# What are some of the failed invasions of England?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 11, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670 "2005-02-11T23:47:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/1 "2005-02-11T23:47:34Z")
I am doing a speech on England and as examples in the speech I’d like to use some of the failed attempts to invade Great Britain. I only really know about two failed ones, the Spanish Armada and Hitlers in WW2, and I’d like to have at least three examples. What are some of the others?
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/2 "2005-02-12T00:26:57Z")
[Julius Caesar](http://www.athenapub.com/caesar1.htm) invaded Britain in 55 BC and again in 54 BC. Not exactly a failure, since he defeated the local king the second time, but other concerns forced him to leave before consolidating the conquest. The Romans did not return for 97 years.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/3 "2005-02-12T00:52:03Z")
Napoleon in 1804:
[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/france/coalit3.htm](http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/france/coalit3.htm)
He massed a huge army in Boulogne, but couldn’t get the naval support to get them across the channel - the fleet he intended to do it with was defeated at Trafalgar.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/4 "2005-02-12T01:18:46Z")
Harold Hardrada and his Norse army in 1066.
He was defeated by the Saxon King Harold Godwinson, who then had to race to Hastings to stop William the Conqueror, not as successfully.
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### Author:  [@violacrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violacrane)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/5 "2005-02-12T01:29:02Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#):
>
> I am doing a speech on England and as examples in the speech I’d like to use some of the failed attempts to invade Great Britain. I only really know about two failed ones, the Spanish Armada and Hitlers in WW2, and I’d like to have at least three examples. What are some of the others?
[This BBC History page](http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/invasion/index.shtml) has everything if not more than you want to know. There was a series presented by historian Dan Cruikshank about the surprisingly numerous invasion attempts by the French, Spanish, Dutch etc to invade England and the various efforts to counter the threat.
In the reign of King John:
> [@](#):
>
> Planned French invasions in 1205 and 1213 were thwarted at sea, but during the crisis of 1215 the rebellious barons invited French troops under Prince Louis to land unopposed to assist with their struggle over Magna Carta. Dover Castle, a vital communications centre on England’s south coast, was besieged in 1216. The defenders held out - just - and after John’s timely death. the French were soon driven from England’s shores.
The reign of Henry VIII:
> [@](#):
>
> the French launched an invasion in 1545 that culminated in the capture (for 24 hours) of the Isle of Wight. Despite the sinking of the flagship ‘The Mary Rose’ in Portsmouth harbour, the English navy were able to chase the French fleet away before they could disembark an army on the mainland.
Charles II:
> [@](#):
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> a Dutch raiding party that sailed into the Medway in June 1667 quickly jolted the nation out of its complacent attitude towards its closest neighbours.
George III:
> [@](#):
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> The incursion of John Paul Jones at Whitehaven in 1778 therefore came as a huge shock. Although his raid was no more than a self-interested revenge attack by an American privateer, the vulnerability of English ports provoked a hysterical reaction.
Great series!
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### Author:  [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/6 "2005-02-12T03:19:25Z")
Hitler’s planned invasion ([Operation Sealion](http://www.alternatehistory.com/gateway/essays/Sealion.html); see the link for an essay on why it wouldn’t work) was little more than a plan, a plan that would have been difficult if not impossible to pull off. The Nazis lacked the equipment necessary to undertake an invasion (seaworthy landing craft, for example), and certainly could not have faced the Royal Navy in the Channel, let alone the RAF (which would have evacuated to safer airfields in the north if the Battle of Britain had been lost) or the army and Home Guard. Speculation on Sealion is extensive (though inappropriate for GQ). Suffice it to say that it was a planned invasion that was never attempted, so I don’t think it counts as a failed invasion.
