Episodes

  • 253: The WW1 White Feathers
    May 28 2026

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    Whilst the films about "The Four Feathers" are ripping yarns from the age of the British Empire, the real life white feathers handed out to supposed cowards in WW1 had a devastating effect.

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    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    22 mins
  • 252: What Happened to Private Hitch VC After Rorke's Drift?
    May 21 2026

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    In the classic war film "Zulu", Private Fred Hitch is called a "slovenly soldier".
    He nevertheless goes on to be awarded the Victoria Cross at the battle of Rorke's Drift.
    But the story about what happened to him afterwards, as an invalid veteran in Victorian Britain that is every bit as fascinating, working for the world's oldest security company, losing his VC, accused of theft and becoming a London cabbie.

    A story of what happened to Victorian soldiers when then entered civvy street.

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    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    14 mins
  • 251: The Forgotten Scandal Behind Britain's Favourite Poem, "If-"
    May 15 2026

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    The forgotten Victorian scandal behind Britain's favourite poem - Rudyard Kipling's "If-".

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    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    17 mins
  • 250: The Man Who Named "The Great Game" & Who Was Executed Playing It.
    May 7 2026

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    In 1842, the man who coined the phrase "The Great Game" was executed whilst playing it in a remote city in central Asia.

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    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    27 mins
  • 249: Why Kitchener Blocked Winston Churchill's Victoria Cross.
    Apr 29 2026

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    How Winston Churchill's recommendation for a Victoria Cross, during the Anglo-Boer War, was blocked by Lord Kitchener.

    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    15 mins
  • 248: Before Gallipoli - Forgotten Siege That Defined The ANZAC Spirit.
    Apr 15 2026

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    August 1900. Five hundred colonial troops. Two thousand Boer fighters. Thirteen days of siege — and a refusal to surrender that changed how the world understood the ANZAC spirit.

    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

    Stories like this one — the ones that should be famous but never quite made the textbooks — are exactly what I write about in my free weekly newsletter. Join 1,500 readers here:

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    23 mins
  • 247: The Island Where Nelson Lost His Eye.
    Apr 9 2026

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    In the summer of 1794, Horatio Nelson lost the sight in his right eye on a small Mediterranean island. That island was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. And for two years — it was British.
    This is the story of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom 1794-1796.

    Chris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.

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    16 mins
  • 245: The Army That Vanished: The Retreat From Kabul 1842
    Mar 26 2026

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    In January 1842, a British-led force marched out of Kabul and into one of the most devastating episodes in British military history.

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    26 mins