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Horatio Nelson

The Battle of the Nile was fought between the British and French navies at Aboukir Bay on the Egyptian coast from 1 to 3 August 1798. It ended in victory for the British under Horatio Nelson (pictured). It was the climax of a Mediterranean naval campaign during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sailed to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under Napoleon Bonaparte, pursued by Nelson and his fleet. After the French army had landed in Egypt, the French fleet anchored in what its commander believed was a formidable defensive position. When the British fleet arrived, Nelson ordered an immediate attack on both sides of the French position simultaneously. Trapped in a crossfire, the leading French warships were battered into surrender. The centre initially repelled the attack but was defeated after renewed assault from British reinforcements. The battle reversed the strategic situation in the Mediterranean and encouraged other European countries to turn against France. Bonaparte's army was trapped and was later defeated at the Siege of Acre. Nelson was made Baron Nelson and proclaimed a hero across Europe, and his captains were also highly praised. (Full article...)

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A painted impression of no man's land from the First World War.

H.C. McNeile's writing career lasted from 1915 until his death in 1937. McNeile was a First World War British army officer with the Royal Engineers, who wrote several short stories while serving on the Western Front; these were published in the Daily Mail under the pseudonym "Sapper", the nickname of his regiment. After the war he turned away from war writing and began to publish thrillers. In 1920 he wrote the novel Bulldog Drummond, whose eponymous hero became his best-known character; he went on to write ten Drummond novels in total as well as three plays and a screenplay. McNeile interspersed his Drummond stories with other novels and story collections, including two characters who appeared as protagonists in their own works, Jim Maitland and Ronald Standish. (Full list...)

England expects that every man will do his duty

"England expects that every man will do his duty", here represented with Popham's "Telegraphic Signals of Marine Vocabulary", was a signal sent by Royal Navy Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson from his flagship HMS Victory as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on 21 October 1805. The English victory over Napoleon's forces in the battle removed all possibility of a French invasion and conquest of Britain.

Drawing: Ipankonin

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