1900s

Aden Emergency

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.

British infantry vehicles advancing, Iraq, 1991

Gulf War

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.

Second Battle of El Alamein

Fought in October-November 1942, this was the climax and turning point of the North African campaign of the Second World War. The armies of Italy and Germany suffered a decisive defeat by the British Eighth Army.

9th Hodson's Horse in General Chauvel's march through Damascus, 1918

Battle of Megiddo

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.

A 25-pounder of 45 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, fires at enemy positions on the Imjin, 1951

Battle of the Imjin River

Fought in April 1951 in Korea, this was the bloodiest engagement endured by the British Army since the Second World War. For three days, the 29th British Independent Infantry Brigade Group thwarted massed Chinese attacks.

Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos took place on the Western Front in September-October 1915. At the time, it was the largest British offensive of the First World War.

Mark I tank C19 in Chimpanzee Valley during the Battle of Flers Courcelette, 1916

Attack of the tanks

In September 1916, the face of battle changed forever. On an unsuspecting enemy, Britain unleashed its new secret weapon - the tank.

Battle of Passchendaele

In July 1917, the British and French launched a massive offensive near the Belgian city of Ypres. The bitter struggle that followed came to symbolize the horrors of trench warfare.

Units of the Dutch Brigade moving up to the attack, 1944

Victory in Europe

During 1944-45, the Allies endured months of fighting against a determined enemy. This bloody struggle eventually ended in the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

A Jewish refugee ship in Palestine, 1947

The British Army in Palestine

In the 1940s, the British Army found itself stuck in the middle of a growing conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine. The momentous events that followed led to the creation of the State of Israel.

German soldiers raise the swastika at the Acropolis, Athens, April 1941

War in the Balkans

In 1941, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. British and Commonwealth intervention and evacuation followed, before a vicious partisan conflict broke out.

Home Front

Following the fall of France in the summer of 1940, Britain was faced with the threat of invasion. Soldiers played a vital role in defending the shores and skies.

Explore 1900s events

Secondary

1 Jun 2024 - 18 Jul 2025 FREE

Recruitment and conscription

Analyse recruitment posters from the Museum's collection and multimedia recreations of First World War parliamentary debates to explore the history of Army recruitment and conscription.

A British medical orderly treats a wounded German soldier, c1916

Secondary

1 Jun 2024 - 18 Jul 2025 FREE

Trench medicine: Illnesses, injuries and their treatment (virtual)

Explore artefacts and sources on the causes and treatment of injuries and illnesses on the Western Front during the First World War, and assess the impact of these innovations.

Your Country Needs You! Propaganda and recruitment

Primary

1 Jun 2024 - 18 Jul 2025 FREE

Your Country Needs You! Propaganda and recruitment

Explore how advertising and propaganda work, particularly focusing on recruitment campaigns of the First World War.

School students getting to grips with the handling collection

Secondary

1 Jun 2024 - 18 Jul 2025 FREE

Trench medicine: Illnesses, injuries and their treatment

Explore artefacts and sources on the causes and treatment of injuries and illnesses on the Western Front during the First World War, and assess the impact of these innovations.