The History Chap Podcast

Send me a messageThe story of Alfred before he was great.The Viking invasion of Wessex during the winter of  870/871 - 6 great battles - and the rise of a king who would save England.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

13/08/2026 • 20:38

Send me a messageThe 1964 film, "Zulu" saw Michael Caine's debut on the big screen.He played Lt. Gonville Bromhead, one of the 11 men awarded the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, fought in the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879.But how close was Caine's character to the real Lt. Bromhead?Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

06/08/2026 • 16:35

Send me a messageWilliam Bligh is remembered as history's most notorious villain — the tyrant of the Bounty, the captain whose cruelty drove his men to mutiny. But the real story is stranger, and far more remarkable, than Hollywood ever told you.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

30/07/2026 • 20:34

Send me a messageThe 200-Year Old History of The Argentinian - British dispute over ownership of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas).Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

23/07/2026 • 19:34

Send me a messageThe real historical events that inspired the story: Last of the Mohicans.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

19/07/2026 • 18:26

Send me a messageIn the 1964 film Zulu, Stanley Baker's Lieutenant Chard delivers one of cinema's most quietly memorable lines: "I came up here to build a bridge." This is the real story of Lieutenant John Rouse Merriott Chard VC, officer in command at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879— possibly, the most reluctant and unlikely hero of one of the most celebrated last stands in British military history.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

09/07/2026 • 17:28

Send me a messageJanuary 1809. A British Army of over 20,000 men is trapped by the French in north west Spain.This is the story of a forgotten Scottish General, Sir John Moore, who successfully evacuated his entire army, but at the cost of his life at the battle of Corunna.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

03/07/2026 • 25:07

Send me a messageJust after midnight on the 22nd October 1904, Russian warships opened fire on British fishing trawlers in the North Sea.Why?Because, as they sailed towards the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War,  they thought that they were Japanese torpedo boats.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

25/06/2026 • 18:39

Send me a messageBritain's most famous explorer, David Livingstone, is buried in Westminster Abbey, but why was he buried without his heart?Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

18/06/2026 • 18:55

Send me a messageCharles "Chinese" Gordon, one of the great Victorian British military heroes, famously killed defending Khartoum against the Mahdi.But, how did he get the nickname "Chinese" Gordon? This is the story of his forgotten war in China, and the legendary Ever Victorious Army he led against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.In the 1860s, Qing China was tearing itself apart. The Taiping Rebellion — one of the deadliest conflicts in human history — which cost over 20 million lives.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

12/06/2026 • 20:38

Send me a messageThe execution of Harry "Breaker" Morant for the shooting of unarmed prisoners during the Anglo Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902) continues to stir emotions and debate.Not just about whether he and his comrades were scapegoats or treated with double standards but whether claiming to be following orders is a justifiable defence in military operations.Get my Free weekly newsletterChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

06/06/2026 • 26:09

Send me a messageWhilst the films about "The Four Feathers" are ripping yarns from the age of the British Empire, the real life white feathers handed out to supposed cowards in WW1 had a devastating effect.Get my Free weekly newsletterChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

28/05/2026 • 21:36

Send me a messageIn the classic war film "Zulu", Private Fred Hitch is called a "slovenly soldier".He nevertheless goes on to be awarded the Victoria Cross at the battle of Rorke's Drift.But the story about what happened to him afterwards, as an invalid veteran in Victorian Britain that is every bit as fascinating, working for the world's oldest security company, losing his VC, accused of theft and becoming a London cabbie.A story of what happened to Victorian soldiers when then entered civvy street.Get my Free weekly newsletterChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

21/05/2026 • 14:02

Send me a messageThe forgotten Victorian scandal behind Britain's favourite poem - Rudyard Kipling's "If-".Get my Free weekly newsletterChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

15/05/2026 • 17:20

Send me a messageIn 1842, the man who coined the phrase "The Great Game" was executed whilst playing it in a remote city in central Asia.Get my Free weekly newsletterChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

07/05/2026 • 27:10

Send me a messageGet my Free weekly newsletterHow Winston Churchill's recommendation for a Victoria Cross, during the Anglo-Boer War, was blocked by Lord Kitchener.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Support My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeSupport the show

29/04/2026 • 14:38

Send me a messageAugust 1900. Five hundred colonial troops. Two thousand Boer fighters. Thirteen days of siege — and a refusal to surrender that changed how the world understood the ANZAC spirit.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Stories like this one — the ones that should be famous but never quite made the textbooks — are exactly what I write about in my free weekly newsletter. Join 1,500 readers here:Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeorSupport the show

