# Greatest Battle Ever Fought in the Southern Hemisphere **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180 "2014-08-22T08:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/21 "2014-08-22T22:56:59Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > Omdurman is 15 degrees _north_ of the equator. Ack! Bugger me with a bottle of bitters! Tricked by the doggone tropic! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/22 "2014-08-22T22:58:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > . . . And it discredited the Kissinger/Kirkpatrick doctrine by forcing the US to choose between the UK and a right-wing dictatorship . . . Given this is Thatcher we’re talking about, six of one and half a dozen of the other, pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/23 "2014-08-22T23:36:44Z")
Now now, the British Army’s Military Reaction Force did go rogue and made mob hits & drive-bys on IRA (and micks who looked IRA-ish), and were supressed _years before_ MT became PM. Nasty, but no comparison at all with the Dirty War. ---
**Author:** ![johnnybgood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@johnnybgood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnnybgood)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/24 "2014-08-23T10:29:43Z")
Thanks to everyone ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/25 "2014-08-23T11:59:36Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Given this is Thatcher we’re talking about, six of one and half a dozen of the other, pretty much. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/26 "2014-08-23T12:18:44Z")
[The Battle Riachuelo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Riachuelo) wasn’t exactly huge but the South American map might look a whole lot different had the battle gone the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180/27 "2014-08-24T11:05:38Z")
I’m still unclear about the definition used so please bear with me. I think the Coronels and Falklands in 1914 (Naval battles) had a big impact. In the Boer War it is difficult to find a large set piece battle, but perhaps the lifting of the siege at Ladysmith and also Spion Kop were influential. However, more recently Guadacanal and the Battle of the Coral Sea were immensely important. At both, the USA showed that Japan was not invincible. At further battles, such as Milne Bay, this was reinforced but in a very much smaller way (I am including Ironbottom Sound into Guadacanal). The Battle of the Kokoda Trail was of great importance but in reality, nothing like the number of forces at Stalingrad were employed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-battle-ever-fought-in-the-southern-hemisphere/696180.md?page=1)