Now, When people think of the British Army in the age of Napoleon, they usually picture the big stuff - Waterloo. Salamanca. Lines of redcoats smashing French columns.

But that was only part of the story.

Because the British Army of this era was not just fighting set-piece battles in Spain and Belgium. It was everywhere. Corsica. Egypt. The Low Countries. Strange little expeditions, half-forgotten raids, awkward amphibious landings, sieges, disasters, and operations that now sit in the shadows of the more famous campaigns.

And some of them are extraordinary.

In this episode, I’m joined once again by historian Steve Brown - he is a Goliath of British military history of the Napoleonic era and his books are incredible . Today he is digging into three neglected actions: the invasion of Corsica in 1794, the Ostend raid of 1798, and the Fraser expedition to Egypt in 1807.

They may be obscure, but they are anything but dull. We’ve got Horatio Nelson losing the sight in an eye, British troops smashing their objectives and then being wrecked by the weather and Highlanders and Swiss soldiers ending up in Egyptian slave markets.

So put the big battles out of your mind for a bit and grab a brew. I started off by asking Steve what made him want to research these obscure corners of the Great War against France.

Buy Steve's books here - https://amzn.to/4rlq6x1

Join my Patreon here - https://www.patreon.com/RedcoatHistory

In this episode, we speak with historian Jack Bowsher about his remarkable new book Thunder Run: Meiktila 1945, which tells the extraordinary story of the final battles of the Burma Campaign in the Second World War. While most histories end with the famous victories at Imphal and Kohima, the dramatic reconquest of Burma in 1945 is often dismissed as little more than “mopping up.” In reality, it was the culmination of years of hard-earned experience by the British and Indian armies, fighting in one of the most challenging environments of the war and without the lavish resources seen in other theatres. At the heart of the story is the stunning armoured thrust on the Japanese supply hub at Meiktila—an all-arms blitz of tanks, motorised infantry, artillery, and air power that shattered the Japanese Burma Area Army. It is one of the most remarkable victories of the war, and yet remains one of its least-known battles.

Jack'sBook can be purchased here - https://amzn.to/4u8xSNs

Today we are talking about Spaniards - Spanish Republicans - the defeated side of the Civil War… men who get driven into exile and scattered across Europe.

Some end up in British uniform before the fall of France. Some join the Pioneer Corps and then quietly drift into far sharper corners of the war: commandos, SOE networks, North Africa, Italy, Normandy… even the long road to Berlin.

Yet again and again they prove themselves as soldiers.

Our guest today is Sean Scullion — a serving British soldier and a lifelong Spain specialist.

This is the story of the men who kept going - after Spain, after France, and after the world decided to forget them.

Sean’s book is called Churchill’s Spaniards and is available from Helion and company. Here is a link to buy - https://amzn.to/3MG2pkR

If you want to support British military history and keep this channel going then please join my Patreon - https://patreon.com/RedcoatHistory