Exhibition preview: Britain's Greatest Battles, National Army Museum, London, until June 2 2013
William Barns Wollen, The Battle of Lexington (April 19 1775). From the Battle of Lexington and Concord, American War of Independence (1775-83)© National Army Museum
“It has to be Waterloo,” offers one commentator on the National Army Museum website, describing the dust-up in early 19th century Belgium as “a classic battle of any period” with the then-modern “technology” of rifles, rockets and shrapnel shells.
Waterloo is, at the time of writing, leading the public vote by a bullet’s length, a handful of votes ahead of D-Day and the Normandy campaign of World War Two.
The surrounding discussion is just as intense as the poll, variously suggesting the likes of Culloden (“it stabilised politics and helped bring hard-fighting Scottish troops in”), the Boyne (“a massive strategic impact on Europe”) and the Falklands (“probably the last truly British campaign”).
Whatever the outcome, passions are high when it comes to military history, from the Battle of Quebec, in 1756, to the 21st century Operation Herrick – specifically, the Battle of Musa Qala.
Voting, which ends on March 20, will decide the themes of a day of talks at the museum during April, and each entry on the longlist is narrated through an online exhibition full of artefacts and stories.
- Open 10am-5.30pm. Admission free. Visit nam.ac.uk/battles to see the exhibition and vote. Follow the museum on Twitter @NAM_London.
More pictures:
A Representation of the Armies of King Charles I and Sir Thomas Fairfax exhibiting the exact order preparatory to the Battle of Naseby Coloured line engraving (circa 1645). From the Battle of Naseby, The Civil Wars of Britain (1639-51)© National Army Museum
Denis Dighton, Attack on the British Squares by French Cavalry (1815). Watercolour. FromThe Battle of Waterloo, Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)© National Army Museum
Soldiers from Mortar Platoon, the Parachute Regiment fire mortars into Musa Qala prior to British troops arriving there (2006). From the Battle of Musa Qala, Operation HERRICK (2001 to present)© Crown
Troops wading ashore from landing craft at St Aubin-sur-mer, Juno Beach (June 6 1944). From D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, Second World War (1939-45)© National Army Museum
William Barns Wollen, The Territorials at Pozières (July 23 1916). Oil on canvas. From The Battle of the Somme, First World War (1914-18)© National Army Museum
