Poignant photos of German boys who look like boy scouts being sent to fight in the latter stages of the war.

2/3 June 1653 - The Battle of The Gabbard.

A two day naval battle between the English and the Dutch in the First Dutch War and one of England's greatest victories over our most prominent 17th century trade rival.

The first Dutch War began in 1652 with every battle until peace was signed two years later being fought at sea. After a series of inconclusive engagements the two fleets met in the North Sea on 2 June, the English with 100 ships under General-at-Sea George Monck against the Dutch with 98 led by Admiral Maarten Tromp. 

Tromp attacked first but came off worst against a spirited English defence losing three ships sunk. The following day the English were reinforced by the arrival of further ships, but Tromp again led an attack. This time he suffered far more losses with as many as six more sunk and eleven captured. The English lost no ships but Monck's second-in-command General Deane was killed.

The English now controlled the Channel and the North Sea and imposed a strict blockade on the Dutch thus crippling their economy.     

Poignant photos of German boys who look like boy scouts being sent to fight in the latter stages of the war.

The recent Pope Bennie was in the Hitler Youth while growing up in Nazi Germany. After that was reported, he likened it to the boy scouts. 

Is this where I come in with a Trump/MAGA analogy?

Is this where I come in with a Trump/MAGA analogy?

Not unless you want any vestige of credibility you have accumulated flushed down the bog.

I'll risk it, I won't be the first here to talk nonsense as perceived by others. 

3 June 1098 - The Crusaders capture Antioch.

The first major city to be taken by the soldiers of the First Crusade as they advanced south towards their ultimate goal of Jerusalem. 

40,000 Crusaders led by Bohemond, Prince of Taranto arrived outside Antioch in October 1097 end opened the siege. Within was a garrison of 6000 Seljuk Turks under the Governor of Antioch Yaghi-Siyan. Food shortages severely restricted the Crusaders over the winter 1097/98 who were also subject to armed sallies from the city. Nevertheless the siege continued well into the following year, then in May news of the approach of a huge relief army forced Bohemond into decisive action. With the aid of a traitor within the walls the Crusaders were able to climb ladders into the Tower of the Two Sisters and open a gate on the evening of 2/3 June. By the end of the day Antioch had fallen and Yaghi-Siyan was dead. 

Two days later the relief army arrived and the new rulers of the city found themselves under siege which they resisted for three weeks before driving the attackers away. Bohemond was proclaimed Prince of Antioch thus establishing the second of the four Christian Kingdoms in the Holy Land.    

4 June 1859 - The Battle of Magenta.

The first large scale battle in Europe after Waterloo 44 years earlier. Fought during the 2nd War of Italian Independence between the French and Austrians, the Sardinians on whose behalf the French were fighting, played no part in the battle arriving after it was over.

The French Emperor Napoleon III supported the Kingdom of Sardinia in driving the Austrians out of northern Italy in return for the the territories of Nice and Savoy. War was declared by Austria in April followed by France joining in in May.

A French army of over 51,000 under Marshal MacMahon crossed the border of Piedmont, the Kingdom of Sardinia's mainland province, into the Austrian Alpine province of Lombardy at the beginning of June to find the Austrians 61,000 strong under Count Ferenc Gyulay waiting for him at Magenta. The initial plan was to wait for the arrival of thousands of Sardinians before launching an attack, but with no sign of them MacMahon went ahead with an assault. 

In a hard fought battle which ebbed and flowed the French eventually prevailed driving the Austrians away allowing the victorious Napoleon, who had witnessed the battle, along with the late-comer King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia to enter the Lombardian capital of Milan a few days later.   

MacMahon was created Prince of Magenta after the battle while the Austrian commander Gyulay resigned his command. The colour magenta first developed in France that year is named after the battle. 

4 June 1859 - The Battle of Magenta.

The first large scale battle in Europe after Waterloo 44 years earlier. Fought during the 2nd War of Italian Independence between the French and Austrians, the Sardinians on whose behalf the French were fighting, played no part in the battle arriving after it was over.

