Conflict in Europe

Conflict in Europe gallery

Explore the Army’s role in maintaining the balance of power in Europe from the 1700s to the present day. And discover how fighting on the Continent has affected the British Isles.

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Bagnold sun compass used by the LRDG, c1942

Desert innovator: Bagnold's sun-compass

The Long Range Desert Group were masters of navigation. They owed much of their success to the scientific talents of Major Ralph Bagnold, whose sun-compass invention revolutionised desert travel.

Douglas Haig: The chief

Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig commanded the British Army when it achieved arguably its greatest victories, those over the Germans on the Western Front. But for many his leadership was marked by unacceptable losses.

Allied soldiers on the roof of a captured A7V tank, 1918

1918: Year of victory

The German Spring Offensive saw mobile warfare return to the Western Front. Despite early gains, the Germans exhausted themselves, setting the stage for a successful Allied counter-offensive.

Dropping parachutists and supplies, Arnhem, September 1944

Operation Market Garden

In September 1944, the Allies launched a daring airborne operation to cross the Rhine and advance into northern Germany. Market Garden remains one of the Second World War’s most famous battles.

John Moore: Alone with his glory

An army reformer and pioneer of light infantry units, General Sir John Moore's inspired leadership at Corunna in 1809 saved an army from destruction, but led to his death in action.

War of the Spanish Succession

The campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-13) stopped France from dominating Europe. They also brought about the first popular recognition of the British Army’s fighting powers.

Battle of Salamanca

The Earl of Wellington's victory at Salamanca in July 1812 defied his reputation as a purely defensive general and shattered French dominance on the Iberian Peninsula.

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim in 1704 saw a decisive defeat for a Franco-Bavarian force by the allied English, Dutch and Austrian armies commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos took place on the Western Front in September-October 1915. At the time, it was the largest British offensive of the First World War.

Mark I tank C19 in Chimpanzee Valley during the Battle of Flers Courcelette, 1916

Attack of the tanks

In September 1916, the face of battle changed forever. On an unsuspecting enemy, Britain unleashed its new secret weapon - the tank.

Battle of Passchendaele

In July 1917, the British and French launched a massive offensive near the Belgian city of Ypres. The bitter struggle that followed came to symbolize the horrors of trench warfare.

Units of the Dutch Brigade moving up to the attack, 1944

Victory in Europe

During 1944-45, the Allies endured months of fighting against a determined enemy. This bloody struggle eventually ended in the final defeat of Nazi Germany.

Explore Conflict in Europe events

People dressed in 1940s style dancing at the National Army Museum

Dance

10 May 2025 £25.00

VE Day Dance

Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe and jive the night away at our 1940s dance.

Discussion

18 Jun 2025 £25.00

Napoleon: Man vs Myth

Join our panel of experts, including the co-editors of 'Napoleonic Objects and Their Afterlives', to get to the heart of who Napoleon Bonaparte really was.

A British medical orderly treats a wounded German soldier, c1916

Talk

27 Jun 2025 FREE

It Worked: Innovation and Improvisation in the Royal Army Medical Corps

Jessica Meyer examines how new ideas and technologies helped to push military medical care forwards during the First World War.