20 Greatest Battles in British History

As decided by the Daily Telegraph, from the date and participants can you identify these influential clashes?
Quiz by scafellpike1
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Last updated: August 25, 2013
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First submittedAugust 24, 2013
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Average score35.0%
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14th July 1645, Cavaliers v. Roundheads
Naseby
13th August 1704, Grand Alliance v. France and Bavaria
Blenheim
16th April 1745, Jacobite Rebels v. British Royal Army
Culloden
23rd June 1757, Bengali Militia v. Britain
Plassey
13th September 1759, France v. Britain
Quebec
19th April 1775, Local Militias v. Britain
Lexington
22th July 1812, Britain, Portugal and Spain v. France
Salamanca
18th June 1815, France v. Seventh Coalition
Waterloo
14th October 1066, England v. Normandy
Hastings
25th October 1854, Britain, France and Ottoman Empire v. Russia
Balaclava
22-23 January 1879, Britain v. Zulus
Rorke's Drift
22nd August 1485, House of York v. House of Lancaster
Bosworth
1 July – 18 November 1916, Allies v. Germany
Somme
25 April 1915 – 9 January 1916, British Empire v. Ottoman Empire
Gallipoli
23 October – 4 November 1942, Allies v. Axis
El Alamein
6 June – 25 August 1944, Allies v. Axis
D-Day
22-25 April 1951, Britain v. China
Imjin River
28-29 May 1982, Britain v. Argentina
Goose Green
17 July -12 September 2006, Britain, Denmark v. Taleban
Helmand
10 July – 31 October 1940, RAF v. Luftwaffe
Britain
+1
Level 67
Aug 24, 2013
You need to edit your answers. You should accept "the Battle of Britain," since that is how it is known, in addition to "Britain." "Normandy Invasion" should be acceptable, given that the dates you have in the clue go far beyond D-Day itself. And please spell El Alamein correctly.
+1
Level 20
Aug 25, 2013
Fair enough I suppose, done and done
+1
Level 21
Jul 4, 2014
This would be so much easier if the rank was shown in another column and then the battles were in date order.
+2
Level 68
Aug 17, 2015
Surprised not to see Trafalgar or Agincourt.
+3
Level 67
Jul 1, 2019
Likewise. Telegraph must be bonkers. Actually I googled and British Army Museum is responsible for the list. Crazy stuff
+2
Level 32
Nov 6, 2015
The Battle of Bosworth Field was between House Tudor and House York, not Lancaster and York, although Henry Tudor was pressing the Lancastrian claim to the throne, he was not a member of House Lancaster
+2
Level 65
Oct 25, 2016
Maybe "important" would have been a better title (not your fault, the paper's). I don't think anyone is particularly proud of what happened at the Somme.
+1
Level 75
Jun 2, 2020
Why not? At the end of the battle the professional German army was worn out by the British volunteers and the German commanders were convinced they could not take another battle like this. Like Stalingrad in WW2 it was a slaughter, yes, but it broke the German army and encouraged its commanders to allow the admirals to wage unrestricted U-boat warfare, which brought the USA into the war and doomed Germany.
+2
Level 45
Jun 20, 2018
Odd to have missed Trafalgar - still celebrated each year by the Royal Navy, commemorated in one of London's most famous landmarks and still a household name/source of pride across Britain, more than 200 years later...
+1
Level 75
Jun 2, 2020
A list of important British battles without Trafalgar can simply be laughed at and discounted. The single most important battle in British history giving us control of the sea for over a century. Why is Gallipoli on the list at all? It was a British defeat and compared to the Western Front battles, there were trifling quantities of troops involved. Important in Australian history, yes, but not British. Even worse, the list does not include the 100 days campaign - the Battle of Amiens and its aftermath in 1918 in which the British army won the greatest victory it has ever won measured in terms of prisoners and war materiel taken and enemy divisions defeated - defeating the main army of the main enemy on the main front, an event unique in British history.
+1
Level 65
Jan 28, 2022
It's a nice quiz but I agree about labelling these 'greatest' battles. Seen a century from now I'm not sure anybody will remember post-imperial skirmishes like Imjin River, Goose Green or Helmand, no matter the valour of those who took part.