The French Emperor Napoleon III supported the Kingdom of Sardinia in driving the Austrians out of northern Italy in return for the the territories of Nice and Savoy. War was declared by Austria in April followed by France joining in in May.

A French army of over 51,000 under Marshal MacMahon crossed the border of Piedmont, the Kingdom of Sardinia's mainland province, into the Austrian Alpine province of Lombardy at the beginning of June to find the Austrians 61,000 strong under Count Ferenc Gyulay waiting for him at Magenta. The initial plan was to wait for the arrival of thousands of Sardinians before launching an attack, but with no sign of them MacMahon went ahead with an assault. 

In a hard fought battle which ebbed and flowed the French eventually prevailed driving the Austrians away allowing the victorious Napoleon, who had witnessed the battle, along with the late-comer King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia to enter the Lombardian capital of Milan a few days later.   

MacMahon was created Prince of Magenta after the battle while the Austrian commander Gyulay resigned his command. The colour magenta first developed in France that year is named after the battle. 

It is said the purple is the color of royalty. Magenta is close, & good enough for a prince, eh?

Practice, practice, practice. No wonder you are so good at it. 

The early 1920s was the high point if you include the former Turkish and German territories/colonies Mandated to GB by the League of Nations.  

5 June 1646 - The Battle of Benburb.

In 1641 a serious rebellion against English and Scottish settlers erupted in Ulster, northern Ireland. As a result both nations, especially the Scots, sent troops to Ireland. By 1646 the only body of rebels yet to be subdued were the 5000 men led by Owen Roe O'Neill. The Scottish commander Robert Monro advanced against them with 6000 men. 

O'Neill usually avoided a pitched battle but he had recently been reinforced with arms from the Pope and was confident enough to take on Monro at Benburb. He achieved an overwhelming victory losing 300 men to the Scots 3000 killed and wounded. 

The battle had far reaching consequences in England where King Charles had surrendered just a month before, but where a number of garrisons were holding out for reinforcements from Ireland. The rebel victory ended all hope of aid from that quarter. 

They never even tried. They had a commercial relationship, nothing more.

6 June 1813 - The Battle of Stoney Creek.

In April 1813 the Americans captured and burned York the capital of British Upper Canada and a month later captured Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara river. With another fort abandoned, Fort Erie the British were on the verge of collapse in Upper Canada. However a respite came through the failure of the Americans to move on the retreating British who attacked the American camp of 3500 men with a force of just 700 on the morning of 6 June.

The American camp was overwhelmed after fierce fighting, in fact British casualties were higher than the Americans with 23 dead and 52 captured to 17 dead but 100 taken prisoner. The result was an American retreat to Fort George and no further attempts to advance into Upper Canada which they abandoned entirely in December.      

The two US commanders at Stoney Creek, Brig-Gens Winder and Chandler, were both captured apparently after wandering into the British lines thinking it was their own. The British commander Gen. Vincent fared little better, he was thrown from his horse and injured, he was found wandering in a daze several miles away hatless and unarmed. 

7 June 1557 - England declares war on France.

In July 1554 the 38 year old Mary I, Queen of England married 27 year old Philip of Spain, heir to the Spanish Throne. They were married in England, a month later he returned to Spain, the political union achieved. 

Two years later Philip was King of Spain following his father's abdication and at war with France. Seeking allies he returned to England and his wife in March 1557, she was overjoyed, he was looking for a declaration of war. However Parliament would not grant the funds for a war despite Mary's pleas on behalf of her husband. However an incident in April changed their minds.

An exiled Protestant nobleman Edward Stafford sailed from France with 40 men and landed at Scarborough on England's Yorkshire coast. They quickly occupied the undefended castle and proclaimed a Protestant uprising against the Catholic Mary and her Spanish husband. No-one answered his call and three days later he surrendered, within a month he and most of his followers were executed.

The incident was enough for Parliament to accede to Mary's and Philip's demands by declaring war on France on 7 June. The war would prove disastrous for England losing our last possession on mainland Europe, Calais in January 1558.