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The Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia are at the centre of one of the most controversial territorial disputes involving Britain, Mauritius, and the United States.

In this podcast episode, The History Chap (Chris Green) explores the history of the British Indian Ocean Territory, the removal of the Chagossian people, and the strategic importance of the American military base on Diego Garcia.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

The story of Philip Neame, the only man to be awarded both the Victoria Cross and an Olympic gold medal.

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Other episodes that you might enjoy:

Adrian Carton de Wairt - the Soldier they couldn't kill

William Coltman - Britain's Version of Hacksaw Ridge 

He won the Victoria Cross in the trenches of the First World War. 
He won Olympic gold at the 1924 Paris Games. 

To this day, no one else has ever achieved both. 

This is the extraordinary story of Sir Philip Neame VC — soldier, sportsman, prisoner of war, and member of one of Kent's most famous brewing families.

Born near Faversham in 1888, Philip Neame grew up in the family behind Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer. 

Educated at Cheltenham College, he trained at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. When war broke out in 1914, he was serving at Gibraltar but was quickly recalled to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Within weeks of arriving in France, the young sapper found himself in the thick of fighting at Neuve Chapelle, where a desperate situation with faulty grenades and improvised fuses led to an astonishing act of bravery that earned him the Victoria Cross — one of 628 awarded during the entire war. 
He was just 26 years old.

Neame served throughout the First World War, was awarded the DSO, mentioned in dispatches ten times, and in 1920 was among the 75 VC holders who formed the guard of honour at the burial of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey. 

But his story was only getting started. At the 1924 Paris Olympics — the games immortalised in Chariots of Fire — Neame was part of the British shooting team that won gold in the Running Deer Double Shot event, beating Norway by a single point in a dramatic finale.

It was a triumph largely forgotten in the shadow of Abrahams and Liddell, yet Neame's unique double of Victoria Cross and Olympic gold has never been matched in the century since.

Transferring to the Indian Army, Neame survived being mauled by a tiger, married the nurse who saved him, and returned to Woolwich as its last ever Commandant before the Second World War intervened. 

Sent to North Africa as a lieutenant general, he was captured during Rommel's first offensive in Libya alongside fellow general Richard O'Connor — making them among the most senior British officers taken prisoner in the entire war. Held at the Castello di Vincigliata near Florence, a medieval fortress turned special POW camp, Neame used his engineering skills to design the escape tunnel through which two New Zealand brigadiers made it all the way to Switzerland. 

He himself escaped in September 1943 during the chaos of the Italian Armistice, eventually reaching Allied lines and meeting Churchill in North Africa before arriving home on Christmas Day.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

Flogging was the principle punishment in the British Army for nearly 200 years.

Even the Duke of Wellington was a supporter.

So how harsh was it? And, why (and when) did it end?

Listen to my episode about the Officer Purchase System.

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For nearly 200 years, flogging was the disciplinary backbone of the British Army. 

From the passage of the Mutiny Act in 1689 to its abolition in 1881, corporal punishment shaped the experience of every soldier who wore the redcoat. 

The men who fought at Blenheim under Marlborough, who held the line at Waterloo under the Duke of Wellington, who endured the Peninsular and Crimean Wars, who fought in the American Revolutionary War — all were products of a system in which the lash was the primary instrument of military discipline.

Fans of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles will know this world. Richard Sharpe was sentenced to 2,000 lashes; Sergeant Harper bore the scars of sixty he didn't deserve. Cornwell wasn't exaggerating. During the Napoleonic Wars, British Army courts martial routinely handed down sentences of 500 lashes — and a thousand was not unheard of. Offences ranged from desertion and mutiny to the breathtakingly trivial: being deficient of a razor earned 200 lashes; improper use of barrack bedding, 400.

In this video, I trace the full story of flogging in the British Army. It begins with a legal rabbit hole — the Mutiny Act of 1689, passed after the Royal Scots mutinied at Ipswich and the government discovered it had no legal power to punish them. 

