For me, it’s about standing on the very same stage where ordinary men were caught in history’s harsh spotlight, with knotted stomachs and dry mouths, not knowing if they’d live to see nightfall.

Hastings, England, October 1066

From Senlac Hill in Sussex, you look out across green rolling hills and tawny woods towards the white chalk cliffs of the coast. This is an England worth fighting for.

Which is precisely why two armies met here on October 14, 1066 to determine who should be king. On one side was Harold Godwinson, a Saxon noble who had pronounced himself king nine months earlier, on the death of the former incumbent King Edward whose army he’d loyally commanded.

Facing him was William the Bastard, aka the Duke of Normandy, whose army had crossed the channel a few weeks earlier and promptly set about massacring the locals. But if your immediate sympathy lies with Harold, it wasn’t as simple as it seemed, for William had been King Edward’s chosen successor and Harold had pledged his support.

The battle commenced at 9am, with both armies numbering around 7000. The core of Harold’s army was his personal bodyguard, the housecarls, who fought on foot with long two-handed axes. William’s crack troops were his mounted knights and archers. Forming a wall of shields at the top of the hill, the Saxons repulsed the Norman attacks and, as the day wore on, looked increasingly likely to win.

Then impatience got the better of them. Thinking the Normans were done, a large flank of Saxons broke rank and charged down the hill, eager to finish off the job. Instead, they fell into a trap, were engulfed and slaughtered. With Harold’s defences critically weakened, the Normans stormed the hill once again, this time breaking through.

According to popular history, Harold was killed by an arrow through the eye. The contemporary Norman account was less poetic. Cornered by William and four knights, he had his head and legs chopped off and was then disembowelled for good measure. Harold’s defeat saw the rustic, democratic Saxon society replaced by the rigidly hierarchical Norman order. But, on the bright side, it did allow William to change his sobriquet from Bastard to Conqueror.

Go there
Hastings Battlefield is found at the appropriately named village of Battle, 90km south-east of London. On the crest of Senlac Hill are the ruins of an abbey built by William to commemorate his victory. Visit www.english-heritage.org.

Isandlwana, South Africa, January 1879

Deep in KwaZulu-Natal is a large, dark rock shaped like a ship’s prow, which the locals call Isandlwana. It’s an eerie, unsettling place, where you sense something awful once happened. It did.

In January 1879, 4000 British soldiers under Lord Chelmsford marched into Zululand, intent on disarming the rowdy tribal kingdom. Well drilled and better equipped, the British were initially concerned that the Zulus wouldn’t give them a decent fight. In this respect, their fears were misguided.

Using cunning decoys, the Zulus split the British force and led Lord Chelmsford and half the battalion on a wild goose chase. Meanwhile, the 25 000-strong Zulu army descended upon the remaining British soldiers who were camped at Isandlwana, about to have breakfast.

Standing at the base of the rock, you can imagine the alarm those British soldiers must have felt when the surrounding hills suddenly became dark with Zulus. For a few long minutes the Zulus paused there, stamping their feet and beating their shields, and then they charged.

The ensuing battle was intense. Initially, the British ranks held firm, the disciplined volleys from their Martini-Henry rifles smashing down the Zulus. But, eventually, the red line gave and the tidal wave poured through. In a manner of minutes, battle turned to rout. No prisoners were taken. According to custom, the Zulus disembowelled their victims to release evil spirits, taking their jawbones and genitals as trophies.

Leading from Isandlwana down to Buffalo River, through deep dongas and clinging marshes, is the so-called Fugitives’ Trail, which the fleeing British soldiers took in an attempt to get back across the border. Pursued all the way by the fleet-footed Zulus, only a handful on horseback managed to escape. On the far bank of the river are the graves of two British officers, killed within sight of safety as they attempted to rescue the regimental flag.

Go there
Isandlwana is 40km south of Dundee and widely recognised as one of the best preserved battlefields in the world. Several guides offer battlefield tours, including David Rattray, whose lodge is on the banks of the Buffalo. Visit < ahref="http://www.fugitives-drift-lodge.com" target=new>www.fugitives-drift-lodge.com.

Spion Kop, South Africa, January 1900

Watching the sun slip behind the jagged silhouette of the 'Berg, it’s difficult to believe that Spion Kop’s tranquil summit was the infamous ‘acre of death’, staging the most bloody and futile encounter of the Boer War.

On the evening of 23 January 1900, under the cover of thick mist, several thousand British troops scrambled up the peak. Having dispelled the small Boer garrison with bayonets, they set about digging. In a typical mixture of bravado and incompetence, they had left behind the mortar guns, sandbags and water, all of which would have proved useful.

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Published courtesy of the Out There Travel Guide

All day the bald plateau was raked by rifle and shellfire, against which the hastily scratched trenches offered scant protection. To compound the carnage, British reinforcements kept arriving on the summit, making for a much bigger target.

After 24 hours, and out of ammo and water, the battered British troops finally decided to retreat. Ironically, at about the same time, the exhausted Boers also withdrew. The next day, when the Boers dejectedly returned to the summit under truce to pick up their dead, they were amazed to find the hilltop vacant and promptly reclaimed it.

The British casualties on Spion Kop numbered 1500; the dead were heaped into mass graves on the summit. The losses were particularly hard felt in Liverpool, where many of the soldiers came from, and one end of Anfield football stadium is still named the Kop in their honour.

The Boer casualties were a more modest 200, but it was still a bad day given they had less men to lose. Three notable survivors of the battle were the future South African president Louis Botha; the future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; and the future Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, who was serving as a stretcher-bearer.

Go there
Spion Kop is 30km from Ladysmith. A convenient stopover is Spion Kop Lodge, which served as the British headquarters and offers battlefield tours. Visit www.spionkop.co.za.