I might have to dig up my DVD of Brannagh’s production of ‘Henry V’.
For an exceptionally fine satiric explanation of the Charge of the Light Brigade (along with descriptions of The Thin Red Line and the Charge of the Heavy Brigade as well) no book is better than Flashman at the Charge, that portion of the autobiography of General Sir Harry Flashman that deals with the Crimean War.
“The world wonders.”
My old man was on the BB48 West Virginia at Surigao Straits.
And It’s Saint Crispin’s day!
All 3 battles were lost by reckless charges.
Thanks.
My Dad was at Leyte Gulf. Wish I would have talked to him more about his experiences when he was alive.
Not to mention...from The Charge of the Light Brigade era...
The fabulous contributions made to the modern clothing world by Lord Raglan (raglan sleeve), and James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (cardigan sweater).
Due to the fact that people no longer read books, the studios took it upon themselves to “educate” the masses about historical events and personalities. This is, after all a good thing because then kids who are interested in a particular film or persona look it up on the Internet and then learn more about the actual events and actual people.
From “Saving Private Ryan” to the upcoming “Mighty Eighth” we have started to take a seriously look at events and we are not yet at Leyte Gulf but hopefully, we will cover those battles too.
Balaclava was literally a wrong turn, the result of a vague order. There were two parallel ravines, and the Light Brigade charged up the wrong one, the one with “cannon to the left of them, cannon to the right.” And when the remaining handful reached the end of the valley, they found ... you guessed it ... more artillery.
Today is also the anniversary of the US invasion of Grenada, arguably the turning point of the Cold War. Grenada was the first member of the Soviet bloc to be removed and replaced by a free government since the conflict began.
The overthrow of Grenada’s Communist regime came only a few months after the Soviet empire reached its apogee when a pro-Soviet government was installed in Suriname. Eight years later, the Soviet bloc was history.
Anyone who has an interest in Agincourt should read,
Bernard Cornwall’s Azincourt ,
“Azincourt is the tale of Nicholas Hook, an archer, who begins the novel by joining the garrison of Soissons, a city whose patron saints were Crispin and Crispinian.
What happened at Soissons shocked all Christendom, but in the following year, on the feast day of Crispin and Crispinian, Hook finds himself in that small army trapped at Azincourt. The novel is the story of the archers who helped win a battle that has entered legend, but in truth is a tale, as Sir John Keegan says, ‘of slaughter-yard behaviour and outright atrocity’.”
An excerpt from Agincourt.
http://www.bernardcornwell.net/azincourt-extract/
Sybil: Do you know what aniversary today is,Basil?
Basil: Agincourt?
Sybil: What?
Basil: Battle of Agincourt?