15/04/2026 • 23:10

Send me a messageIn the summer of 1794, Horatio Nelson lost the sight in his right eye on a small Mediterranean island. That island was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. And for two years — it was British.This is the story of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom 1794-1796.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Get my Free weekly newsletterSupport My Work - Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeorSupport the show

09/04/2026 • 16:14

Send me a messageIn January 1842, a British-led force marched out of Kabul and into one of the most devastating episodes in British military history. Make A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeorSupport the show

26/03/2026 • 25:37

Send me a messageLasting just 38 minutes, the Anglo-Zanzibar War in 1896, is regarded as the shortest war in history.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A Donation - Buy Me A CoffeeOn the morning of 27 August 1896, the British Empire fought what is widely regarded as the shortest war in history.In the space of just 38 minutes, a crisis in the island sultanate of Zanzibar escalated into a dramatic naval bombardment that destroyed the Sultan’s palace, sank the royal yacht, and forced a regime change.But how did a war start so suddenly… and end so quickly?In this episode of The History Chap, we explore the extraordinary story of the Anglo-Zanzibar War — a forgotten episode of imperial history that unfolded on the East African coast at the height of Britain’s global power.Support the show

18/03/2026 • 17:04

Send me a messageThe Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia are at the centre of one of the most controversial territorial disputes involving Britain, Mauritius, and the United States.In this podcast episode, The History Chap (Chris Green) explores the history of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the removal of the Chagossian people, and the strategic importance of the American military base on Diego Garcia.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationSupport the show

11/03/2026 • 14:04

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.The story of Philip Neame, the only man to be awarded both the Victoria Cross and an Olympic gold medal.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationOther episodes that you might enjoy:Adrian Carton de Wairt - the Soldier they couldn't killWilliam Coltman - Britain's Version of Hacksaw Ridge He won the Victoria Cross in the trenches of the First World War. He won Olympic gold at the 1924 Paris Games. To this day, no one else has ever achieved both. This is the extraordinary story of Sir Philip Neame VC — soldier, sportsman, prisoner of war, and member of one of Kent's most famous brewing families.Born near Faversham in 1888, Philip Neame grew up in the family behind Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer. Educated at Cheltenham College, he trained at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. When war broke out in 1914, he was serving at Gibraltar but was quickly recalled to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Within weeks of arriving in France, the young sapper found himself in the thick of fighting at Neuve Chapelle, where a desperate situation with faulty grenades and improvised fuses led to an astonishing act of bravery that earned him the Victoria Cross — one of 628 awarded during the entire war. He was just 26 years old.Neame served throughout the First World War, was awarded the DSO, mentioned in dispatches ten times, and in 1920 was among the 75 VC holders who formed the guard of honour at the burial of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey. But his story was only getting started. At the 1924 Paris Olympics — the games immortalised in Chariots of Fire — Neame was part of the British shooting team that won gold in the Running Deer Double Shot event, beating Norway by a single point in a dramatic finale.It was a triumph largely forgotten in the shadow of Abrahams and Liddell, yet Neame's unique double of Victoria Cross and Olympic gold has never been matched in the century since.Transferring to the Indian Army, Neame survived being mauled by a tiger, married the nurse who saved him, and returned to Woolwich as its last ever Commandant before the Second World War intervened. Sent to North Africa as a lieutenant general, he was captured during Rommel's first offensive in Libya alongside fellow general Richard O'Connor — making them among the most senior British officers taken prisoner in the entire war. Held at the Castello di Vincigliata near Florence, a medieval fortress turned special POW camp, Neame used his engineering skills to design the escape tunnel through which two New Zealand brigadiers made it all the way to Switzerland. He himself escaped in September 1943 during the chaos of the Italian Armistice, eventually reaching Allied lines and meeting Churchill in North Africa before arriving home on Christmas Day.Support the show

