Napoleonic D-Day: The British in Egypt, 1801
The Napoleonic Quarterly - A podcast by Quartermaster Productions
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Is this the most significant opposed landing of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars? The assault on the beaches of Aboukir Bay by British forces under Abercromby [from around 13:00] was certainly a dramatic affair. So too was the Battle of Alexandria [from 23:15] which followed against the desperate remnants of the French expeditionary force abandoned by Napoleon Bonaparte less than a year and a half before. While this might not have been a strategically vital affair, it did provide the British with a bargaining chip ahead of the talks culminating in the Peace of Amiens. Phil Ball talks us through the Army-Navy bust-ups which preceded the landing, the fighting on the beaches and in front of Alexandria. Then from around [45:00] Phil offers some final thoughts in defence of amphibious operations like these. Here's a link to the map mentioned in this episode: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faden_1801_alexandria_battle.jpg#/media/File:Faden_1801_alexandria_battle.jpg