What is the most important battle in British history?

There is no single answer, but Hastings in 1066, Trafalgar in 1805, Waterloo in 1815 and the Battle of Britain in 1940 are the most common choices, each a turning point for the nation.

Did Britain win every battle on this list?

No. Hastings in 1066 was a defeat for Anglo-Saxon England, and Bannockburn in 1314 was a defeat for the English crown at the hands of Robert the Bruce; both are included because they were decisive for the islands' history.

What was the Battle of Britain?

It was the air campaign of 1940 in which the RAF held off the German Luftwaffe over southern England, denying Germany the air superiority it needed for an invasion.

Which British battle had the most casualties?

The Somme in 1916 was by far the costliest, with around a million casualties on all sides over four and a half months, including some 57,000 British casualties on the first day alone.

Where can I read about the commanders?

Each battle links to its full story, and the guide to the greatest British commanders collects the generals and admirals, from Henry V and Nelson to Wellington and Montgomery.

The Greatest Battles in British History

Q: What was the most important British naval battle?

Trafalgar in 1805, where Nelson's fleet destroyed the combined French and Spanish fleet and secured British command of the seas for a century, though Nelson was killed in the battle.

Britain's story has been forged on battlefields at home and around the world, some triumphs, some disasters, each one a turning point. These are the battles that shaped the island and its place in the world, from the Norman conquest of 1066 to the skies over southern England in 1940, victories and defeats alike, each linked to its full story.

Hastings, 1066. William of Normandy's victory over King Harold that ended Anglo-Saxon England and began Norman rule.

Embroidered scene of Norman horsemen and falling English soldiers beneath a Latin inscription — The death of King Harold at Hastings in 1066, scene 57 of the Bayeux Tapestry, embroidered in the 1070s. The Latin reads: here King Harold is slain. Public domain

Bannockburn, 1314. Robert the Bruce's decisive defeat of an English army that secured Scottish independence.

Crecy, 1346. An English longbow army's crushing victory over France early in the Hundred Years' War.

Agincourt, 1415. Henry V's outnumbered army destroyed the French in the mud, one of the most famous victories of the Middle Ages.

Trafalgar, 1805. Nelson shattered the combined French and Spanish fleet and secured British command of the seas, though he fell in the battle.

Painting of battered sailing warships in smoke with sailors in the water — J. M. W. Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar, painted in 1822 to 1824, combines several moments of the battle around Nelson's flagship HMS Victory. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Public domain

Waterloo, 1815. Wellington and the Prussians under Blucher ended Napoleon for good on a muddy ridge in Belgium.

The Somme, 1916. A vast and costly British and French offensive, remembered above all for its catastrophic first day.

The Battle of Britain, 1940. The RAF's defence of Britain's skies that denied Germany the air superiority it needed to invade.

Black and white photograph of Spitfire fighters flying in formation — Spitfire Mark I fighters of No. 610 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, flying in vic formation on 24 July 1940, during the Battle of Britain. RAF official photograph. Public domain

El Alamein, 1942. Montgomery's decisive desert victory over Rommel that turned the war in North Africa.

Normandy, 1944. The D-Day landings and the campaign that opened the Western Front against Nazi Germany.

Map of the English Channel and Normandy with Allied invasion routes and German units — Allied invasion plan and German dispositions in northwestern France on 6 June 1944, with the British and American assault forces crossing the Channel. US Military Academy atlas. Public domain

Victories and defeats that made a nation

Not every battle here was a British victory. Hastings was a catastrophe for Anglo-Saxon England, and Bannockburn a humiliation for an English king, yet both shaped the islands as surely as the great triumphs. From the longbow victories of Crecy and Agincourt to Nelson at Trafalgar and Wellington at Waterloo, Britain's rise was written on the battlefield.

The twentieth century brought war on a new scale, from the trenches of the Somme to the fighter squadrons of the Battle of Britain and the beaches of Normandy. Meet the men who led them in the greatest British commanders.

The Greatest Battles in British History

Victories and defeats that made a nation

Frequently asked questions

Relive Britain's greatest battles