The History of Britain Magazine
Welcome to the History of Britain! The home nations share a varied and shared history unlike anywhere else, so we thought it only right to create a section dedicated to our mutual heritage.

The Great Regency Fête of 1811
On 5 February 1811, George, Prince of Wales, was declared Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. One of George’s first acts as Regent was to throw a grand party…

Operation Gambit: Britain’s D-Day X-Craft
Precise navigation to the invasion beaches was essential. Tasked with shining beacon lights out to sea in the early hours of D-Day to guide the army of landing craft ashore, two X-craft midget submarines were towed in secret and stationed off Sword and Juno beaches. Lying on the seabed, the 5 man crews waited for news that the invasion had begun…

Far from a Donkey: Ronald d’Arcy Fife
Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald d’Arcy Fife of the Green Howards Regiment – definitely not a donkey leading lions!

Whatever happened to the nit nurse – A history of the School Medical Service in England from 1908
Certain memories still cause shudders in the post-Second World War generation of British schoolchildren. School dinner tapioca with a blob of jam in it. Being forced to perform gymnastics in the school hall in vest and pants. And then there was the regular visit of the medical specialist known as the Nit Nurse…

Josiah Child’s War
Also known as the Anglo-Mughal War, Josiah Child’s War ended in a crushing, humiliating defeat for the East India Company, of which Child was governor.

Warbirds and War Balloons: Operation Outward
Taking a page out of Churchill’s “ungentlemanly warfare” strategy, Operation Outward weaponised the unpredictability of barrage balloons, armed with incendiary devices and trailing wires, let loose and floating over occupied Europe, causing havoc wherever they went…

Helen Gloag, Sultan’s Wife
The extraordinary life of Helen Gloag, dubbed “Empress of Morocco”, a Scottish blacksmith’s daughter who became a Sultan’s wife.

Captain Lawrence Oates
Captain Lawrence Oates, Antarctic explorer, was one of the five men in Scott’s fateful expedition to the South Pole. Suffering with gangrene and frostbite, in an attempt to save the others and in an act of supreme self sacrifice, he walked from the tent into a blizzard and certain death: “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
A very gallant gentleman.