In the autumn of 1914, British soldiers fought alongside the Japanese in China. Their goal was the German naval base at Tsingtao, which finally fell in November after a two-month siege.
Several objects from our collection reveal a remarkable tale of self-sacrifice and steadfast military discipline during one of the 19th century’s most infamous maritime disasters.
Thomas Davies' watercolour, ‘An East View of the Great Cataract of Niagara’ (1762), documents the struggle for control of North America and illuminates the history of British exploration and science.
Field Marshal William Slim led the Fourteenth Army in Burma during the Second World War. Despite inheriting a disastrous situation, he restored his men's morale and led them to victory against the Japanese.
A courageous, resourceful and ruthless military commander, Major-General Robert Clive helped secure India for Britain. But he was also seen as a greedy speculator who used his political and military influence to amass a fortune.
Between 1945 and 1956, British soldiers garrisoned bases on the Suez Canal in Egypt. A harsh climate, disease and attacks by local nationalists made Suez one of the most unpopular Army postings.
Major-General James Wolfe was one of Britain’s most celebrated military heroes. But his death at the moment of his greatest victory at Quebec in 1759 earned him a reputation as a patriotic martyr.
The Aden Emergency (1963-67) was an insurgency against British rule in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. The unrest hastened British plans for withdrawal and marked the end of 20 years of decolonisation.
The war against Iraq in 1990-91 saw the largest single deployment of British troops since the Second World War. Altogether, about 35,000 British servicemen and women served in the campaign.
Fought in September 1918, this was the climactic battle of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War. Ottoman forces found themselves encircled by British Empire forces under General Edmund Allenby.
Fought in April 1951 during the Korean War, the Battle of the Imjin was the bloodiest engagement endured by the British Army since the Second World War.
Isaac Crichlow analyses court martial records from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to reveal the experiences of soldiers in the West India Regiments.
