Featured battle : Barrosa

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 05 March 1811

The battle was a footnote to the Siege of Cadiz. A joint expeditionary force from Cadiz was landed on the coast about 50 miles south of Cadiz. The force initially consisted of 9,600 Spaniards, 4,900 British and 332 Portugese. A Spaniard, La Peña was in command. After an advance towards Cadiz a retreat was ordered without any attack being made. The Allied rearguard 470 men was attacked by two divisions 7,000 men of Victor's corps. Graham, commander of the British contingent, returned all his men to the fray the Portugese and some of the Spaniards supported Graham. The Allies were able to inflict severe casualties and scatter the French. A successful engagement in an abortive expedition.

Arnhem. Battle for the island and evacuation.

Battlefield History TV Team
When I saw the picture on the case of this DVD I had very low expectations of the contents. The main character in the foreground is holding a Sten gun by its magazine and aiming it when it isn’t cocked. This is very wrong firstly because when fired the magazine easily shakes loose and secondly one would need to move the weapon away from the sighting position in order to cock it.
When I came to watch the DVD I got a pleasant surprise, proving the old adage ‘don’t judge a book [or DVD] by its cover’.
I found a beautifully presented, accurate account of the final stages of the battle. This is the fourth film in the Operation market garden series. The strategic plan is simply told as is the tactical execution. There is a good balance of talk to camera by the experts and some veterans. The location of the battle as it is today is used as backdrop to aid the explanations of the developments. To balance the talk the film also includes maps, archive footage and re-enactor footage.
All in all it is good material well presented which kept me interested and entertained for the whole 80 minutes.

Pen & Sword Digital, 2013