Then the Trojans drave forward in close throng, and Hector led them. And as when at the mouth of some heaven-fed river the mighty wave roareth against the stream, and the headlands of the shore echo on either hand, as the salt-sea belloweth without; even with such din of shouting came on the Trojans. ibid. XVII
So spake he, and a black cloud of grief enwrapped Achilles, and with both his hands he took the dark dust and strewed it over his head and defiled his fair face, and on his fragrant tunic the black ashes fell. And himself in the dust lay outstretched, mighty in his mightiness, and with his own hands he tore and marred his hair. And the handmaidens, that Achilles and Patroclus had got them as booty, shrieked aloud in anguish of heart, and ran forth around wise-hearted Achilles, and all beat their breasts with their hands, and the knees of each one were loosed beneath her. And over against them Antilochus wailed and shed tears, holding the hands of Achilles, that in his noble heart was moaning mightily; for he feared lest he should cut his throat asunder with the knife. ibid. XVIII
Howbeit the whole plain was filled with men and horses, and aflame with bronze, and the earth resounded beneath their feet as they rushed together; and two warriors best by far of all came one against the other into the space between the two hosts, eager to do battle, even Aeneas, Anchises’ son, and goodly Achilles. ibid. XX
But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then gathered the folk about the pyre of glorious Hector. And when they were assembled and met together, first they quenched with flaming wine all the pyre, so far as the fire’s might had come upon it, and thereafter his brethren and his comrades gathered the white bones, mourning, and big tears flowed ever down their cheeks. The bones they took and placed in a golden urn, covering them over with soft purple robes, and quickly laid the urn in a hollow grave, and covered it over with great close-set stones. Then with speed heaped they the mound, and round about were watchers set on every side, lest the well-greaved Achaeans should set upon them before the time. And when they had piled the barrow they went back, and gathering together duly feasted a glorious feast in the palace of Priam, the king fostered of Zeus. On this wise held they funeral for horse-taming Hector. ibid. XXIV
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle. David and Bathsheba 1951 starring Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward & James Robinson Justice & Jayne Meadows & Raymond Massey & Kieron Moore et al, director Henry King, David
Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn’t that be a sight? Troy 2004 starring Brad Pitt & Eric Bana & Orlando Bloom & Rose Byrne & Peter O'Toole & Diane Kruger & Brian Cox & Sean Bean & Julie Christie & Saffron Burrows et al, director Wolfgang Petersen, Achilles to Agamemnon
In the end, we lost this battle too. Seven Samurai 1954 starring Tikashi Shimura & Isao Kimura & Yoshio Inaba & Daisuke Kato & Minoru Chiaki & Seiji Miyaguchi & Toshiro Mifune & Bokuzen Hidari & Kamatari Fujiwara & Keiko Tsushima & Yoshio Tsuchiya et al, director Akira Kurosawa, #1 Samurai
If the Dominion comes through the wormhole, the first battle will be fought here, and I intend to be ready for them. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s2e26: The Jem’Hadar, Sisko
And it’s going to be a glorious battle! Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s4e1: The Way of the Warrior I, Klingon to Worf
And so the battle begins. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s7e19: Strange Bedfellows, Sisko to missus
In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Dwight D Eisenhower
And little of this great world can I speak
More than pertains to feats of broils and battle. William Shakespeare, Othello I iii 86-87
O God of battles, steel my soldier’s hearts. The Hollow Crown: Henry V 2012 starring Tim Hiddleston & Geraldine Chaplin & Paul Freeman & Julie Walters & John Hurt & Tom Georgeson & Richard Griffiths & Paterson Joseph & James Laurenson et al, director Thea Sharrock, Henry
A key to winning any battle lies in having the right kit. Professor Saul David, Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War II: Stealing a March, BBC 2012
‘The Battle of Stalingrad is said to have been the bloodiest [battle] of World War II.’ Greatest Events of World War II V: Siege of Stalingrad, Saul David, Netflix 2019
The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the most brutal engagements of World War II. ibid.
The Red Army suffers astonishing casualties losing three million soldiers. But the Nazi onslaught is finally halted at Moscow. ibid.
‘The landscape was apocalyptic.’ ibid. Saul David
The German aerial attack on Stalingrad is the most intense of the entire war on the eastern front. ibid.
General Paulus struggles to come to terms with the new reality. ibid.
Our battles are directed, sir? Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter until everyone’s dead except Field Marshal Haig, Lady Haig and their tortoise Alan? Blackadder Goes Forth: Plan E – General Hospital, Blackadder to Melchett, BBC 1989
This battle of epic proportions between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union deserves to be considered as the most important battle of the Second World War if not in all wars in history. More than 6,000 tanks and over 2,000,000 men clashed there. The Battle of Kursk, 2009
Dogfights involving up to 150 aircraft at any one time. ibid.
This was a fight to the finish. ibid.
The battle was lost and the fault was Hitler’s. ibid.
Overlord: 1944 and on the Eastern Front Hitler’s forces were being pushed back towards the German border. But Germany was about to face a new threat: in the West, Allied forces had been preparing for months to open a new front in north-west France … An attack Hitler had long been expecting …. One of the greatest battles of World War II: D-Day. World War II in Colour e9: Overlord, Channel 5 2009
Fifteen aircraft carriers and nine hundred planes will crush the Japanese air force in an air battle which will come to be known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. World War II: The Apocalypse: Retreat and Surrender aka Apocalypse: The Second World War: Inferno, France 2 2009
The Battle of Midway pitted the United States against the might of the Japanese Navy in one of the most explosive battles in militarily history. Days that Shook the World: Battle of Midway, BBC 2005
As we moved in towards land in the grey early light the coffin shaped steel boats took solid green sheets of water that fell on the helmeted heads of the troops, packed shoulder to shoulder in the stiff awkward uncomfortable lonely companionship of men going to a battle. Ernest Hemingway, war correspondent
The Battle of Kursk – the greatest tank battle of all time. Nazi Hunters: The Peiper – The Murderer of Malmedy, National Geographic 2010
The Battle of the Bulge – at the forefront was the might of Peiper’s first SS tank unit. ibid.
The Wilderness is probably not the bloodiest battle in the war, but the most terrible battle in the war in many ways. Ed Bearss, historian
The Wilderness was a useless battle fought with great loss and no result. Washington Roebling
Stalingrad: In the single greatest battle in history the Soviets lost more men than the British or the Americans in the entire war. Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States I: World War II, Sky Atlantic 2013
Okinawa – the bloodiest battle of the Pacific – over 12,000 Americans were killed or missing, and over 36,000 were wounded. Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States III: The Bomb
The Viking army attacked them on Ashdown – January 871. The site of the Battle of Ashdown has never been found. Michael Wood, King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons I: Alfred of Wessex, BBC 2013
Edington, Wiltshire, May 878: at first light he attacked them ... Brutal stuff: toe to toe eyeball to eyeball stabbing and slashing. ibid.
William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings has given us England’s most famous date: 1066. But this wasn’t just a battle, it was a momentous turning point in European history. In the years that followed, the Normans transformed England, and then the rest of Britain and Ireland ... across Europe, from northern France to southern Italy and on to the Middle East and Jerusalem. Professor Robert Bartlett, The Normans I, BBC 2010
On this hillside on Saturday 14th of October 1066 a single battle between a few thousand men permanently changed the course of history in England and beyond. It was said to have taken place at the Grey Apple Tree. Nowadays the site is simply known as Battle. ibid.
Two early accounts of the battle say that an arrow struck the King in the eye. The King was dead. And a world was coming to an end. ibid