The History Network

Nov 23 2024 303 ep. 28 mins 1.2k
The History Network Podcast artwork

A fortnightly military history podcast looking at all aspect of war throughout the ages.

  History  Society & Culture
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3607 Martin Leake VC

Nov 23 2024 19 mins  
Arthur Martin-Leake, serving as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1914 was the first man to be awarded a Bar to the Victoria Cross he received during the Second Boer War in 1902. In both circumstances Martin-Leake's conduct was to put the lives of his injured comrades first despite being exposed to constant enemy fire, and being wounded himself. Martin-Leake is the on

3606 The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment at Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863

Nov 17 2024 19 mins  
On September 22nd, 1862, already almost two years into the US Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation stating that, as of January 1st, 1863, all slaves within any State would be "thenceforward, and forever free." This proclamation freed 3.5 million men and women of African-American descent and, included in the proclamation, was the sentence that "t

3605 The Battle of the Granicus

Oct 19 2024 30 mins  
In the Spring of 334 BC, the 22-year-old Macedonian king, Alexander III (r. 336-323 BC - not yet ‘the Great’), invaded the vast Achaemenid Persian Empire with an elite but small army of some 30-40,000 veteran infantry and only 5,000 cavalry. This invasion was the culmination of almost a century of pressure for some Greek commander or other to punish Persia for its own invasion

3604 The Siege of Belgrade 1456

Oct 05 2024 19 mins  
Twelve years have passed since the disastrous Crusader Battle of Varna and three years since the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. Europe is reeling under the relentless pressure of Ottoman advances: Serbia fell in 1455, and Sultan Mehmed II had now amassed his forces for an invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary. To launch this invasion, he first needs the fortress

3603 The Italian Invasion of Somaliland 1940

Sep 21 2024 19 mins  
The Italian invasion of British Somaliland is an often-overlooked action of the Second World War. Although small and a backwater of the British empire, the region would see several significant firsts of the Second World War. The loss of the colony in mid-1940 was the first significant loss of British colonial territory during the war. The loss alongside the few casualties suffered,

3602 Heroics of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

Sep 08 2024 32 mins  
Among the many brave acts of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (November 1878-September 1880), sixteen were awarded the Victoria Cross. Among this relatively small collection of awards, however, are several remarkable circumstances. The war saw the last Victoria Cross awarded to a civilian and the same award was the first to a clergyman (Reverend James Adams). Dur: 33mins File: .mp3

3601 The Italo-Turkish War

Aug 25 2024 21 mins  
At the turn of the nineteenth century, Italy, a newly unified upstart Great Power, was looking to expand its political and economic influence into neighboring North Africa. Just a few years earlier, France had taken effective control of the North African coast from Tunisia to Morocco, while Egypt was a British protectorate. Just two areas of North Africa were unoccupied by Western

3510 Heroics On The Edge of Passchendaele: The New Zealand Division and the Capture of La Basseville, July 1917

Jun 08 2024 19 mins  
In the early stages of the Battle, aimed at capturing the high ground east and south of Ypres, the men of the New Zealand Division were tasked with capturing the village of La Basseville, southwest of the Messines Ridge (where the division had fought in June). La Basseville was situated on the Lys River (the border with France) and on the extreme right of Haig’s grand offensive.

3509 The Roman Empire’s darkest day: disaster at the Battle of Adrianople, 9 August, AD 378 - Part2

May 25 2024 18 mins  
In AD 376 an entire nation of Goths (the Theruingi) gathered on the northern banks of the Danube and asked permission to enter and settle within the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Emperor, Valens (r. 364–78), agreed and this set off a series of events which would end in the greatest disaster for Rome since Cannae in 216 BC: the battle of Adrianople, fought on August 9, AD 378.

3508 The Roman Empire’s darkest day: disaster at the Battle of Adrianople, 9 August, AD 378 - Part1

May 11 2024 21 mins  
In AD 376 an entire nation of Goths (the Theruingi) gathered on the northern banks of the Danube and asked permission to enter and settle within the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Emperor, Valens (r. 364–78), agreed and this set off a series of events which would end in the greatest disaster for Rome since Cannae in 216 BC. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3