battle of Britain was a decisive battle in WW2, and , as stated the whole country played its part and those "FEW" held out in the face of a fearsome foe. One must also place The Battle of Trafalgar in the same league, if not more so.The British people were terrified of Napoleon, and were in constant fear of invasion. Horatio Nelson, my own hero, stood firm and reflected the spirit of ferociousness that Britons always had . His dying words were "Thank God I have done my duty" You don't get heroes like that today. His victory
secured the safety of Britain and Britannia did rule the waves for over a century, unchallenged.
By the way I lived through the Battle of Britain. I wish I could have been at Trafalgar.You could also add Agincourt and Crecy to the list of famous victories.
Edit : Nelson's last words were "Thank God I have done my duty".Also the jet was invented by Frank Whittle, a Briton. Do some more research 'conranger' !

Answer 4

The real reason for British success militarily is a willingness to improvise and also to employ the services of anyone who will be an ally, even if only temporarily.

The Battle of Britain was 'won' [if that's the right word], because the pilots who took part were not all British, but a mixed bag of pilots from all over the place, all of whom had a single aim in life and that was to destroy the Nazi Luftwaffe. It happened.

The highest score for enemy kills, must go to the Polish Squadron, Royal Air Force, who though late arrivals in the Battle of Britain, managed to shoot down sixteen [16] enemy aircraft on their first sorte. Not sure how you score that exactly, but it's got to be ten out of ten plus a couple of extra points for being so bloody minded. Good for them.

And so it goes.

Answer 5

At sea, I'd say the Battle of Trafalgar. On land, much more difficult, Waterloo finally sorted out Napoleon while El Alamein turned the tide of war in WW2. On balance, Waterloo. In the air, it as to be the Battle of Britain in terms of keeping the germans from getting mastery of the air and thereby saving Britain from invasion, but I cannot forget the heroism of the Bomber Command crews who took the war to the enemy at such terrible cost.

Answer 6

1) The defeat of the Spanish Armada. Drake and his forces, with the total support of Elizabeth I, through superior tactics and planning utterly defeated a superior Spanish fleet and sent them scurrying back home with their tails between their legs - like the curs they were.

2) Trafalgar. Lord Nelson was probably the best and most audacious man who ever led a fleet. He dashed Napoleon's hopes of conquering Britain in the 19th century, and established England as the pre-eminent sea power of the era.

3) Rorke's Drift was a heroic battle against incredible odds, but the bravery there was somewhat diminished by the tactical and logistical mistakes (and subsequent cultural misunderstanding) that caused the humiliating defeat the day before at Isandlwana. (I visited both battlefields in 2001.)

4) The Battle of Britain. Technology, in this case radar, played a key role. But victory was primarily due to the bravery of RAF fighter pilots who looked death in the eye every day, and stared it down. Every free nation (including, paradoxically, Germany and Japan) in the world today owes them a debt of gratitude. Winston Churchill, the greatest statesman of the 20th century, summed it up precisely when he said that "never...has so much been owed by so many to so few." Hitler never again regained the initiative in his fight to conquer Britain.

But hey...I'm just an ignorant American...so what do I know?

Answer 7

If my memory is correct. My ancestors beat the British military over 200 years ago with muskets. GET REAL. The British is infamous for forcing themselves and their way of lives down the throats of the rest of the world. Their motto was to make all the world English, America kicked their *** out, India much later kick their *** out the Irish have kick them out of most their country but the stubborn bastards won't leave the North. Where did you get the idea the "British have won so many wars". Hell, we had to go kick the Nazi's asses for the British. DO ANY OF YOU PEOPLE KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT HISTORY. GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND TAKE SOME BASIC AMERICAN AND WORLD HISTORY CLASSES. It may not be high tech, but you won't go around making stupid statements and if after studying some history you continue to make stupid statements, that just means you are an informed idiot.f TO the idiot that said they had already won the wwii by the time we got there, well they sat on their asses and did nothing to help their ally Chechoslavakia and their reasoning was they thought if they let HITLER have that he would be satisfied. No Hitler saw them do nothing and then he went for Poland. Also, once we "yanks" had been bombed at Pearl Harbor, Sir WInston met with President Roosevelt and asked us "yanks" to help them with the ETO before comitting to the SOuth Pacific AND WE DID. GET REAL YOU OVER INFLATED EGOTICSTICAL BRIT. tHE DAYS OF ENGLAND KICKING *** IS OVER--YOU ARE JUST PISSED OFF WE KICKED YOUR *** AND REFUSED TO LET YOU COLONIZE US LIKE YOU HAD DONE THE REST OF THE WORLD.

A LOYAL MEMBER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Answer 8

You are wrong about the jet fighter.
The Germans had the first operational jet fighter before the end of WW2.
The Battle of Britain didn't turn any tides, for that you've got to look at El Alamein

Answer 9

for me its either got to be the Battle of Britain or D-Day.

Battle of Britain because so heavily outnumbered and against better equipment, the RAF beat off the German attack. "Never in the field of human endeavour, has so much been owed by so many to so few"

D-Day because after our tactical withdrawal (that right, it was planned, NOT A RETREAT lol) at Dunkirk, we returned to France to pushed the Germans back and eventualy won the war.

Answer 10

Your question is hard to answer because it covers so many years and different wars and campaigns, it would have to be defined by the years and not just a general answer,

Needless to say for the many victories the British have had in Battle they have had their defeats as well.

With regards the Battle of Britain how can you have an Armada (which signifies hugh amounts) and in the same sentence add "inferior numbers??

The RAF were not so powerful as you think, their supply of planes were being steadily exhausted, but it was the critical shortage of experienced pilots that was the major worry for the RAF High Command.
Most of their skilled pilots had been shot down, leaving student pilots with less than 10 hours training on Spits and Hurricanes to take to the air.

If the Germans had continued the campaign for another month the RAF would have been defeated.

Also the German jets were introduced before the British Jet, the Me. 163, & Me. 262 were actively used in combat in WW2 the British Jets never saw any combat.

British Tanks were effective for a few months in WW1 but after the intial surprise the Germans were very effective at using artillery to pick them off.

After WW1 British Tank design went down-hill, the Germans became the leaders in tank design and proved it in Spain in the Civil War and in the early days of WW2.

British tanks designed prior to WW2 and of WW2 period were notoriously inadequete for the task in hand, relience fell on the use of the American Priests and Shermans.

With regards Horatio Nelson, His dying words were "Kiss me Hardy" as a farewell to his best friend and not because of any "Gay" overtones, being so far away from his family, his last thoughts were of his buddy and comrade.
Horatio was universally loved by his officers and men alike.