Today is the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, June 18th 1815, one of the most significant days in British and indeed, world history. On this day Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, Britain’s finest soldier since the Duke of Marlborough, faced the French army led by the military genius  Napoleon Bonaparte in what would effectively decide the future of Europe.

As we all know, Wellington, aided by the late arrival on the field of battle by the Prussians under Marshall Blucher, defeated the French ending, once and for all, the threat of Napoleon. It was a closely fought battle and but for the courage and skill under pressure of the unflappable and ever-cool Wellington, the bravery of his troops and some uncharacteristic indecisiveness by Napoleon things could have turned out rather differently. Indeed, Wellington himself referred to his victory as “the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life”.

For Britain, the victory meant the removal of the threat of invasion and for the next 100 years she lived in prosperity and for the main part in peace (an era known as “Pax Britannica”) free to develop the greatest empire the world had ever seen. I wonder how many of our schoolchildren know of this day and, for that matter, how many of their teachers?