04/03/2026 • 17:49

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Flogging was the principle punishment in the British Army for nearly 200 years.Even the Duke of Wellington was a supporter.So how harsh was it? And, why (and when) did it end?Listen to my episode about the Officer Purchase System.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationFor nearly 200 years, flogging was the disciplinary backbone of the British Army. From the passage of the Mutiny Act in 1689 to its abolition in 1881, corporal punishment shaped the experience of every soldier who wore the redcoat. The men who fought at Blenheim under Marlborough, who held the line at Waterloo under the Duke of Wellington, who endured the Peninsular and Crimean Wars, who fought in the American Revolutionary War — all were products of a system in which the lash was the primary instrument of military discipline.Fans of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles will know this world. Richard Sharpe was sentenced to 2,000 lashes; Sergeant Harper bore the scars of sixty he didn't deserve. Cornwell wasn't exaggerating. During the Napoleonic Wars, British Army courts martial routinely handed down sentences of 500 lashes — and a thousand was not unheard of. Offences ranged from desertion and mutiny to the breathtakingly trivial: being deficient of a razor earned 200 lashes; improper use of barrack bedding, 400.In this video, I trace the full story of flogging in the British Army. It begins with a legal rabbit hole — the Mutiny Act of 1689, passed after the Royal Scots mutinied at Ipswich and the government discovered it had no legal power to punish them. From there, I explore the brutal mechanics of the punishment itself: the cat o' nine tails, the regimental ceremony, the drummers and farriers who delivered the lashes, and the men who endured them.I cover the key turning points — the scandal of Private Frederick White's death at Hounslow in 1846, the Duke of Wellington's response as Commander-in-Chief, and the long parliamentary campaign that finally ended with abolition under the Childers Reforms of 1881. Despite Private Hook being warned in the film "Zulu" that stealing Dr Witt's brandy was a flogging offence, by the time of Rorke's Drift the practice was already dying. But the story doesn't end in 1881. Corporal punishment continued in military prisons until 1907, and the replacement — Field Punishment Number One, which soldiers called "crucifixion" — wasn't abolished until 1923.Support the show

25/02/2026 • 18:43

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Did you know that the actor behind the much loved comedy character, Uncle Albert ("Only Fools and Horses") actually did serve in World War 2?This is his real story.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationSupport the show

21/02/2026 • 17:55

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.What was the inspiration behind the Royal Navy's legendary field gun competition?Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationMany of you may recall the Royal Tournament at Earl’s Court in London. The world’s premier military tattoo and pageant that was held for over 100 years until 1999. You may also recall the highlight of the event,  Royal Navy’s Command Field Gun Competition.Two teams of 18 men hauling a 12 pound gun and limber (weighing something like 1200 pounds) along a 225 yard course that included obstacles such as a 5 foot high wall and a 28 foot chasm, all  in under 3 minutes. It was not for the feint hearted - not only was it gruelling race but men were seriously injured too.But, where did the idea of this incredible feat of strength, stamina and teamwork come from?This is the story of the Naval Brigade during the second Anglo-Boer war in South Africa 1899-1902.Support the show

17/02/2026 • 17:02

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.The Bloodies European Battle in the 18th Century - Malplaquet 1709.The Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French and the one that led to his downfall.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationOther episodes in this series:The Battle of Blenheim 1704The Battle of Ramillies 1706The Battle of Oudenarde 1708You might also be interested in this book, that I used extensively during my research for this series."Marlborough: Britain's Greatest General" by Richard Holmes(This is my Amazon affiliate link)The Battle of Malplaquet, fought on the 11th September 1709 was the Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French. It was also the bloodiest European battle of the whole 18th century.Between 30,000 - 40,000 men were killed or wounded in just one day.Despite, been forced from the field by the comined allied army consisting of Dutch, German, Austrian, Danish and British soldiers, , the French were able to keep their army intact, ready to fight another day - their (sort of) Dunkirk moment.That French escape, along with his heavy losses, was the beginning of the end for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Within two years, arguably the greatest military commander in British history, was sacked. Despite it being a tactical victory, malplaquet was a pyrrhic victory for Marlborough and his allied army.The Allies  lost nearly 21,000 men killed or wounded (almost a quarter of their army).The Dutch alone had lost over 8,000 men, whilst the British had lost nearly 1,800.The French army, on the other hand had suffered somewhere between 11,000 - 14,000 casualties.Support the show

