The History Chap Podcast

Send me a message The Trent Affair, in 1861 during the American Civil war, when a Union warship boarded  a British mail ship and seized Confederate envoys, brought Britain and the USA to the very brink of war. It was only the intervention by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, that helped pull the two nations back from the abyss. So, What actually happened in the Trent Affair in 1861? How clo...

Send me a message In Westminster Abbey, London, lies the tomb of Britain’s Unknown Warrior. But how was he chosen from all the thousands who died? Why did he end up in this ancient place or worship, and why, is it called the tomb of the Unknown Warrior and not the Unknown Soldier? Support my show by becoming a Patron Support the show

Send me a message With his magic tricks that went wrong, his catch phrase “Just like that” and his ironing fez, Tommy Cooper was an icon of Post War British comedy. But why did he start wearing that fez? Well, it all has to do with his little-known time serving in Monty’s “Desert Rats” in Egypt during the Second World War. Intrigued? Then sit back as we explore the story of Tommy Cooper, his World...

Send me a message The epic charge of the Australian Light Horse - Battle of Beersheba 1917. Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club On the 31st October 1917, during the First World War, 800 Australian horsemen charged against Turkish machine guns.  Using their bayonets as swords, it was the culminating action in the allied victory at the Battle of Beersheba, and was depicted in the fil...

Send me a message The Battle of Sobraon fought on the 10th February 1846, was the fourth, last and decisive battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War. At the end of that bloody morning, over 12,000 men had been killed or wounded and the last formidable army opposing British rule in India had been defeated. This is part 4 in my series on the First Anglo Sikh War. P1 - Episode 133: Sikh Swords v British Ba...

Send me a message The Battle of Coronel fought on the 1st November 1914, was the first defeat for the Royal Navy in over 100 years. Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club Books About Battle of Coronel: "The Grand Fleet 1914-19" - Daniel Ridley-Kitts "Naval Warfare 1914-1918" - Tim Benbow Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter https://www.thehistorychap.com Support the show

Send me a message Tommy Macpherson, the "Kilted Killer",  was a British World War 2 commando. Parachuted into France, he worked with the resistance blowing up bridges, taking on an elite panzer regiment and convincing an German army of 23,000 to surrender. Once, having sabotaged a German fuel dump he cooly sat at a nearby cafe in full Highland uniform including kilt, drinking a glass of...

Send me a message Since it’s inception in 1856, there have been 1358 Victoria Crosses awarded. But 8 of these heroes were forced to forfeit their medals. This is their story. 2 Ways To Support My Channel: 1)  Become a Patron by joining my Supporter's Club 2) Get My FREE Weekly Newsletter Support the show

Send me a message The battle of Aliwal, fought on the 28th January 1846 proved to be a turning point in the First Anglo-Sikh War. Support My Show By Becoming a Patron A bloody cavalry charge by the 16th Lancers combined with British commander, Sir Harry Smith’s,  clever combining of artillery and cavalry to support his infantry produced a victory in what one military historian called a “near perfe...

Send me a message Have you heard of the British officer who was shot in the stomach, the groin, the hand, the ear, the skull, the ankle, the hip, the leg and they eye, and lived to tell the tale? Awarded the Victoria Cross, he also survived plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner of war camp with one hand; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them.  This is the story o...

Send me a message In the 1840’s an Englishman, created his own private kingdom on the island of Borneo. Supported by the Royal Navy,  one of whose commanders is a far off relative to Queen Camilla, he fought the Borneo Pirates. This is the story of James Brooke, the white Rajah of Sarawak, and the Borneo Pirates. Become a Patron; join my Supporter's Club Get my history newsletter Support the...

Send me a message During the First World War, Private Henry Tandey was awarded of the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military medal, in just 4 weeks! But 20 years later just before the outbreak of World War Two another story began to circulate; that  he had saved the life of  Adolf Hitler. So did he save Hitler or did the German leader hijack a British war hero's repu...

Send me a message The battle of Ferozeshah, fought during 1st Anglo-Sikh War in 1845, was battle of egos, madness and traitors. A farcical power struggle between the two most senior British officers, bayonet charges against cannon, British cavalry and artillery ordered off the field midway through the battle, and Sikh commanders snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It’s almost comical, if it...

Send me a message The battle of Cape St. Vincent turned Horatio Nelson into a national hero. The battle where Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Navy was fought on the 14th February 1797. It was not so much a St. Valentine’s Day massacre,  but it did make Nelson the darling of the British public. Become A Supporter Support the show

Send me a message My recent video about  “The African Queen”. has resulted in loads of requests to find out more about the Great War in German East Africa. So, by popular demand, I thought I’d explore this fascinating and, largely, forgotten conflict in a little more detail. The war in East Africa saw  Paul von Lettow Vorbeck commanding a small army of German colonial troops hold out against an al...

Send me a message The story of Ernest Grandier, the only European prisoner of war taken by the Zulus during the Anglo-Zulu War 1879. But was his tale one of heroism or just a tall story? Become a Patron Support the show

Send me a message The Anglo-Sikh wars fought in the 1840’s, were probably the bloodiest the British ever fought in India. 9,000 British & Bengali troops and well over 20,000 Sikhs were killed or wounded in  7 epic battles and one siege. Marked by incredible bravery on both sides, with a good dose of incompetence and accusations of treachery thrown in, the wars would change India forever. And y...

Send me a message Many of you in Britain, will be aware of fire at Grenfell Tower, in London in 2017 which cost the lives of 72 people. But have you paused to wonder how the tower block gained its name? Well, it is actually named after a Victorian army officer who played a decisive role in defeating the Sudanese Mahdist invasion of Egypt in 1889. Yet, his name and his deeds have largely been lost...

Send me a message This is the story of the only family to ever be awarded 3 Victoria Crosses. Brothers Charles & Hugh Gough, and Charles's son, John Gough. Their military service record reads like a roll call of the British Army campaigns in the late 19th and early 20th century. Become a Supporter Support the show

Send me a message The African Queen was a 1951 adventure film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Set in German East Africa (Tanzania) during the First World War, it is actually based upon real events. This is the story of  Mimi, Toutou, a wacky British commander and the moment when the Royal Navy fought the German Imperial Navy on a lake deep inside Africa - the battle for lake Tangan...

Send me a message In 1866, Irish veterans from the US Civil War invaded Canada. This is the story of that Fenian Invasion and the battle of Ridgeway. Join my Supporter's Club Support the show

Send me a message Victorian British army surgeon, William Manley, is the only man to have ever been awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross. But how did that happen? Let's explore his forgotten story. William Manly VC (1831 - 1901). Join my Supporter's Club Support the show

Send me a message Actor Christopher Lee appeared in over 200 films during a 67 year career. But what a lot of people don’t know is that he served as an intelligence in the RAF during World War 2. More intriguingly, he also claimed that he served with special forces too. Support the show

Send me a message Following the death of Charles Gordon in Khartoum in 1885 at the hands of the Mahdists, one of his key Lieutenants, German-born Emin Pasha, was left cut off from the world in the swamps of southern Sudan facing the Mahdist forces alone. With their hero, Gordon, dead the British public demanded that the same fate should not befall Emin Pasha. And thus in 1887 the Emin Pasha Relief...

Send me a message On the 31st July 1970 a 300 year naval tradition ended. The daily ritual in the Royal Navy of receiving a tot of Rum. It is remembered as Black Tot Day. Join me as I explore this, now lost, tradition. Join my Supporter's Club Get my Newsletter Support the show