From there, I explore the brutal mechanics of the punishment itself: the cat o' nine tails, the regimental ceremony, the drummers and farriers who delivered the lashes, and the men who endured them.

I cover the key turning points — the scandal of Private Frederick White's death at Hounslow in 1846, the Duke of Wellington's response as Commander-in-Chief, and the long parliamentary campaign that finally ended with abolition under the Childers Reforms of 1881. 

Despite Private Hook being warned in the film "Zulu" that stealing Dr Witt's brandy was a flogging offence, by the time of Rorke's Drift the practice was already dying. 

But the story doesn't end in 1881. Corporal punishment continued in military prisons until 1907, and the replacement — Field Punishment Number One, which soldiers called "crucifixion" — wasn't abolished until 1923.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

Did you know that the actor behind the much loved comedy character, Uncle Albert ("Only Fools and Horses") actually did serve in World War 2?

This is his real story.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

What was the inspiration behind the Royal Navy's legendary field gun competition?

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Many of you may recall the Royal Tournament at Earl’s Court in London.
 The world’s premier military tattoo and pageant that was held for over 100 years until 1999.
 You may also recall the highlight of the event,  Royal Navy’s Command Field Gun Competition.

Two teams of 18 men hauling a 12 pound gun and limber (weighing something like 1200 pounds) along a 225 yard course that included obstacles such as a 5 foot high wall and a 28 foot chasm, all  in under 3 minutes.
 It was not for the feint hearted - not only was it gruelling race but men were seriously injured too.

But, where did the idea of this incredible feat of strength, stamina and teamwork come from?

This is the story of the Naval Brigade during the second Anglo-Boer war in South Africa 1899-1902.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

The Bloodies European Battle in the 18th Century - Malplaquet 1709.

The Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French and the one that led to his downfall.

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Other episodes in this series:

The Battle of Blenheim 1704

The Battle of Ramillies 1706

The Battle of Oudenarde 1708

You might also be interested in this book, that I used extensively during my research for this series.

"Marlborough: Britain's Greatest General" by Richard Holmes
(This is my Amazon affiliate link)

The Battle of Malplaquet, fought on the 11th September 1709 was the Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French. 

It was also the bloodiest European battle of the whole 18th century.Between 30,000 - 40,000 men were killed or wounded in just one day.

Despite, been forced from the field by the comined allied army consisting of Dutch, German, Austrian, Danish and British soldiers, , the French were able to keep their army intact, ready to fight another day - their (sort of) Dunkirk moment.

That French escape, along with his heavy losses, was the beginning of the end for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Within two years, arguably the greatest military commander in British history, was sacked. 

Despite it being a tactical victory, malplaquet was a pyrrhic victory for Marlborough and his allied army.
The Allies  lost nearly 21,000 men killed or wounded (almost a quarter of their army).The Dutch alone had lost over 8,000 men, whilst the British had lost nearly 1,800.
The French army, on the other hand had suffered somewhere between 11,000 - 14,000 casualties.

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Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

The Battle of Oudenarde 1708, Marlborough's Forgotten Battle.

The book I mentioned, and used as part of my research:

"Marlborough: Britain's Greatest General" by Richard Holmes
(This is my Amazon affiliate link)

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"The Devil Must Have Brought Them" - The Battle of Oudenarde, 1708

When French general Vendôme learned that Marlborough's army had appeared on the banks of the River Scheldt, he was incredulous: "The Devil must have brought them!" 

The Duke had marched 60 miles in just 72 hours to catch the French completely off guard.

The Battle of Oudenarde, fought on 11 July 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession, was the Duke of Marlborough's third great victory over the French - yet it remains probably his most forgotten. 

This video explores how Marlborough's lightning advance wrong-footed two quarrelling French commanders, how a future King of Great Britain had his horse shot from under him in the opening clash, and how French Huguenot officers tricked enemy stragglers into captivity by shouting regimental rallying cries in the gathering darkness.

