Posted on 10/25/2016 5:44:34 AM PDT by harpygoddess
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, when the English under King Henry V defeated the French on St. Crispin's Day (25 October) of that year. Henry (1387-1422) followed his father King Henry IV to the throne in 1413 and two years later announced his claim to the French throne and rekindled the Hundred Years War by invading Normandy.
In a post-battle compromise, Henry later married Catherine of Valois and was named by France's Charles VI as his successor, but Henry's untimely death to illness in 1422 prevented him from assuming the French kingship.
This is also the anniversary of the "the charge of the Light Brigade" at the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854. Although of relatively little importance in the larger context of the Crimean War, Balaclava has emerged as its most famous encounter because of Tennyson's poem, which immortalizes the brave, but foolhardy, British light cavalry assault on massed Russian guns and infantry at the end of a shallow valley near Sevastapol. Of the 673 men who started out, 118 were killed outright, and only 195 remained on horseback at the end of the encounter.
And finally, today is the anniversary of the largest naval encounter of World War II in the Pacific, the Battle of Leyte Gulf (which actually lasted from 23 to 26 October 1944), in which the U.S. Third and Seventh Fleets decisively defeated the Japanese Combined Fleet after the latter sortied in an attempt to destroy the forces supporting the ongoing Allied invasion of the Philippine Islands. The U.S. victory at Leyte Gulf essentially destroyed the Japanese Navy as a fighting force, and its remnants posed little threat for the remaining months of the war.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
I might have to dig up my DVD of Brannagh’s production of ‘Henry V’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRj01LShXN8
Great, great speech by Henry at Agincourt. The whole film is a joy.
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!
My father was on a battleship at Leyte, then on to Okinawa.
One of the very few things he said about emotions was the resignation and gloom of everyone aboard ship, expecting to become casualties in the upcoming invasion of mainland Japan.
The atomic bombs were a blessing to everyone, including the Japanese.
My Dad was there on the carrier Ticonderoga.
All 3 battles were lost by reckless charges.
Thanks.
ditto!
Thinks for the link!
Great, great speech!
I strongly agree. And if anyone reading has wondered where the term Band of Brothers they will learn if from the film.
My Dad was at Leyte Gulf. Wish I would have talked to him more about his experiences when he was alive.
Excellent choice. Probably my favorite Henry V ever.
But, geez, Ken, that hair.
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