Military history

It’s 94 years since Britain first came to a standstill in honour of the dead of the First World War. Fiona Reid analyses how the way we commemorate the war has changed since that first Remembrance Day.

When Britain’s war effort was threatened by a shortage of shells, the government exhorted schoolchildren across the country to go on the hunt for horse chestnuts. Saul David, who fronts the current BBC Four series Bullets, Boots And Bandages: How To Really Win A War, explains why

Spain’s army rose up against its left-wing Republican government in July 1936. The civil war that ensued is often viewed as a precursor to the Second World War for the way it sucked in the wider international community. In July 2006, best-selling military historian Antony Beevor talked to David Musgrove about the conflict

Sent from loved ones at home to the frontline troops, food packages at Christmas were packed with something extra for the festive period. Christmas boxes were saturated with treats so that Christmas dinner could be an occasion when the disappointments of military rations were forgotten.