14 AUGUST

BRITISH GENERAL – ‘MY WISH WAS TO EXCITE TERROR’ [ 27 May 1798 ] On 27 May 1798, Major General John Moore, having been given orders to quell any sign of anti-British rebellion in the County of Cork in Ireland, reflected in his diary on his frustration over the reluctance of the locals to collaborate. …

DISBELIEF AMONG TROOPS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE TO DIE FOR FALKLAND ISLANDS [ 1 May 1982 ] Labour MP Tony Benn published a letter, although withholding the name, from the fiancee of a marine on the British task force which had been sent to seize the remote Falkland Islands, with a tiny population of some…

BRITISH ARMY MURDERS “EVERY NATIVE THAT APPEARED IN SIGHT.” [ 11 June 1857 ] On this day in 1857, Colonel James Neill, who had been ordered to crush the slightest sign of support for the Indian mutiny, seized the city of Allahabad. In the two days which followed he implemented a reign of terror, unprecedented…

MODERATE MINISTER PRAISES BRITISH REPRISALS AGAINST IRISH CIVILIANS. [ 31 October 1920 ] On this day in 1920  Austen Chamberlain, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer who was considered a dovish moderate on the issue of Ireland, wrote to his sister reminding her of the positive impact of brutal acts of British retribution against Irish civilians.  It…

BRITISH BOMBARD CANTON TO ENSURE SAFE PASSAGE FOR THE OPIUM TRADE [ 28 December 1857 ] On this day, twenty five British and French gunboats commenced a bombardment of the Chinese port city of Canton, after a British flagged ship had been detained by local officials. Although the registration of the ship had lapsed, Britain…