It is also a battle gifted by French dysfunction. Marshal Vendôme fought so furiously in the front line that he lost all command of his army, whilst his co-commander the Duke of Burgundy sat motionless with 60 battalions, refusing to attack.

 Watching from Burgundy's staff was the 20-year-old Old Pretender, James Stuart - serving incognito as the "Chevalier de St George" against the countrymen he claimed as subjects.

Among the British regiments were veterans of Blenheim and Ramillies including the Royal Welch Fusiliers, the Grenadier Guards and the Cameronians - battle-hardened redcoats who helped Marlborough encircle 50,000 Frenchmen in what one survivor called a "vast horseshoe of flame."

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HMS Peterel: The Royal Navy's Defiant Last Stand at Shanghai, 1941

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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Hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a small Royal Navy gunboat faced impossible odds in Shanghai. 

When Japanese officers boarded HMS Peterel demanding surrender, her captain - 62-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Polkinghorn - gave them a defiant reply: "Get off my bloody ship!"

What followed was a one-sided battle against the armoured cruiser Izumo and shore batteries. With her main guns deliberately disabled, Peterel's crew fought back with Lewis guns and small arms. 

She became the first British warship sunk by the Japanese in the Second World War - but she went down fighting, White Ensign still flying.

This video explores why British and American gunboats were in Shanghai, the strange "Solitary Island" existence of the International Settlement surrounded by Japanese forces since 1937, and the dramatic events of 8 December 1941.

 It also reveals the remarkable story of CPO James Cuming, who evaded capture and spent the entire war as a spy in occupied Shanghai.

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The real Blackadder who fought at the Battle of Blenheim, 1704.

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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Long before Rowan Atkinson's comic creation, a real Blackadder was fighting in some of the bloodiest battles in British military history. Lieutenant-Colonel John Blackadder was a Scottish soldier who served under the Duke of Marlborough and fought at the Battle of Blenheim—where he nearly died from a musket ball to the throat.

Born in 1664 to a firebrand Covenanter preacher who died imprisoned on the Bass Rock, John Blackadder joined the newly-raised Cameronians in 1689. This distinctively religious Scottish regiment—nicknamed the "Psalm-singing Regiment"—would become his military home for over two decades. His first taste of battle came at Dunkeld, where 800 Cameronians held off more than 3,000 Jacobite Highlanders.

During the Nine Years War, Blackadder fought at Steenkirk, Landen and the Siege of Namur. But his career was nearly derailed when he killed a fellow officer in a duel at Maastricht—an act that haunted this devout Presbyterian for the rest of his life.

The War of the Spanish Succession brought Blackadder to Marlborough's greatest victories. He survived Schellenberg, was wounded at Blenheim, served at Ramillies, and was hit twice more at the Siege of Lille. At the catastrophic Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, Marlborough personally promoted him to Lieutenant-Colonel on the battlefield when his commanding officer fell wounded.

After retiring in 1711, Blackadder returned to service during the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, commanding the Glasgow Volunteer Regiment. He ended his days as Deputy-Governor of Stirling Castle, and his diaries—published in 1824—remain an invaluable account of early 18th-century military life.

Timeline of John Blackadder's Life:

• 1664: Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland
• 1689: Joins the Cameronians; fights at Battle of Dunkeld
• 1691: Kills Lieutenant Robert Murray in a duel at Maastricht
• 1693: Promoted to Captain
• 1704: Fights at Schellenberg and Blenheim (wounded)
• 1705: Promoted to Major
• 1706: Present at Battle of Ramillies
• 1708: Wounded twice at Siege of Lille
• 1709: Battlefield promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel at Malplaquet
• 1711: Sells commission and retires
• 1715: Commands Glasgow Volunteer Regiment during Jacobite rebellion
• 1729: Dies aged 64; buried in Stirling

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Fought in 1706, the Battle of Ramillies is arguably the Duke of Marlborough's greatest victory.

Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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