The anniversary of the Battle of Traflagar is marked by this gripping docu-drama based on eye-witness accounts of the action from a range of perspectives.
On 21 October 1805 England engaged in a massive sea battle against Napoleon's navy. It was the definitive naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars and it established Britannia's position as ruler of the seas for the following century and a half. It is a genuine turning point in our island history for if Britain had lost, it would have been impossible to prevent Napoleon's full-scale invasion of the British Isles .
This drama will tell the story of Trafalgar from the point of view of the men who took part. The battle is one of the best documented in our history and the drama will draw on primary research from documents in the Public Record Office, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval Historical Museum to establish an eyewitness account of the battle from the points of view of the officers and men of the British fleet.
It will recreate the events of that day as they seemed to:
Lieutenant William Cumby whose 14-page letter to his son describing his part in the battle now lies in the library of the Maritime Museum.
After I had breakfasted as usual at eight o'clock with the Captain in the cabin he begged of me to wait a little as he had something to show me. He produced and requested me to peruse Lord Nelson's private memorandum addressed to the Captains relative to the conduct of the ships in action, which having read he inquired whether I perfectly understood the Admiral's instruction. I replied that they were so distinct and explicit that it was quite impossible to misunderstand them. He then expressed his satisfaction and said he wished me to be made acquainted with it that in the event of his being 'bowled out' I might know how to conduct the ship agreeably to the Admiral's wishes. On this I observed that it was very possible that the same shot which disposed of him might have an equally tranquilizing effect upon me and under that idea I submitted to him the expediency of the Master (as being the only officer who in such case would remain at the quarterdeck) being also apprized of the Admirals instructions [...] To this the Captain immediately assented and poor Overton the Master was devised to the read the Memorandum, which he did, and here I may be permitted to remark en passant that of the three officers who carried the knowledge of this private Memorandum into the action I was the only one that brought it out.
听Signals Lieutenant John Pasco of the Victory
His Lordship came to me on the poop, and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon said, 鈥淢r Pasco, I want to say to the fleet ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY. You must be quick for I have one more to add, which is for close action.鈥 I replied, 鈥淚f your Lordship will permit me to substitute 鈥榚xpects鈥 for 鈥榗onfides鈥 the signal will sooner be completed because the word expects is in the vocabulary and confides must be spelt. His Lordship replied in haste and in seeming satisfaction, That will do, Pasco: make it directly.
Captain Henry Blackwood whose dogged persistence as Nelson鈥檚 watchdog kept the Combined Fleet from running safely home to the Mediterrannean and who recorded the emotions of the chase, the battle and the aftermath in letters home to his wife, as this one at breakfast time on the morning of the battle:
The last twenty-four hours have been most anxious work for me but we have kept sight of them and are at this moment bearing up to come into action. My dearest dear Harriet, your husband will not disgrace your love or name: if he dies his last breath will be devoted to the dearest bests of wives. Take care of my boy. Make him a better man than his father...
And others whose unpublished accounts are lodged in the National Archives.
We all know what happened at Trafalgar - Britain won, Nelson died, and he may or may not have said "Kiss me, Hardy". But do we know what really happened? Why was it fought? What did it mean? What did it sound like? How did it feel during the six hours it took for the gentle breezes to waft the two fleets together slower than a man could swim? The aim of Trafalgar is to create a historical drama, full of character, accurate in particulars, dramatic in narrative, and rich in the accounts of the men who were there.
Writer
Lisa Osborne co-wrote Dunkirk , a BAFTA winning docudrama for 成人快手 2 that told the story of the retreat to the beaches and evacuation from Dunkirk of the British Expeditionary Force in May/June 1940. The three-part serial told a dramatic story with real characters. Nothing was fictionalised. Everything was drawn from primary research with living survivors and from documentary eye-witness accounts.
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