11/02/2026 • 23:24

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.The Battle of Oudenarde 1708, Marlborough's Forgotten Battle.The book I mentioned, and used as part of my research:"Marlborough: Britain's Greatest General" by Richard Holmes(This is my Amazon affiliate link)Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A Donation"The Devil Must Have Brought Them" - The Battle of Oudenarde, 1708When French general Vendôme learned that Marlborough's army had appeared on the banks of the River Scheldt, he was incredulous: "The Devil must have brought them!" The Duke had marched 60 miles in just 72 hours to catch the French completely off guard.The Battle of Oudenarde, fought on 11 July 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession, was the Duke of Marlborough's third great victory over the French - yet it remains probably his most forgotten. This video explores how Marlborough's lightning advance wrong-footed two quarrelling French commanders, how a future King of Great Britain had his horse shot from under him in the opening clash, and how French Huguenot officers tricked enemy stragglers into captivity by shouting regimental rallying cries in the gathering darkness.It is also a battle gifted by French dysfunction. Marshal Vendôme fought so furiously in the front line that he lost all command of his army, whilst his co-commander the Duke of Burgundy sat motionless with 60 battalions, refusing to attack. Watching from Burgundy's staff was the 20-year-old Old Pretender, James Stuart - serving incognito as the "Chevalier de St George" against the countrymen he claimed as subjects.Among the British regiments were veterans of Blenheim and Ramillies including the Royal Welch Fusiliers, the Grenadier Guards and the Cameronians - battle-hardened redcoats who helped Marlborough encircle 50,000 Frenchmen in what one survivor called a "vast horseshoe of flame."Support the show

05/02/2026 • 25:42

Send me a messageHMS Peterel: The Royal Navy's Defiant Last Stand at Shanghai, 1941Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationHours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a small Royal Navy gunboat faced impossible odds in Shanghai. When Japanese officers boarded HMS Peterel demanding surrender, her captain - 62-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Polkinghorn - gave them a defiant reply: "Get off my bloody ship!"What followed was a one-sided battle against the armoured cruiser Izumo and shore batteries. With her main guns deliberately disabled, Peterel's crew fought back with Lewis guns and small arms. She became the first British warship sunk by the Japanese in the Second World War - but she went down fighting, White Ensign still flying.This video explores why British and American gunboats were in Shanghai, the strange "Solitary Island" existence of the International Settlement surrounded by Japanese forces since 1937, and the dramatic events of 8 December 1941. It also reveals the remarkable story of CPO James Cuming, who evaded capture and spent the entire war as a spy in occupied Shanghai.Support the show

29/01/2026 • 24:57

Send me a messageThe real Blackadder who fought at the Battle of Blenheim, 1704.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationSign up to my NewsletterLong before Rowan Atkinson's comic creation, a real Blackadder was fighting in some of the bloodiest battles in British military history. Lieutenant-Colonel John Blackadder was a Scottish soldier who served under the Duke of Marlborough and fought at the Battle of Blenheim—where he nearly died from a musket ball to the throat.Born in 1664 to a firebrand Covenanter preacher who died imprisoned on the Bass Rock, John Blackadder joined the newly-raised Cameronians in 1689. This distinctively religious Scottish regiment—nicknamed the "Psalm-singing Regiment"—would become his military home for over two decades. His first taste of battle came at Dunkeld, where 800 Cameronians held off more than 3,000 Jacobite Highlanders.During the Nine Years War, Blackadder fought at Steenkirk, Landen and the Siege of Namur. But his career was nearly derailed when he killed a fellow officer in a duel at Maastricht—an act that haunted this devout Presbyterian for the rest of his life.The War of the Spanish Succession brought Blackadder to Marlborough's greatest victories. He survived Schellenberg, was wounded at Blenheim, served at Ramillies, and was hit twice more at the Siege of Lille. At the catastrophic Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, Marlborough personally promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel on the battlefield when his commanding officer fell wounded.After retiring in 1711, Blackadder returned to service during the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, commanding the Glasgow Volunteer Regiment. He ended his days as Deputy-Governor of Stirling Castle, and his diaries—published in 1824—remain an invaluable account of early 18th-century military life.Timeline of John Blackadder's Life:1664: Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland1689: Joins the Cameronians; fights at Battle of Dunkeld1691: Kills Lieutenant Robert Murray in a duel at Maastricht1693: Promoted to Captain1704: Fights at Schellenberg and Blenheim (wounded)1705: Promoted to Major1706: Present at Battle of Ramillies1708: Wounded twice at Siege of Lille1709: Battlefield promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel at Malplaquet1711: Sells commission and retires1715: Commands Glasgow Volunteer Regiment during Jacobite rebellion1729: Dies aged 64; buried in StirlingSupport the show

22/01/2026 • 14:18

Send me a messageFought in 1706, the Battle of Ramillies is arguably the Duke of Marlborough's greatest victory.Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationSign Up To My NewsletterSupport the show

21/01/2026 • 26:24