Many factions have planned a conquest of England, and some probably still dream of it today. Granted, none of those factions were able to conquer France – except the Romans, and their invasion of England (or the geographical area it would later occupy) was successful.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/7 "2005-02-12T04:32:24Z")
The National Football League attempted to expand into Europe in the 1990s with the World League of American Football. One of the franchises was the London Monarchs, and another was the Scottish Claymores. The London franchise called it quits years ago, and the Claymores gave up the ghost this past season.
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/8 "2005-02-12T04:40:57Z")
During the early 13th century, and under the reign of his father, the future [Louis VIII of France](http://crusades.boisestate.edu/Europe/france/06.shtml) failed in his attempt to invade England and be crowned king.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/9 "2005-02-12T04:46:01Z")
I invaded London for a week in the summer of 2000, but I ran out of money and had to go home. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/10 "2005-02-12T06:28:56Z")
And don’t forget Scotland and England invaded each other so many times it’s surprising they didn’t develop a handicap system just to make it more interesting.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/11 "2005-02-12T09:07:58Z")
There were also the attempts by dislodged monarchs to re-gain their thrones: Charles II led an invasion from Scotland, but lost the Battle of Worcester and had to flee; there was the 1715 Jacobite rebellion; and the much more serious Jacobite invasion of 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in Scotland, had some considerable success, and marched south to England as far as Derby before it all collapsed.
The last successful invasion of England was William of Orange in 1688.
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### Author:  [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/12 "2005-02-12T14:54:49Z")
In 1796, the French tried to land an army of 18,000 soldiers in Ireland, where they would meet with Irish separatists. The fleet was distracted, harried, and scattered by the in-shore channel fleet under Pellew, but at least one ship landed troops; I remember reading that this was the last time an armed invader was on the shores of Ireland, but can’t find a cite for it; I may be misremembering. I’m not sure if that counts or not
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### Author:  [@rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rabbit)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/13 "2005-02-12T15:49:23Z")
Wow… from the looks of things, Sir Humphrey Appleby was right. Britain’s REAL enemy is the French. 😛
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/14 "2005-02-13T21:26:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I remember reading that this was the last time an armed invader was on the shores of Ireland
There are Irish who’ll argue otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/15 "2005-02-13T21:47:08Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#):
>
> The last successful invasion of England was William of Orange in 1688.
To be fair, he was invited by Parliament, and didn’t meet much in the way of armed resistance.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/16 "2005-02-13T22:07:10Z")
Then there were the French frightened off by [welsh women](http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Wales-History/Fishguard.htm)
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/17 "2005-02-13T22:45:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> To be fair, he was invited by Parliament, and didn’t meet much in the way of armed resistance.
No, he was invited by the [Immortal Seven](http://www.lawsch.uga.edu/~glorious/invitation.html), a collection of seven English aristocrats and bishops. That invitation was likely treason, if James II had got wind of it. (James had disssolved Parliament in 1687 and it didn’t meet again during his reign.) As well, in October 1688, prior to William leaving the Netherlands, the States of Holland approved the invasion, according to [this timeline](http://www.lawsch.uga.edu/~glorious/chron.html).
So, it may have been a “friendly” invasion, but it was not at the invitation of the English Parliament and it was backed by a foreign nation with which England had recently been at war. Sounds like an invasion to me.
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### Author:  [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/18 "2005-02-13T23:24:08Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#):
>
> There are Irish who’ll argue otherwise.
Oops. There is that. Would you accept that the book in which I read that was written by an Englishman? Even with that said, he might have been more…accurate than I was in my quick retelling.
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### Author:  [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/19 "2005-02-13T23:31:46Z")
> [@Cat Jones](#):
>
> Then there were the French frightened off by [welsh women](http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Wales-History/Fishguard.htm)
You’re just confusing things now. The OP obviously thinks that England = Great Britain.
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### Author:  [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-failed-invasions-of-england/289670/20 "2005-02-14T11:16:46Z")
The OP would indeed score extra points by making it clear whether the speech was about England or the United Kingdom. When you’re talking about invasions you do need to know where your borders lie and where they don’t.
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