OUR speaker this week was Brigadier Ian Shapter of Cheltenham, an old friend who told us about the battle of Agincourt.

With the assistance of descriptive slides and quiet humour, he re-created the full horror and tragedy of that decisive battle in a ploughed muddy field between the English and the French in the year 1415.

Remarkably the battle only lasted for a couple of hours with the English, led by King Henry V, outnumbered by some ten to one. However, the astonishing outcome was an overwhelming victory whereby over 10,000 of the French were killed whilst only 112 English perished. The French were somewhat hampered by their nobles’ refusal to kill any English they perceived to be of lower classes whereas the English had no such inhibitions. Meanwhile the French army’s inability to withstand the attacks by longbows, the use of stakes against their horses and also that half of the French officers had gone off for coffee and croissants at the start didn't help either!

Ian explained that the hand-to hand fighting was a bit like trying to play tennis on the London underground in rush hour! He also described how the French threatened to cut off the two fingers of the longbow men hence the two-fingered V salute!

Brian Dutton thanked Ian on our behalf. He said that as usual you've done it again; you've transported back into history.

We look forward to more history lessons when we shall hear about Pegasus Bridge on October 29 and the Gunpowder Plot on November 5.

CHRIS DONOUGH